LOVE SHOULD COME WITH WARNING LABELS — A REVIEW

Clara’s relationship with Christian is intense from the start, and like nothing she’s ever experienced before. But what starts as devotion quickly becomes obsession, and it’s almost too late before Clara realizes how far gone Christian is–and what he’s willing to do to make her stay.

Now Clara has left the city—and Christian—behind. No one back home has any idea where she is, but she still struggles to shake off her fear. She knows Christian won’t let her go that easily, and that no matter how far she runs, it may not be far enough….

And so begins the story of an obsession that takes over the lives of Clara and everyone she loves. In alternating chapters, veering between the past and the present, and in Clara’s first person narrative, we learn how the love began and where it all led. Like most things about our emotions, even when we see the red flags and hear the warning bells, we are sure that we can still control things. That we can stop the bad things from coming.

Learning the lesson about how little control we have is Clara’s story and the core of Stay, a thoughtful and provocative glimpse of love gone wrong. As Clara and her father settle in to a beach town outside of Seattle, surrounded by islands and the whole aura of the sea and a lighthouse, we also experience with them the idyllic moments when it seems as thought life can start over. That the past can be gone. And we live through the glaring awareness that nothing could be further from the truth.

What will happen to ultimately show Clara and her father that sometimes the past cannot disappear, even if we want it to do so? I like this excerpt near the end that shows us that we don’t actually have a lot of control:

“Our memories and the events of our lives are untidy things. We wish that we could file them away and shut the door, or we wish the opposite–that they would stay with us forever. You want to banish that remembrance of a tight hold on your ankle, a rope under a bed, the amber-colored medicine bottles of your father’s, the door your mother slams after a night of too much wine and jealousy…But the images are all wild things that will do what they wish….”

I loved the characters, the settings, and the message of this story. Recommended for anyone who has ever been in love with the wrong person. Five stars.

BOOK HOARDING: A PLAN TO CURB THOSE IMPULSES — JUNE 11

When I think of my various collections, including my obsessive need for books, I often ask myself if I’ve crossed the line into hoarding.

Which is probably why I’ve been reading a variety of both fiction and nonfiction books about the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder manifested as hoarding.  Coming Clean is a delightful memoir that is my latest journey into the world of compulsive collecting.

As a result, I’ve been systematically editing my collections over the past few months.  First, many of the dolls went out into bins in the garage.  I have not decided what to do with them….yet.  But they’re not coming back inside, unless others rotate out there to make room for them.

Now the shelves pictured below still have some dolls…but before the purge, there were dolls on the tops of all the shelves.  I chatted about this in another blog post awhile ago.

Some Shelves After the Doll Purge

I’ve also donated books to the library on occasion, and turned to the library and Sparky, my Kindle, for new reading material.  With some exceptions.  The ARCs are usually in a physical form…and I’ve been recycling some of them via my Reading Room, as well as a few other books that I’m passing along.  And, on occasion, I seemingly MUST have a physical copy of a book by a favorite author.  So I have to make room for more books on the shelves.

Today I cleared out two boxes of books that I am pretty sure I won’t be reading again.  That purge leaves a little space for some of the incoming books.

 

 

 

The boxes have gone into the garage to be donated…either to the library or to other readers.

Sometimes I have to be ruthless with my purges….but I’m sure that, even after my editing, I have more stuff than many people do.  But I’m slowly moving in the right direction.

What do you do about your incoming books and/or other collections?  Do you periodically purge?  Or are you still deciding what to do?

CURL UP WITH BOOKS ON MONDAY: WHAT ARE YOU READING? — JUNE 10

Welcome to our weekly bookish place where we share our adventures in reading.  Come along and join us as we explore other blogs and feel a community spirit.

This week, I’m posting my Monday Reading, hosted by Book Journey, at this site; I often feel that I’m neglecting it!

I’ve posted my Mailbox Books at still another blog.  Check out what I got!

