Review – Bring Me Back

Bring Me Back Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was given an advanced copy of Bring Me Back from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

WOW! A great psychological thriller/mystery. Where did Layla go? There has been no sign of her and no body has been found. Twelve years later, Finn is getting ready to marry Layla’s sister, Ellen. But wait, there are now signs that Layla may be alive. The book will keep you guessing right til the end.

Even though I had pretty much figured out what was happening, the twists and turns of the plot kept me on my toes. If you like a good psychological mystery without any gore, you should try Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris.

Thanks for reading.

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Review – The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton

I received an advanced copy of The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a gut-wrenching book. It’s hard to explain how a book about an innocent man’s time on death row was life affirming and hopeful, but Anthony Ray Hinton’s story is just that. I will be mentally and emotionally processing this book for the rest of my life. In a world where so many horrible things are happening, where there is so much hate, this book gave me hope and a lot to think about.

Review – When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger

I was given an advanced copy of When Life Gives You Lululemons by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I read The Devil Wears Prada years ago when I was working in advertising. For someone who has worked in that kind of environment, the actions of Miranda Priestly were comical and way too close to home. Her 1st Assistant Emily was a character that I was very much familiar with. The take no prisoners, slightly sweet, mostly bitchy woman whom you never want to cross.

In When Life Gives You Lululemons, we find Emily relocated to LA and working as an image consultant to the rich and famous. You know, the ones who go around picking up after Britney Spears, Justin Beiber, Mel Gibson and try to fix whatever malarkey they have gotten into. When a younger, hipper image consultant starts stealing her best (aka worst offenders) clients, Emily doesn’t know what to do.

Enter Karolina Hartwell, the mega-supermodel wife of a Senator with presidential aspirations. When Karolina is falsely accused of drinking and driving with children in her car, the happy life she thought she had begins to unravel. While visiting her friend Miriam, Emily meets Karolina and decides to help her. While trying to get to the bottom of things, they find that the Senator is the one to set her up so that he can divorce her to advance his career.

Between unraveling the clues and trying to figure out how to deal with suburban Connecticut residents and their weird ways, Emily gets her “image consultant” mojo back.

I enjoyed the book but I believe I will never move to suburban Connecticut. Those people are crazy!

Hurricane stories

Excuse me for the non-reading related post, but I wanted to share some things I observed during Hurricane Irma.

  • Steak n Shake 17509 N Palms Village Pl, Tampa FL – We stopped a Steak n Shake around 4pm on Friday 9/8/17 to get some food on our way to TN.  The employee at the drive thru were so sweet, asking us how we were doing and even gave our dog, Buddy, a special treat – BACON!
  • Improvised (and illegal) gas canisters strapped to cars, like this.

 

  • It is a small world.
    • While waiting at the Tifton, GA Walmart to have our flat tire fixed, we met Diana, Diane, and John.  They live near us and they had a blow out on I-75 going 70 mpg.  They live right on the water and were concerned that they wouldn’t have a house to come back to.
    • While buying a sweatshirt at the Walmart, we ran into a woman and her two sons, who live in Cape Coral.
  • The tire center employees at the Tifton, GA Walmart were awesome.  They opened at 7am and had our tire replaced and we were on our way before 8am.  They were sympathetic and kind.
  • When you pack a suitcase in a hurry, you end up with:  3 pair of underpants, 1 pair of shorts filled with holes, a pair of flower printed pants and a none matching print shirt.
  • Driving North, we saw an impressive amount of National Guard vehicles, Utility trucks, and Ambulances.
  • The Waze app is awesome for driving somewhere unfamiliar.  It gets you around traffic jams.
  • The stress of watching a pending storm develop and tracking it for over a week is mind blowing.  Is it going East or West?  Who knows.

We watched the storms track for over a week.  We prepared, just in case the storm came our way. We were ready to stay, until it became a Cat. 5 and looked like it was coming directly at us.  We quickly threw some clothes in a suitcase, packed the car, grabbed the dog and cat, and evacuated.   We were headed to stay with family in TN until the storm cleared.  Normally an 11 hour drive, due to many circumstances, it took us 26 hours.  First, traffic was ridiculous.  Understandable since almost the entire state of Florida was trying to get the heck out of Dodge. After crossing into Georgia, we were exhausted and decided to stop to sleep a little. We ended up, at 1:30 in the morning, getting a flat tire. So, we put the spare on and parked at Walmart to wait for the tire center to open. Have you ever tried to sleep in a car with a dog and a cat? Tire changed by 7:30 the next morning and off we went.

