My Favorite Holiday Traditions
Every holiday season my family does the traditional holiday things. My mother and I do a cookie baking exchange where a bunch of women gather together, bake way to many cookies, split up all the cookies and then take way too many cookies home to eat. It's a good thing cookies make good gifts! My family also cuts down a live Christmas tree every year. This year we actually had too many ornaments. One of the reasons for this is that every year since I was born, my mother has given me an angel ornament and now every year I give my son a moose ornament. However, my favorite tradition of the holiday season is having extra time to myself to read! Over holiday break I can usually sit down for a while and binge read with a nice cup of cocoa or tea in front of a crackling fire by the light of the Christmas Tree and Christmas villiage. It is idyllic and peaceful and always a good memory.
So, my gift to you this year is a chance to win one of the books I have been able to binge read over the holiday season! See below for reviews and how to enter.
Happy Holiday Hopping!
Every holiday season my family does the traditional holiday things. My mother and I do a cookie baking exchange where a bunch of women gather together, bake way to many cookies, split up all the cookies and then take way too many cookies home to eat. It's a good thing cookies make good gifts! My family also cuts down a live Christmas tree every year. This year we actually had too many ornaments. One of the reasons for this is that every year since I was born, my mother has given me an angel ornament and now every year I give my son a moose ornament. However, my favorite tradition of the holiday season is having extra time to myself to read! Over holiday break I can usually sit down for a while and binge read with a nice cup of cocoa or tea in front of a crackling fire by the light of the Christmas Tree and Christmas villiage. It is idyllic and peaceful and always a good memory.
So, my gift to you this year is a chance to win one of the books I have been able to binge read over the holiday season! See below for reviews and how to enter.
Happy Holiday Hopping!
The Invisibles by Cecilia Galante
Turning Winds Home for Girls takes in troubled and orphaned girls. This is where four teenage friends meet and form a strong bond over their unique status of having no parents present in their lives, no visits, no contact, and no phone calls. Nora, Ozzie, Monica and Grace form The Invisibles, a family of their own, at least until graduation. Self-proclaimed ring leader of the group, Ozzie, decides that they should all forget and move on after tragic events after graduation. Ozzie, Monica and Grace move out of town and on to bigger and better, or so it seems; meanwhile Nora stays in town with the Shadow of the Turning Winds Home. Nora has a job at the library, her dog Alice Walker, her collection of favorite first lines from books, and all the pain of the secrets she has kept from her childhood. Nora desperately wishes her friends would reunite again, and with one phone call from Ozzie fifteen years later, The Invisibles rise again.
This is a heartwarming story of friendship, pain, redeeming yourself and moving on. Each of the four girls carries around an amazing load of baggage from their childhood. I loved The Invisibles group, they form as a wonderful therapy. The rules are amazing and what the girls try to do for one another shows true companionship, but as children they can only make themselves feel better at the moment and not actually solve any of the deep-rooted issues in their lives. Each of the girls was very interesting and with their own personalities, Nora was my favorite of the group quiet, reserved, observant and I loved her first line collection. It was interesting to see how each woman’s baggage and personality affected them as adults and how they came to eventually deal with it. The emotions were real and raw with issues that many women might face, abusive relationships, body insecurities, sex, postpartum depression, money and abortion.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
This is a heartwarming story of friendship, pain, redeeming yourself and moving on. Each of the four girls carries around an amazing load of baggage from their childhood. I loved The Invisibles group, they form as a wonderful therapy. The rules are amazing and what the girls try to do for one another shows true companionship, but as children they can only make themselves feel better at the moment and not actually solve any of the deep-rooted issues in their lives. Each of the girls was very interesting and with their own personalities, Nora was my favorite of the group quiet, reserved, observant and I loved her first line collection. It was interesting to see how each woman’s baggage and personality affected them as adults and how they came to eventually deal with it. The emotions were real and raw with issues that many women might face, abusive relationships, body insecurities, sex, postpartum depression, money and abortion.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
The Vineyard By Michael Hurley
Three college friends reunite on Martha's Vineyard for the summer. Expecting a care-free summer, the reunion is really anything but. Dory, who lives on the Vineyard and come from old money. Bearing the name Delano, Dory defies many of the standards for a woman in her position, including being unmarried at age 32. Charlotte arrives at the island with an immense amount of grief. With the ashes of her dead daughter in tow, Charlotte does not plan to visit for long; but has plans of walking out into the ocean and never coming back. Turner is running from some bad decisions made on her blog, hoping a much older man with her home address won't be able to stalk her. Each of these women has a life-changing encounter with a mysterious man on the island known only as the fisherman. Outside the law, the fisherman sells mouth-watering jumbo shrimp out of the back of his truck. The fisherman also seems to have a sixth sense for knowing certain things about people.