ON THE BLOGS:

Serendipitous Mondays:  Musing About Reading Habits

Tuesday Potpourri:  Intros/Teasers:  Flora

Sweet Anticipation:  Waiting for “Accidents Happen”

So Many Choices, So Little Time:  Choosing

Taking a Risk on a Friday:  Coming Clean

Saturday Snapshot:  New Beginnings & Family Connections

Sweet Saturday Sample:  A Respite by the Bay

Sunday Potpourri:  Early Morning Breezes & Good Books

Reading-Click Titles for Reviews:

What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty

Kind of Cruel, by Sophie Hannah

The Lost Husband (e-book), by Katherine Center

All the Available Light, edited by Yona McDonough

All the Days of My Life (so far), by Alison Sweeney

What’s Up Next? (Click Titles/Covers for More Info)

Flora, by Gail Godwin

Ten-year-old Helen and her summer guardian, Flora, are isolated together in Helen’s decaying family house while her father is doing secret war work in Oak Ridge during the final months of World War II.At three Helen lost her mother and the beloved grandmother who raised her has just died.A fiercely imaginative child, Helen is desperate to keep her house intact with all its ghosts and stories.Flora, her late mother’s twenty-two-year old first cousin, who cries at the drop of a hat, is ardently determined to do her best for Helen.Their relationship and its fallout, played against a backdrop of a lost America will haunt Helen for the rest of her life.

This darkly beautiful novel about a child and a caretaker in isolation evokes shades of The Turn of the Screw and also harks back to Godwin’s memorable novel of growing up, The Finishing School. With its house on top of a mountain and a child who may be a bomb that will one day go off, Flora tells a story of love, regret, and the things we can’t undo.It will stay with readers long after the last page is turned.

Coming Clean, by Kimberly Rae Miller

Kim Miller is an immaculately put-together woman with a great career, a loving boyfriend, and a beautifully tidy apartment in Brooklyn. You would never guess that behind the closed doors of her family’s idyllic Long Island house hid teetering stacks of aging newspaper, broken computers, and boxes upon boxes of unused junk festering in every room — the product of her father’s painful and unending struggle with hoarding.

In this dazzling memoir, Kim brings to life her experience of growing up in a rat-infested home, hiding her father’s shameful secret from friends for years, and of the emotional burden that ultimately led to her suicide attempt. And in beautiful prose, Miller sheds light on her complicated yet loving relationship with her parents that has thrived in spite of the odds.

Coming Clean is a story about recognizing where you come from and understanding the relationships that define you. It is also a powerful story of recovery and redemption.

44 Charles Street, by Danielle Steel (Mt. TBR Challenge)

A magical transformation takes place in Danielle Steel’s luminous new novel: Strangers become roommates, roommates become friends, and friends become a family in a turn-of-the-century house in Manhattan’s West Village.

The plumbing leaked; the furniture was rescued from garage sales. And every inch was being restored to its original splendor—even as a relationship fell apart. Owner of a struggling art gallery and newly separated from her boyfriend, Francesca Thayer does the math and then the unimaginable. She puts out an advertisement for boarders, and soon her Greenwich Village house becomes a whole new world. First comes Eileen, a pretty L.A. transplant, now a New York City schoolteacher. Then there’s Chris, a young father struggling for custody of his seven-year-old son. The final tenant is Marya, a celebrated cookbook author hoping to heal after the death of her husband. Over the course of one amazing, unforgettable, life-changing year, the house at 44 Charles Street fills with laughter, heartbreak, and, always, hope. In the hands of master storyteller Danielle Steel, it’s a place those who visit will never want to leave.

No Child of Mine (e-book), by Susan Lewis

What if you knew a child was in danger – and no one believed you?
Alex Lake’s day job is all about helping people, especially children. She cares about them passionately and does everything in her power to rescue them from those who mean them harm.
When the case of three-year-old Ottilie Wade comes to her attention, Alex feels an overpowering need to make a real difference in the little girl’s life, but no one is prepared to believe that Ottilie is in danger.
In the end, Alex makes a decision that has consequences that no one, least of all Alex, could have foreseen.

