Wordless Wednesday

 

Annie and her best buddy, Sundance. 

Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

Mailbox Monday

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, a meme started by Marcia and hosted this month by Audra of Unabridged Chick.


It's been a while since I've participated in Mailbox Monday. This lovely stack of ARCs has been growing over the past month or two and I'm quite eager to dive in, although I'm not sure where to begin! I'm leaning toward the Zelda Fitzgerald novel, but maybe I should try to read them in order of publication dates. What do you think?

The Next Time You See Me by Holly Goddard Jones

The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

All You Could Ask For by Mike Greenberg

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

The Mermaid of Brooklyn by Amy Shearn

Love Water Memory by Jennie Shortridge

A Matter of Blood by Sarah Pinborough

Motherland by William Nicholson

The Conditions of Love by Dale M. Kushner

Off the Grid

Off the Grid by P.J. Tracy
Mystery
Monkeewrench Series #6
2012 Putnam
Finished: 1/21/13
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)



Publisher’s Blurb:

On a sailboat ten miles off the Florida coast, Grace MacBride, partner in Monkeewrench Software, thwarts an assassination attempt on retired FBI agent John Smith. A few hours later, in Minneapolis, a fifteen-year-old girl is discovered in a vacant lot, her throat slashed. Later that day, two young men are found in their home a few blocks away, killed execution-style. The next morning, the dead bodies of three more men turn up, savagely murdered in the same neighborhood.

As Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth struggle to link the three crimes, they learn that there have been similar murders in other cities around the United States. Piece by piece, evidence accumulates, pointing to a suspect that shocks them to the core, uncovering a motive that puts the entire Midwest on high alert and Monkeewrench in the direct line of fire. Before it's all over, Grace and her partners, Annie, Roadrunner, and Harley Davidson, find themselves in the middle of a shocking collision of violence on a remote northern Minnesota reservation, fighting for their lives.

Sounds pretty gruesome, doesn’t it? Thank goodness for the levity provided by Gino’s smart-ass dialogue. His fear of flying scenes had me laughing so hard, I had tears streaming down my cheeks. The romantic tension between Leo and Grace helped keep the pages turning, as well. As I usually find with mysteries, the finale was somewhat anticlimactic (if not sappy), but overall this was an entertaining read. I only wish this talented mother-daughter writing duo would crank their books out more quickly. Two to four years between publications is too long for this fan to endure! Highly recommend!

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

A room with a view!

Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

7 Years!

I'm amazed that it's been seven years since I created this blog! And as most of you know, I have had my share of doubts, wondering if it's worth continuing. After my recent departure, I received some lovely comments and emails, which made me realize how much I truly enjoy this community of book lovers. Kind words such as these from Gerda in Holland:

I have never responded to anything, but I do read all your posts. So glad you decided to come back even in a different form. I live in the Netherlands and love your blog. Do it anyway you want to, but please, keep coming back, because reading your posts is big fun.
All the best!

and Lee:

I have been reading your book recommendations for close to 15 years now. Don't know what I would have done without them... 

and Deb:

Oh dear. I love to read your reviews (do you know how many books I've read because of you, Les?!)

and Anne:

I'm so bummed you are signing off! I have gotten many good book recs from your blog. I hope you will leave it online anyway as a reference of your past reads.

and Mary:

I've read so many book you have recommended, I've cried with you on sad anniversaries, and laughed with you at celebrations. 

and Janet:

I will miss your reviews, which have led me to some great reads and steered me clear of some not-so-great ones, as well as increasing the size of my to-be-read list.

Most of all, though, I'll miss the glimpses into your life through your photos and travel adventures. 

and Bill:

I'm sorry to hear that, Lesley. You were my #1 source for book purchase ideas for the Palmyra Library.

I had no idea! Each and every friendship I've discovered through this blogging world has enriched my life and brought me great joy and comfort throughout the years.

So, will I be here in another seven years? Probably! :) 

Thank you all for making it worthwhile.

Milk Glass Moon

Milk Glass Moon by Adriana Trigiani
Fiction
2002 Random House
Finished: 1/10/13
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)



Publisher’s Blurb:

Milk Glass Moon, the third book in Adriana Trigiani’s bestselling Big Stone Gap series, continues the life story of Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney as she faces the challenges and changes of motherhood with her trademark humor and honesty. With twists as plentiful as those found on the holler roads of southwest Virginia, this story takes turns that that will surprise and enthrall the reader.