The Vineyard was a very surprising read for me, not at all what I was expecting. Each of the women's characters were very in-depth and unique. First introduced is Charlotte. I was not very sure that I was going to like her, quite literally drowning in grief at the death of her young daughter and the Church's refusal to bury her unbaptized remains in consecrated ground, Charlotte makes the decision that if her daughter will not be going to heaven, than neither will she. Charlotte's actions soon after this quickly change my views of her, also the scene of her attempted suicide is very well written and seems honest to the experience. Dory seems very carefree at first, but after her encounter with the fisherman and a grim diagnosis, things seem to change. Turner is a very strange character, often making decisions that seem out of place, however, she uses her friends experiences with the fisherman as stories on her blog and that decision brings around more strange events. The fisherman himself is an enigma, I was wrapped up in solving the mystery around him. Without giving too much away, this was a unique story with excellent characters that went on unexpected routes.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
The Vineyard was a very surprising read for me, not at all what I was expecting. Each of the women's characters were very in-depth and unique. First introduced is Charlotte. I was not very sure that I was going to like her, quite literally drowning in grief at the death of her young daughter and the Church's refusal to bury her unbaptized remains in consecrated ground, Charlotte makes the decision that if her daughter will not be going to heaven, than neither will she. Charlotte's actions soon after this quickly change my views of her, also the scene of her attempted suicide is very well written and seems honest to the experience. Dory seems very carefree at first, but after her encounter with the fisherman and a grim diagnosis, things seem to change. Turner is a very strange character, often making decisions that seem out of place, however, she uses her friends experiences with the fisherman as stories on her blog and that decision brings around more strange events. The fisherman himself is an enigma, I was wrapped up in solving the mystery around him. Without giving too much away, this was a unique story with excellent characters that went on unexpected routes.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
Twain's End By Lynn Cullen
Samuel Clemens, also known as Mark Twain was not only an amazing author, but quite the character. Throughout his life he amassed quite a number of admirers, none more than those who were close to him- including many of his female staff. In his later years, Samuel Clemens employed Isabel Lyon as a secretary for his ailing wife. Soon, Isabel became Samuel’s constant companion and his own personal secretary. It does not take much to see that the relationship between the two has grown. However, a year before Samuel’s death, he blesses the marriage of Isabel and Ralph Ashcroft, his business manager only to besmirch their reputations one month later in an elongated written rant.
I love learning more about the lives of authors that I admire. I really didn’t know much about the man behind Mark Twain other than the fact that he piloted a riverboat and that he came in and went out along with Hailey’s comet. Lynn Cullen has taken much of her account for Twain’s End from the diary of Isabel Lyon. The writing creates a tense back and forth, cat and mouse game between Samuel and Isabel. The overall feeling that is created is tense and a little uncomfortable, especially if you would prefer to keep Mark Twain in a positive light. Isabel was quite intriguing, especially as she tried to do her best to keep herself distant from the man she knew she should not get involved with. As she became more and more entwined with the family, this became more and more difficult and eventually led Samuel to believe different about her. One of the things I found most interesting was Samuel’s relationship with his wife and daughters; I really knew nothing about Olivia, Jean, Clara and Susie. Olivia is still a little of a mystery to me, she was ailing through most of her time throughout the book, but no one seemed to know why. However, the mutual love between Samuel and Olivia was still evident even through his indiscretions. One of the most colorful characters for me was Isabel’s mother, always scheming, always putting her nose in other’s business and terribly worried about Isabel’s marriage prospects, a perfect busybody. Overall, a suspenseful, surprising and insightful tale about a different view of one of America’s greatest authors.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
I love learning more about the lives of authors that I admire. I really didn’t know much about the man behind Mark Twain other than the fact that he piloted a riverboat and that he came in and went out along with Hailey’s comet. Lynn Cullen has taken much of her account for Twain’s End from the diary of Isabel Lyon. The writing creates a tense back and forth, cat and mouse game between Samuel and Isabel. The overall feeling that is created is tense and a little uncomfortable, especially if you would prefer to keep Mark Twain in a positive light. Isabel was quite intriguing, especially as she tried to do her best to keep herself distant from the man she knew she should not get involved with. As she became more and more entwined with the family, this became more and more difficult and eventually led Samuel to believe different about her. One of the things I found most interesting was Samuel’s relationship with his wife and daughters; I really knew nothing about Olivia, Jean, Clara and Susie. Olivia is still a little of a mystery to me, she was ailing through most of her time throughout the book, but no one seemed to know why. However, the mutual love between Samuel and Olivia was still evident even through his indiscretions. One of the most colorful characters for me was Isabel’s mother, always scheming, always putting her nose in other’s business and terribly worried about Isabel’s marriage prospects, a perfect busybody. Overall, a suspenseful, surprising and insightful tale about a different view of one of America’s greatest authors.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
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