***

That’s a glimpse of last week and next.  I hope you will come by and share your blogging/reading adventures.

JUNE BOOKSHELF CLEARING EVENT — COME ON BY & JOIN IN — JUNE 6

Good morning…and welcome to another Bookshelf Clearing Event.  I have missed a couple of months, but now I’m eager to launch another giveaway from my Curl up with Books Reading Room.

The Reading Room will be open for exploration…and all you have to do to participate is to stop by, leave a comment, and add another comment if you are already a follower, or if you’ve started following this blog.  And please leave your contact info in the comment.

The event will last until June 30, 2013, so COME ON OVER AND PARTICIPATE!

SO MANY CHOICES, SO LITTLE TIME! — CHOOSING — JUNE 6

Welcome to another Booking Through Thursday, during which we ponder our bookish topics.  Like today’s:

 

What makes you choose the books you read?
Genre? Reviews? Certain authors? Covers? Recommendations?

 

***

Before blogging, I would choose a book in the bookstore based on its cover and blurb, as well as the author’s name.  I usually picked up books by favorite/familiar authors.  Maybe someone had recommended the book.

But nowadays, I find books I want to read from seeing them on blogs and reading what other bloggers have to say about them.  I also find books on Goodreads.  As a result, my world of reading has expanded exponentially.

And so have my stacks!

I still choose books from favorite authors, but my list of favorites has definitely grown.

Here are some books I’ve discovered from blogging that would not have been on my radar otherwise:

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin (Read in 2010) (Click for review)

Godmother:  The Secret Cinderella Story, by Carolyn Turgeon (also read in 2010)

 

Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan (Read in 2012 – and When She Woke, by this author)

 

Ninepins, by Rosy Thornton (and her previous book, too! – The Tapestry of Love)

 

Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn (and the previous books Sharp Objects and Dark Places)

 

These examples are books I probably would not have known about or chosen without blogging.  So I can safely say that I find most of my reading material from other blogs these days.

What about you?

 

MAY READING WRAP-UP: ANOTHER GREAT MONTH! — JUNE 1

 

Another month is behind us!  Here’s what happened in my reading life this month.

What did your month look like?  Come on by and share….

 

MAY 2013:

1.      Bodyguard & the Show Dog, The, by Christy Tillery French – 298 pages (suspense) – 5/13/13 (Sequel Challenge)

2.     Cocktail Hour (e-book), by Tara McTiernan – 348 pages (contemporary fiction) – 5/4/13

3.     Don’t Go (e-book), by Lisa Scottoline – 376 pages – (contemporary fiction/suspense) – 5/20/13

4.    Engagements, The - J. Courtney Sullivan – 377 pages (historical/contemporary fiction) — 5/2/13

5.    Finding Lily (e-book), by Lisa Ellis – 160 pages (contemporary fiction) – 5/11/13 (Rev. to be posted on 5/30/13)

6.    Fly Away, by Kristin Hannah – 400 pages (contemporary fiction) – 5/8/13 (Sequel Challenge)

7.    He’s Gone (e-book), by Deb Caletti – 352 pages (contemporary fiction/suspense) – 5/30/13

8.    Husband’s Secret, The, by Liane Moriarty – 394 pages (contemporary fiction) – 5/28/13

9.    Instructions from a Heatwave, by Maggie O’Farrell – 290 pages (contemporary fiction) – 5/10/13

10.  Just Breathe, by Susan Wiggs – 470 pages (contemporary fiction) – 5/17/13 – (Mt. TBR Challenge)

11.  K Street Affair, The (e-book), by Mari Passananti – 362 pages (suspense thriller) – 5/24/13

12.  Some Are Sicker Than Others (e-book) – 390 pages (contemporary fiction) – 5/21/13

13.  Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine (e-book) – 234 pages (historical fiction) – 5/19/13