Transporting us from Ave Maria’s home in the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Italian Alps, from New York City to the Tuscan countryside, Milk Glass Moon is the story of a shifting mother-daughter relationship, of a daughter’s first love and mother’s heartbreak, of an enduring marriage that contains its own ongoing challenges, and of a community faced with seismic change.

All of Trigiani’s beloved characters are back: Jack Mac, Ave Maria’s true love, who is willing to gamble security for the unknown; her best friend and confidant, bandleader Theodore Tipton, who begins a new life in New York City; librarian and sexpert Iva Lou Wade Makin, who faces a life-or-death crisis. Meanwhile, surprises emerge in the blossoming of crusty cashier Fleeta Mullins, the maturing of mountain girl turned savvy businesswoman Pearl Grimes, and the return of Pete Rutledge, the handsome stranger who turned Ave Maria’s world upside down in Big Cherry Holler.

In this rollicking hayride of upheaval and change, Ave Maria is led to places she never dreamed she would go, and to people who enter her life and rock its foundation. As Ave Maria reaches into the past to find answers to the present, readers will stay with her every step of the way, rooting for the onetime town spinster who embraced love and made a family. Milk Glass Moon is about the power of love and its abiding truth, and captures Trigiani at her most lyrical and heartfelt.

I first discovered Big Stone Gap, Adriana Trigiani’s debut novel, over a dozen years ago. It was the summer of 2000 and we had just moved back to Lincoln after living in Fort Worth, Texas for a few years. There’s a lot about that particular summer that I remember quite vividly, but it’s funny how memory eludes us. I would’ve sworn that I loved Big Stone Gap—so much so that I almost re-read the book before I started in on the second in the series—but as I look back through my reading journal for that year, I see that I only gave it a “Good” rating. Apparently, I had a tough time getting interested, but after a few chapters, I was hooked. But still, only an average rating? Had I remembered this, I wonder if I would’ve bothered to continue with this series. Nonetheless, in an effort to start reading more from my shelves, I decided to try the sequel (Big Cherry Holler), but couldn’t get interested and set it aside. I wasn’t planning to continue with any more books from the series, but changed my mind after reading a few comments by readers who mentioned they liked Milk Glass Moon better than the second book. It turns out I did, too. I found it to be a bit reminiscent of Jan Karon’s Mitford series, at least with regard to the setting (in the Blue Ridge Mountains) and the large cast of characters that make up the close-knit community. I also enjoyed reading the passages focusing on the relationship between Ave Maria and her only child, Etta, and found that the dialogue between the two rang true, especially to this mother of an only daughter.

Final Thoughts: I was pleasantly surprised that I liked Milk Glass Moon as well as I did, especially after giving up on the second novel. I was also surprised to learn that it isn’t the final installment in a trilogy, but that there’s a fourth, entitled Home to Big Stone Gap. I don’t own a copy, but maybe I’ll see if it’s available on audio through my library.

Movie News

Every now and then, I am asked to name my favorite book. What a difficult question! I have read so many wonderful novels and works of nonfiction, and to name just one book is quite impossible. However, one of the first books to come to mind is Markus Zusak's amazing novel, The Book Thief. I've only read the story once, but it was so powerful that I know I will never forget the impact it had on me.

Today I was so excited to learn that the film of Zusak's novel is in production!! Go here to read more.

Sophie Nelisse 

(Liesel Meminger)

 Geoffrey Rush

(Hans Hubermann)

Emily Watson

(Rosa Hubermann)

 Ben Schnetzer

(Max Vandenburg)

Nico Liersch

(Rudy?)

??

(Death)

Music Monday

Feeling Mortal 

(click here to listen to sample tracks)

Shut Your Eyes Tight

Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon
Mystery/Thriller
Dave Gurney Series #2
2011 Books on Tape Audio
Reader: Scott Brick
Finished 1/7/13
Rating: 2.5/5 (Meh)


 
Publisher's Blurb:

A few months after the Mellery case pulled him out of retirement and nearly killed him, former NYPD homicide detective Dave Gurney receives a call about a case so bewildering that the thought of not looking into it seems unimaginable—even if his wife, Madeleine, would rather he do anything but.