Plan for next hurricane:
1. Plywood or storm shutters!!!!!!!
2.  Make a list of what needs to go into the suitcase in case we have to evacuate to prevent.
3. Don’t live in Florida.
4. Snacks for the road.  NO FOOD ANYWHERE!!!!!!

Hope you all made it through unscathed!

Review – One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

I find that I have discovered most of my favorite authors by happenstance.  There is usually a good story to go along with the discovery.  From Og Mandino to Amy Hill Hearth to Adriana Trigiani, these author discoveries have added so much happiness to my reading life.  I discovered my newest favorite, Chitra Divakaruni, when I was assigned to run the book discussion at the Punta Gorda Library. While searching for the next club read, I spotted a book with a beautiful cover. That book was Before We Visit The Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. While researching the author for the club, I discovered that the author does Skype chats with book clubs. I took a chance and email in inquiry. Even though our current technology would now allow the Skype chat, the author was so wonderfully kind and answered our questions via text message. It was such a wonderful experience that I decided to read more of her work. This is how I came upon One Amazing Thing.

The novel is about a group of 9 people stuck in an an Indian Consulate office after a massive earthquake hits. When they decide the building is not safe to try to get out, they bandage their wounds and wait in the darkness hoping for rescue. To pass the time, as the water level in the office begins to rise, they decide that they will each tell a story of one amazing thing that has shaped their lives.

The stories they tell are as diverse as the group telling them, from uplifting to horrifying. You will have to read the book to find out more.

Follow me on Twitter for a chance to win a copy of this book.  If you win, please pay it forward.

The author of the book lives in Houston. She and her family are safe after Hurricane Harvey but many others are not. Please keep them all in your prayers and, if you can, please do what you can to help.

Thanks for reading.

 

A burger worth writing about

I have never been crazy about hamburgers.  They are ok once in a while but I’ve never been one to crave a burger…until now.

Mike and I were out and about in Sarasota and we decided to try a new place we spotted Burgerfi.  Knowing that we were in a very well to do area and that we have found some amazing restaurants in this area, mostly gourmet (table cloths, cloth napkins, and sommeliers), we had no idea what we would find.  Turns out it is a gourmet burger fast food restaurant.

When we walked in, you go to the counter and place your order and pay.  They give you a pager thing and tell you that when the order is done it will buzz and your food will be at the counter.  Different…

I ordered the CEO burger.

The meat was NOT greasy.  It was delicious.  The candied bacon tomato jam was a sweet and savory treat. The aged swiss cheese was yummy and melty.  The star of the burger was the truffle aioli.  It infused the burger with a rich, earthy umami that makes my mouth water just thinking about it as I write.

Jackie, the woman who took care of us was wonderful.  She made sure that our first visit to Burgerfi was not our last.  She let us taste their special burger sauce that is usually reserved for the burgers but people like to use with their onion rings and fries.  Check out the size of the onion rings.


Just as we were finishing up our meal, Jackie came out with two samples of their shakes, one vanilla and one coffee mocha.  They were both scrumptious.

So, next time you are in Sarasota, FL near the University Town Center Mall, stop in and see Jackie at Burgerfi.  You won’t be sorry!

Happy tasting!

Paying it forward

At the library where I work, the Summer Reading theme is Build a Better World.  Our adult programs are build around Pay It Forward, the book and movie.  We are having  a Pay It Forward Raffle for prizes where patrons have to fill out a card saying they performed 5 various Pay It Forward activities.

Today, I was in the drive thru at Dunkin Donuts getting a coffee and the young lady in the car in front of me paid for my coffee.  I’m still moved by her kindness.

In the spirit of her generosity, I have running an Amazon Giveaway for the ebook Pay It Forward.  All you have to do is follow me on Twitter.  Here is the link:

https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/25ebcaf9038b83c2

Good luck and thanks for reading.