14.  Summer on Blossom Street, by Debbie Macomber – 361 pages (contemporary fiction) – 5/5/13 – (Sequel Challenge)

15.   Sweet Salt Air, by Barbara Delinsky – 402 pages – (contemporary fiction) – 5/27/13

16.  Walled-In, by J. Elke Ertle, 329 pages – (memoir) – 5/13/13

***

BOOKS READ IN MAY –   16

PAGES READ IN MAY –  5,543

BOOKS READ YTD –   85

PAGES READ YTD –   27, 208

FAVORITE FICTION READ:  Fly Away, by Kristin Hannah; and Don’t Go, by Lisa Scottoline

FAVORITE NONFICTION READ:   Walled-In, by J. Elke Ertle

CHALLENGE PROGRESS:

      COZIES — 3/7

      SEQUELS — 20/?

      MT. TBR — 12/24

     WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB – 2/4

***

This month, it was really difficult to pick favorite reads, as there were so many!  How often does that happen?

 

LIVES UPENDED IN THE AFTERMATH OF TRAGEDY — A REVIEW

 

 

 

Twenty-five years after her fifteen-year-old brother Ben supposedly murdered her mother and two sisters, Libby Day is struggling and at a point in her life when she must find a way to bring money into the coffers. The fund that sustained her after the tragedies has dried up, and Libby flails about, seeking a solution.

And what she finds is a group of individuals devoted to proving her brother was innocent–and willing to pay for mementos and information.

Libby was seven years old when the murders happened, and the only survivor. Her testimony put her brother behind bars, but now she is wondering if things happened the way she believed it did. She reexamines the “darkplaces” to figure things out. And starts meeting with people to find out more, too. She also dreams about the events, with different scenarios each time. And she recalls how life as the orphan has changed everything for her, too.

The setting is a Kansas farm in a small town filled with gossipy, mean-spirited individuals seemingly bent on shunning the Day family long before the tragedy struck.

In alternating narratives, Dark Places: A Novel takes us back to 1985, to learn bits and pieces of that fateful day from the mother, Patty Day, and from Ben, the alleged perpetrator. As more is revealed, we begin to have our own doubts…and as we follow Libby’s first-person narration in the present, watching her accumulate data, the questions begin to grow until we wonder if there will ever be any definitive answers.

All of the characters are flawed individuals, but beneath the surface of each, there is a hint of how they could be redeemed. If only…

What mysterious person did Patty Day meet that night? Why is Ben so secretive about the events, and why is he denying having a girlfriend named Diondra? What, if anything, did his friend Trey have to do with the tragic events?

Like a tornado sweeping across the flatlands, the events come full circle until finally the reader knows it all. And there were definitely some surprises. Another unputdownable read from Gillian Flynn. Five stars.

ARMCHAIR BEA: DAY THREE — LITERARY FICTION — MAY 30

Let’s curl up for Day Three of Armchair BEA.

Genre Post:  Literary Fiction

Today’s genre is literary fiction. Much like “genre fiction” and “classic fiction,” literary fiction can be a very broad topic. Not necessarily a bad thing.

***

When I think of literary fiction, Margaret Atwood is one of the first names to spring into my mind.

Her The Handmaid’s Tale pulls me back into the story, over and over.

Also…Joyce Maynard, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Roth, Richard Yates, and a new one for me recently:  Joshua Henkin.

I have mixed feelings about Joyce Carol Oates, but there is little doubt in my mind that her work is literary.  She often takes familiar stories from the headlines and fictionalizes them, like she did with My Sister, My Love.  Reminiscent of the Jon-Benet Ramsey case.

Many books by Joyce Maynard have resonated with me, but this book, The Cloud Chamber, is a wonderful story of the ties that bind and then come undone due to tragedy and loss. Categorized as YA fiction, this story is one that young and old can enjoy and relate to, especially the portions that reveal the chasm that yawns between family members when silence rules the day.

