My Most Recent Blog Posts

Susannah's Garden by Debbie Macomber (unabridged audio) (MIRA, 2006)

Penn — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:38:05 -0400

Not part of the Blossom Street series, but at the end of the book Susannah is planning to buy the flower shop next door to A Good Yarn. Susannah goes to her home town to convince her mother to move into an assisted living facility, as dementia is becoming noticeable. Since her father's death a few months ago, Susannah has not been herself and is not appreciating her good marriage of 20+ years. Her 19 y.o. dd is a brat and really got on my nerves, but watching Susannah come to terms with and appreciate her life now was a nice journey. Overall a good listen. Read by Laural Merlington. NFM

Escape the Night by Joanna Wayne (Forrester Square)

Penn — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:17:17 -0400

Last book in the Forrester Square Day Care continuity. Good book, but I wanted more. NFM

Next Week (Oct 12) is Teen Read Week - Read for the Fun of It

Penn — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:29:16 -0400

I did not know this until I got an email from Rachel Caine's YA mailing list (she's doing a signing in conjunction with Teen Read Week). So, how will YOU encourage the teens in your lives to read? What about you teachers who teach the teenage grades -- are your schools doing anything special? Here's a link that I found with some info. NFM

Come Fly With Me by Jill Shalvis (Forrester Square, 2003)

Penn — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:24:50 -0400

I loved this book! The h, Katherine Kinard, is one of the 3 partners in Forrester Square day care and she wants true love, but she thinks she'll never find it. The H, Nick Spencer, is an Alaskan bush pilot, widowed with 3 little girls (4, 2 and 10 mos old). He's come to Seattle to find a wife. They've seen each other in the coffee shop next door to Katherine's day care, but don't meet until Katherine hits his rental with her car. Nick was raised in foster care and his first marriage was comfortable but not for love, so he's ready to settle again. Sadly, he doesn't see it as settling b/c he's never really been loved. Katherine has so much love to give and she just does. I loved that these two were so honest and the kids so cute. Affection with the secondary characters (I always love that), humor, poignancy (is that word), heart-string tugs. :) Good read. NFM

So far, I have 210 books to mail in for the Book Challenge

Penn — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:46:35 -0400

Anyone want to have a friendly competition? I'm getting all my bookworm friends and family who aren't participating in the challenge online to give me a list of the books that they've read this year. My goal is to mail everyone's list in on or shortly after November 1st. As of this moment, I have 210 books from 5 people.

Who thinks that they can beat that?

Safe Passage (originally published as We Followed Our Stars) by Ida Cook (wrote as Mary Burchell) is now Available

Penn — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:30:39 -0400

Just wanted you all to know that you can order it now (a month early -- y'all know about ordering early, right?). I read it last spring in its 1976 version and vickiso read an early copy and here's a link to our reviews (well, right now it's just our reviews, but as more people put "Ida Cook" in the author field of book reviews, that page will grow). Here's a link also to my blog entry about the book before I finished reading (the system doesn't recognize the same name in the regular "tags" field and the "author" field). As y'all discuss it, if you're doing a blog entry instead of a book review and put "Ida Cook" in the tags field, those discussions will pop up on the page to that link. And lastly, here's Jayne's quick reply to my question about what this version has that my 1976 version didn't.

Hi Penn, Just responding to your earlier question. I've heard from the editor that the new edition includes a new foreword by noted biographer Anne Sebba, and a reading group guide at the back. Also, all new photos since the 1976 version. Cheers, Jayne Community Manager

NFM

Illegally Yours by Jacqueline Diamond (Harlequin Forrester Square, 2003)

Penn — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:59:08 -0400

This was requested from my "bookshelf" by a fellow member of one of those online book trading places. Well, this one wasn't mine -- most of "my" bookshelf is really books that Sadhbh and J (aka Julia) are done with (this was a hand-me-down from J). So, since I didn't have all the Forrester Square books, I wasn't going to read any. Well, when I pulled it off the shelf to mail it, I glanced at the first page and didn't put it down -- read it all in a couple of hours. Attorney Daniel Adler is as straight-laced as they come, so why is he entering into a "green card" marriage with 9-months-pregnant Kara Tamaki, whom he just met? Very nice read of two kind, thoughtful people who probably felt love at first sight coming together. Fortunately, stands very well alone. Unfortunately, I want to know the other stories (the reason I wasn't going to read any of them sigh). NFM

My YTD Stats

Penn — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:19:55 -0400

It's close enough to quarter-end that I thought I'd go ahead and summarize my stats. I'm not sure that I'll read a book before Wednesday (yes, really).

The system thinks that I have read 126 books, but those include the books that I read with my children. My own stats and percents are based on the books that I chose for myself.

A Baby For Eve by Maggie Kingsley (M&B Medical Romance, Oct 08)

Penn — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:09:34 -0400

Eleventh in the Brides of Penhally Bay continuity. From the back of the book: Nurse Eve Dwyer hasn’t set eyes on Dr Tom Cornish in twenty years. Why has he come back to Penhally Bay now, after she’s built a life for herself . . .? Because . . . [a]fter a lifetime of running, he’s finally realised he’ll never love anyone more. But the flood waters are rising in Penhally, and Tom is called to head a rescue. He has little opportunity to make amends with Eve. Is it too late, or is there still a chance for them to have the happiness and family they both deserve so much? My thoughts: This is a well-written book that tackles issues we never see in our series romance. These are two good people who made mistakes 20 years ago and deserve to forgive themselves and each other and move ahead. I only wish that the word count had allowed us to see them solidify their new relationship. We have a discussion with spoilers going on over here. Please join us AFTER you've read the book. NFM

A Baby For Eve by Maggie Kingsley discussion WITH SPOILERS

Penn — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:36:37 -0400

I haven't written my review on this one yet, but sheandeen/Nancy has and it has triggered quite a discussion in a couple of other threads. So, I decided that it's time for a discussion with spoilers. Please, if you've not read the book yet, buy it, read it and then come by. Don't join us if you've not read the book (unless you're a M&B author or editor) . . . not to be unwelcoming, but this discussion really needs to take place in the context of the book.

Penn