The facts of what has occurred are horrible: a bride, newly wed to an eminent psychiatrist at his mountain estate, is found decapitated, her head apparently severed by a machete. Though police investigators believe that a Mexican gardener killed the young woman in a fit of jealous fury, the victim’s mother—a chilly high-society beauty—is having none of it. Drawn further into the mystery, Dave is buffeted by a series of revelations that transform the bizarre into the truly monstrous.

Underneath it all exists one of the darkest criminal schemes imaginable. As Gurney begins deciphering its grotesque outlines, his most cherished assumptions about himself are challenged, causing him to stare into an abyss so deep that it threatens to swallow not just him but Madeleine, too.

With Shut Your Eyes Tight, John Verdon delivers on the promise of his bestselling debut, Think of a Number, creating a portrait of evil let loose across generations that is as rife with moments of touching humanity as it is with spellbinding images of perversity.


I was very impressed with Verdon's debut thriller, Think of a Number, (which I read in the summer of 2011), so when I came across the audio for this sequel, I jumped right on it. Unfortunately, it wasn't as compelling as the first book, and I found it difficult to maintain an interest in the characters and the mystery. So much so that it wound up taking me over a month to complete. However, since I loved the first book, I've decided to give Verdon another chance. Rather than listening to the audio version of Let the Devil Sleep, I plan to read it in the print format. My friend Joy gave this third book a positive review (which you can read here) and since she and I have very similar reading tastes, I'm willing to try one more in this series. 

A Month in Summary - January 2013

Has it really been almost three years since I've posted a monthly recap?! Near as I can tell, my last was in March of 2010. I think I stopped because it was too much work and I was constantly behind with my reviews and didn't want to post the summary until I could provide links to those reviews. Well, it's a new year and I have a new attitude. I'm going to color outside the lines! :) I'm going to list the books I've read and not worry about the links. The reviews will come in due time. 

My January reading was focused primarily on selections from my shelves (with the exception of my audio books). As tempting as it is to read the newest or upcoming releases, I felt like spending the month sampling from my personal collection. The good news is that I cleared out a bunch of books from one of my shelves. The bad news is that I gave up on several before finally settling on one. Here's how the month ended:


Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon (audio) 2.5/5 (Meh)

Milk Glass Moon by Adriana Trigiana 4/5 (Very Good)

Off the Grid by P.J. Tracy 4/5 (Very Good)

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin (audio) 4/5 (Very Good)

The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister 4.5/5 (Excellent)

DNFs

Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry

The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch

The Promise of Rest by Reynolds Price

Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro

So how did I do with my plan to read from my personal library? Well, all of the DNF titles came from my shelves, but the only one in my completed stack is Milk Glass Moon. I borrowed Off the Grid on a whim and I had promised myself that I'd read my ARC of The Lost Art of Mixing before the hardcover was released on the 24th. I have an ARC of The Orchardist, but I only glanced at it once or twice (while listening to the audio) in order to mark a couple of passages.

But you're probably more interested in my thoughts on the books I read, rather than if I could follow through on my goal, right? Well, I'm hoping to get some reviews composed in the next few days, but suffice it to say that I was only disappointed in one of the books I finished.

My goal for February is to read from my stack of library books. Yep, I actually visited my local library for the first time in months! I was thrilled to find some books that I've been anxious to read, and I look forward to spending a guilt-free month supporting my public library system.

Emily, Alone

Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan
Fiction
2011 Penguin
Finished 12/23/12
Rating: 4.75/5 (Terrific!)



 
Publisher's Blurb:

It's the fall of 2007 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The upcoming presidential race is starting to take shape. The Steelers are on the march to a division title. But on Grafton Street near Highland Park, the days and nights can be disturbingly quiet for Emily Maxwell, a woman in her late seventies still trying to adjust to life without her beloved and recently deceased husband, Henry. With her old cadre of friends dwindling one by one and her two adult children living far away and wrapped up in their own lives, Emily does her best to fill her days by listening to classical music on the radio, reading George Eliot and Thomas Hardy, and caring for her aging but obstreperous dog Rufus. She lives an outwardly placid life of visits to art museums, gossip at her club, and two-for-one buffet breakfasts at the Eat 'n Park with her sister-in-law Arlene. That placidity is shattered, however, when, one morning at the Eat 'n Park, Arlene's speech suddenly garbles and she collapses to the floor. Arlene, after a brief stay at the hospital, is fine, but is Emily? Forced more than ever to look to her own resources, more conscious than ever that her own remaining time on earth will not likely be long, Emily quietly and slowly resumes a more active control of her life, determined to fill the days that she has left with thought, emotion, and meaning.