Henkin’s Matrimony had those special ingredients I attribute to literary fiction:  the metaphors, the themes, the timeless elements.

Philip Roth’s American Pastoral is beautifully wrought.

One of my recent Richard Yates reads was The Easter Parade.

One theme shows the characters and  how the significance of their tarnished childhoods informed their destinies.

***

What literary fiction have you enjoyed?  And why?

ARMCHAIR BEA: BLOGGING ADVENTURES & GENRE FICTION — MAY 29

 

Welcome to Day Two of Armchair BEA.

Participants today are chatting about their blog development…and Genre Fiction.  Or perhaps one or the other.

While I was reflecting on my blogging journey, I had to smile.  It has definitely been a riotous experience…even a bit obsessive.  My first blog, Story Corner, came into being in April 2008.  But it would be another year before I really started connecting with other bloggers.  And then I began adding blogs, right and left, as I realized that there were great places other than Blogger (Word Press) where I could play around with themes, designs, and the look of a blog.  At one point, I had twenty blogs…I eventually tailored the number down to eleven.

Discovering memes opened up new avenues in the community of blogging, as I then realized that there were many friendly blogs out there with which to connect.

I joined a group blog with other authors (Dames of Dialogue), and as part of that experience, I wrote about my adventures in blogging, in My Life on the Edge:  The Crazy Adventures of a Writer/Blogger.

Because I have so many blogs, my “following” is scattered, with An Interior Journey with the largest following, at 150.  The total number in all the blogs is close to 800.  An improvement over the first year when I had perhaps three followers…lol

More important than numbers for me is the feeling of sharing experiences with others.  Finding books I love because another blogger, whose tastes are similar to mine, has loved it.

Genre Fiction:

If you’re a reader of genre fiction do you have a favorite author or series?

I read fiction and nonfiction, and mostly stand-alone books.  However, there are some series books that keep me buying or borrowing, in order to follow a favorite character into his/her next adventures.

I love Sue Grafton’s Alphabet Series, and can’t wait for her next one…W, I believe.  And I recently discovered the In Death Series by J. D. Robb, and have read the first two in the series.  Laura Lippman’s mystery series called Baltimore Blues has captured my interest.

All of these series are mysteries, and that seems to be the case for me.  I’ll be more likely to follow a series when it’s a mystery.

My other favorite authors include Elizabeth Berg, who spotlights those ordinary moments in life and turns them on their side to examine them; or Kristin Hannah, who does a similar kind of exploration.  Then there’s Jodi Picoult, whose books burrow into the dark corners of controversial issues and force us to consider them, too.

Barbara Delinsky is an author I’ve followed for years.  She takes a look a family dynamics and relationships, and in the process of reading one of her stories, we enjoy the journey on which she takes us.  Or at least, I do.

There many authors I enjoy, and I’m always up for discovering new ones.  And every day I blog, I’m likely to find another.

 

 

 

 

 

What about you?  What are you discovering as you blog?  How has blogging changed you?

 

ARMCHAIR BEA: STANDING THE TEST OF TIME — CLASSICS — MAY 28

Welcome to Armchair BEA!

Click on over to see everyone participating in today’s topic, which is Why I Love the Classics.

While I haven’t been reading classics much lately, I do recall enjoying them very much when I was young.  A favorite that springs to mind is Pride and Prejudice.  The language is beautiful and the themes are timeless.

A couple of years ago, I read To Kill a Mockingbird for the very first time.  Another beautiful story that stands the test of time.  Which is the primary thing that makes a classic special.

I love Daphne Du Maurier’s books, too, and have purchased Rebecca and Jamaica Inn for a reread.  I also have Gone with the Wind and Uncle Tom’s Cabin resting comfortably on my stack…waiting.

I want to see if my perspective on these old favorites has changed over the years.

What are your favorites?