In Emily, Alone, with supreme sensitivity and exquisite detail, novelist Stewart O'Nan follows Emily through the better part of a year, illuminating her daily tasks, her holiday celebrations, and her unspoken yearnings and disappointments. In the pages of Emily, Alone readers already familiar with the Maxwell family from O'Nan's earlier novel Wish You Were Here are reunited with Emily's recovering alcoholic daughter Margaret and diligent, eager-to-please son Kenneth. Those who are meeting the family for the first time may find themselves strangely familiar with both the ties of emotion and experience that bind the Maxwells together and the subtle tensions that complicate their interactions. With a rare deftness of observation and minuteness of description, O'Nan shows us not merely a family but family itself—the sturdy but sensitive web that assumes so many different shapes but is somehow everywhere the same.

Eager for love but also unable to resist her need to direct the lives of her relatives, Emily Maxwell continually walks an emotional tightrope, striving simultaneously to recruit affection from her children and grandchildren but also to remind them that grandmother knows best. Ever conscious of her age and the widening gap between her own ideas and the mainstream of her society, she walks other tightropes as well: between a consciousness of change and a yearning for stasis; between the lengthening past and the shortening future; between the enduring preciousness of life and the inevitability of death. In Emily, Alone, Stewart O'Nan infuses the everyday with a miraculous vividness and urgency. Through Emily Maxwell, he firmly declares that no life is ordinary.

I loved this book! It was just the right thing to read during the busy holiday season, as the chapters are short (almost vignettes) and I could easily pick it up and set it down without losing interest. I loved Emily (and her loyal dog, Rufus) and I found myself nodding my head, feeling a bit like I was seeing a glimpse of my future self in some of Emily's situations and emotions. It also brought to mind memories of my maternal grandmother (who lived alone for 11 years after the death of my grandfather), as well as reflecting on my relationships with my mother (who turns 80 this year) and my daughter (who will be 30!).

One might consider the subject of an elderly widow too depressing, but I thought it was an uplifting novel and one in which O'Nan deftly paints a realistic portrait of the aging. The only other book I've read by this author is Last Night at the Lobster and I wasn't terribly impressed, although I sure had fun writing my review. I doubt I would have given Emily, Alone a second glance, had I not read Nan's wonderful review. I encourage you to visit her blog and see what she has to say about this gem of a book. She has included several passages that will give you an idea of the author's superb attention to detail. 

Final Thoughts: This one's a keeper! I am definitely adding Wish You Were Here and The Odds to my 2013 reading list!

The School of Essential Ingredients

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
Fiction
2009 Penguin Audio
Reader: Cassandra Campbell
Finished: 11/30/12
Rating: 4.75/5 (Terrific!)



Product Description:

Once a month on Monday night, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class. Among them is Claire, a young woman coming to terms with her new identity as a mother; Tom, a lawyer whose life has been overturned by loss; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer adapting to life in America; and Carl and Helen, a long-married couple whose union contains surprises the rest of the class would never suspect.

The students have come to learn the art behind Lillian's soulful dishes, but it soon becomes clear that each seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. One by one they are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of what they create, including a white-on-white cake that prompts wistful reflections on the sweet fragility of love, and a garlic and red sauce that seems to spark one romance but end another. Over time, the paths of the students mingle and intertwine, and the essence of Lillian's cooking expands beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of their lives, with results that are often unexpected, and always delicious.

It's been over three years since I first discovered this lovely book. After receiving an ARC of Bauermeister's follow-up novel (The Lost Art of Mixing), I knew it was time to re-read The School of Essential Ingredients. I thoroughly enjoyed re-visiting Lillian's restaurant and Cassandra Campbell's excellent narration didn't disappoint. 

You can read my original review here and purchase The Lost Art of Mixing at your local bookstore on January 24th!

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Nonfiction
2010 Random House Audio
Readers: Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin
Finished 11/26/12
Rating: 2.5/5 (Fair)



Overview

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.

Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia—a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo—to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells.

Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family—past and present—is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family—especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah, who was devastated to learn about her mother’s cells. She was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Did it hurt her when researchers infected her cells with viruses and shot them into space? What happened to her sister, Elsie, who died in a mental institution at the age of fifteen? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance?

Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.

After reading so many positive reviews for this book, I was anxious to finally listen to the audio when it popped up in my library queue. The narrative starts off with a bang and I learned a lot about the history of HeLa cells. Unfortunately, as the story progressed I found it difficult to pay attention and felt the author focused too much on Deborah's life. I doubt I would've have finished the book, had I read the print edition. Disappointing.

Flight Behavior

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Fiction
2012 HarperCollins
Finished 11/14/12
Rating: 4.75/5 (Terrific)




One of the gifts of a Kingsolver novel is the resplendence of her prose. She takes palpable pleasure in the craft of writing, creating images that stay with the reader long after her story is done.
—Dominique Browning (The New York Times Book Review)


Overview:

Dellarobia Turnbow is a restless farm wife who gave up her own plans when she accidentally became pregnant at seventeen. Now, after a decade of domestic disharmony on a failing farm, she has settled for permanent disappointment but seeks momentary escape through an obsessive flirtation with a younger man. She hikes up a mountain road behind her house toward a secret tryst, but instead encounters a shocking sight: a silent, forested valley filled with what looks like a lake of fire. She can only understand it as a cautionary miracle, but it sparks a raft of other explanations from scientists, religious leaders and the media. The bewildering emergency draws rural farmers into unexpected acquaintance with urbane journalists, opportunists, sightseers, and a striking biologist with his own stake in the outcome. As the community lines up to judge the woman and her miracle, Dellarobia confronts her family, her church, her town, and a larger world, in a flight toward truth that could undo all she has ever believed.

Flight Behavior was a wonderful read and, I believe, Kingsolver's best yet. The writing is exquisite and captivating and after two months, I'm still thinking about Dellarobia, Ovid Byron and the Monarch butterflies. I marked several passages in my book, but then made the decision to give up blogging and loaned my ARC to a friend. Now I don't have any to share with you, but perhaps that's for the best. This is a novel you will want to discover on your own. 

With the exception of The Lacuna and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I've read all of Kingsovler's novels and essay collections. I've enjoyed each book, but my favorites are The Poisonwood Bible and High Tide In Tuscon, both of which I'd love to re-read someday. Flight Behavior is now at the top of the list. Highly recommend!

Rejected

Last week I made the decision to spend the month reading from my stacks. These books have been in my possession for close to a decade, if not longer (and have moved from Lincoln to Texas and back to Lincoln again!). With fairly strict adherence to my 50 page rule, I've managed to toss five aside. The good news is I finally found something I'm enjoying. These are the losers.

Read two dozen pages. No interest at all.

Bought this one at Powell's in the Portland airport. Isn't the cover art beautiful? Unfortunately, the coming-of-age tale didn't do anything for me.

I loved A Fine Balance and was anxious to finally give this one a read. Judging by the ratings on Goodreads, I'm in the minority, but after 40 pages it simply didn't appeal to me.

It's been such a long time since I read Big Stone Gap that I'd pretty much forgotten the entire back story when I picked up Trigiani's follow-up novel. I didn't even make it past 30 pages. With that said, I'm well over a 100 pages in Milk Glass Moon (the third in the series). Go figure. I may have to come back to this when I'm finished.

Another sequel that failed to pull me in. These Is My Words is one of my all-time favorite epistolary novels. I've read it twice and have hand sold well over a 100 copies. Unfortunately, Sarah's Quilt feels slow and plodding. I read over 50 pages and found I was beginning to check to see how much further I had to read. Not a good sign.

Shhhhhh....

Don't tell my husband. I'm pretty sure he has a bet with one of his co-workers that I wouldn't last two weeks. ;)

Thank you for all your sweet comments. Between these and those posted on Facebook, I'm reminded that there are many readers out there who don't leave comments,  but are nonetheless following my blog and recommendations. I'm quite humbled.

It's been less than two weeks since I decided to close up shop and I have to admit that I'm missing it just a little bit. I don't miss the time involved in composing an informative book review, but I do miss the conversations shared with you. I'm still following my favorite blogs, but it feels like bit lopsided.

So... the compromise.

I am going to continue to keep a running list of the books I've read in my sidebar, as well post a very simple entry (similar to what I'll share on Goodreads) when I finish a book. If I mark a favorite passage, I'll include that, but no more long, involved reviews. Not much of a change from the past few months, is it? The big change involves commenting. Responding to comments has always been important to me, but as you all know, it can be very time consuming. So, unless asked a specific question, I will no longer respond general comments. I'm also going to refrain from joining any challenges this year and will only accept ARCs by my favorite authors. It's time to start reading more books from my stacks, many of which have been lurking for over a decade!

So here's to the New Year and a new plan. Thank you all for your loyalty and love. 

The End

Good friends and good books --

Things we want to hang on to forever.

After nearly seven years of blogging, I have decided the time has come to say goodbye. At least from this vantage point. I can't begin to tell you how much I have enjoyed sharing my passion for reading, cooking, gardening, music and traveling with all of you on these pages, but I've grown weary of the process. Instead, I look forward to reading for the pure pleasure of escaping into a book without the intrusive thoughts of which passages to mark or which scenes to describe in my review. I look forward to enjoying a beautiful sunset or a delicious meal without feeling the urge to grab my camera in order to document the event for a blog entry. And, I look forward to curling up with a book during the hours I'd normally devote to composing and publishing my posts.

And yet, I can't just simply walk away from this wonderful world of blogging. You, my dear friends, have become so important to me during these past few years. You've cheered me on in the good times and held my hand (albeit, virtually) and offered words of comfort during some very difficult days. I am blessed to have come to know so many incredibly loving people and I thank you for your friendship and the kindness you've bestowed upon me. But as I said, this is only goodbye from this side of the screen. I still plan to visit your blogs and look forward to keeping in touch via email and Goodreads. I may be ready to free up several hours a week, but I'm not ready to go cold turkey and completely unplug! ;)

I think Kay summed it up quite nicely when she decided to stop blogging:

Be well. Be happy. Read a lot or not a lot if you don't want to. Mostly, my wish for each of you is that you live and glory in the present and in the richness of the time we have here on this earth. Life is short. Tell someone you love them every day.

And so, I'll see you around the Blogosphere.

Be well.

With love,

Les

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your loved ones

a very Merry Christmas!

Last Minute Shopping

Still looking for that perfect book to give this holiday season? Take a listen to this wonderful program on NHPR. I plan to refer back to the show in the coming year.

2012 Year End Survey

1. Ten favorite books read in 2012?

• The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Gone by Mo Hayder
• Little Princes by Conor Grennan
• Paris in Love by Eloisa James
• The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
• Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan
• The Passage by Justin Cronin
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

2. Most disappointing book?

• Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray

3. Most surprising books of 2012?

• The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

4. Book(s) you recommended to people most in 2012?

•  The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield
• and all the others listed in #1

5. Favorite authors you discovered in 2012? 

• Gillian Flynn
• Mo Hayder
• Justin Cronin
• Jenny Wingfield

6. Most thrilling book in 2012?

• Gone by Mo Hayder

7. Book you most anticipated in 2012?

• Love Anthony by Lisa Genova
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsovler

8. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?

• Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan
• Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs by Heather Lende

9. Most memorable characters in 2012?

• Swan Lake, of The Homecoming of Samuel Lake
• Dellarobia Turnbow, of Flight Behavior
• Emily Maxwell, of Emily, Alone

10. Most beautifully written books read in 2012?

• The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
• The Devoted by Jonathan Hull

11. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?

• Little Princes by Conor Grennan

12. Book you can't believe you waited until 2012 to finally read?

• The Passage by Justin Cronin

13. Favorite passage/quote from a book you read in 2012?

A good marriage drags a long tail of memory behind it. A single word or gesture, a tone of voice can conjure up so many remembrances. Laurie and I had been flirting like this for thirty-odd years, since the day we met in college and we both went a little love-crazy. Things were different now, of course. At fifty-one, love was a quieter experience. We drifted through the days together. But we both remembered how it all started, and even now, in the middle of my middle age, when I think of that shining young girl, I still feel a little thrill of first love, still there, still burning like a pilot light. (Defending Jacob by William Landy)

14. Authors which you would like to read more of in 2013? 

• Gillian Flynn
• Mo Hayder
• Donna Leon
• Justin Cronin

15. Books that had a shocking ending?

• Defending Jacob by William Landy

16. Best children's book read in 2012?

• When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

17. Any challenges you completed in 2012?

• 2012 Audio Book Challenge
• Paris in July 2012
• R.I.P. VII

18. Any read-alongs you completed in 2012?

• The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (with Bellezza)

19. Blogging plans for 2013?

• To be announced...