The Sunday Salon: Wrap-Up

Is it possible we've blown through January already? Amazing how quickly it goes. Today at the Salon, Here's some of the highlights from last month and what happened last week...

The most viewed post I had on the blog last month was The Sunday Salon: Confession Time. I was inspired by Bryan's post at Still Unfinished where he was talking about the pressures of blogging/reading/reviewing. It really hit home with me. In my post I confessed to caving under my own pressures to read certain books to stay relevant. It was a great discussion and reminded me that this blog is my creative outlet and a way for me to connect with other book people all over the world and the enjoyment I get from that is my reward. 

The most visited book review, with over 60 views, was LILLIAN ON LIFE by Alison Jean Lester. There's a lot of talk about that book and I'm glad I could help spread the word because its worth the time in reading it. 

LAST WEEK . . .

In the Mailbox . . . I received 2 review books. both from St. Martin's Press. THE LAST GOOD PARADISE by Tatjana Soli with a release date of February 10th.  I don't know much about it, but Amazon describes it as "A black comedy set on an island resort, where guests attempting to flee their troubles realize they can't escape who they are." 

The second ARC I received was MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD by Jeffrey Archer being published February 24th.  This is the fifth book in his very popular Clifton Chronicles Series.  I've read every book and I am totally excited for this new addition. This series has everything: family drama, political backlash, danger and intrigue - I just love it! Book four, CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, had me laughing out loud in places, even though the main plot involved blowing up a new ocean liner filled with guests! Sounds crazy that I found it funny but parts of it really were comical. Supposedly there are going to be only a total of seven books in the series, so we're nearing the end, which makes me sad. But I will then look forward to his new endeavors. But I'm getting ahead of myself!  

On the iPod . . . I mainly listened to my audio book, ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr. I'm a tiny bit past halfway and I am really enjoying the experience. It's 1940's France, with the German Occupation in full swing. I plan to finish it up this week and will have my thoughts later in the week. The one thing I will say at this point is that I understand why so many people loved this book. It has completely sucked me in. 

In the Kitchen . . . I stumbled across the most amazing chocolate cake recipe that just happened to be vegan. I am not a vegan. I'm not even a vegetarian. What I am is a legally blind white girl who lives alone, cannot drive, who was seriously crazing something chocolate but had no eggs and a limited pantry. So I did what any other woman craving chocolate would do: I hit the internet! The recipe I found had 7 basic ingredients that any normal person would have and was so quick and easy to make. The other thing I liked about it was, it made one 8x8 pan, which was perfect for just one person. I didn't want to make a huge cake so this was a plus! It was the moistest cake I think I've ever had. There was even a glaze recipe included but I did use butter in it so It was not vegan, but that really didn't matter to me. I drizzled the cake with the glaze and topped it with crushed pecans and a squirt of Ready Whip. It was exactly what I needed to satisfy my chocolate craving and I didn't have to ask someone to take me to the store and spend money on more ingredients!  I found this recipe on a website called Instructables and you can check it out here. 

As for today, its all about the Big Game for me. Though I'm hoping to do some raking in the yard early in the day if the wind will cooperate.  Later I'll be making chili cheese nachos to have while I watch the game. I'm not a big fan of either team but I'm less of a Patriots fan so I'll be rooting for the Seahawks. 

How about you? Will you be watching the game or just the commercials? 

Review: The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert

The Memory Garden
Author: Mary Rickert
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Release Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 1402297122 (ISBN13: 9781402297120)
Length: 304 pp

Nan Singer hasn't seen her two childhood best friends, Ruthie and Mavis, in sixty years. She always thought they'd be close their whole lives but a tragedy involving their other friend Eve and the secrets surrounding that tragedy drove a wedge between the girls and they all went their separate ways.

Now an old woman, Nan has been raising Bay, the baby she found in a box on her front steps fourteen years ago. Nan is used to people leaving shoes on her porch for her unusual shoe garden, but never did she ever think someone would leave a baby. Bay is fourteen now and Nan is afraid the secrets from her past are about to be unearthed and with no one else to care for Bay, she reluctantly reaches out to her old friends in the hopes they will be willing to help out.

Nan is not the only one in the big old house keeping secrets. Bay notices someone lurking in the woods  surrounding their garden but is keeping if from Nan.  Bay has always heard the whispers around town that Nan is a witch and Bay has never believed it, but she is beginning to wonder if they are right.  She's noticed herNana has been very stressed ever since she announced these old friends were coming to visit. Once Mavis and Ruthie arrive, things get even weirder. Though Bay would like to know what is really going on, Bay is too afraid to find out what it is and just wants everything to get back to normal, whatever that is.

My Thoughts:

When I read the synopsis for this book, my curiosity was automatically piqued because I do enjoy magical realism and I felt this was right up that alley. There are several aspects of the book that give it great potential for a mysterious, magical story, but I have to say I had difficulty connecting to them, especially in the beginning. I loved the idea of the peculiar shoe garden and how at the beginning of each chapter Rickert included a description and meaning of a flower that was incorporated into that chapter. I felt that was a cute idea and it helped tie the garden into the story.

There is a lot going on in this story and it was difficult for me to follow, especially in the beginning. I believe the author wanted to build up to a big reveal and keep referring to the secrets that were being kept and wanted to keep the reader guessing, but I found myself getting confused and having to go back and re-read pages to make sure I was getting it right. That is the main reason I had difficulty connecting.  At 33% done, I was growing frustrated because I felt the story was just not taking off. Finally at around 55 or 60%, I started connecting and got into the story. Typically, I will give up on a book by that time, but I really wanted to love this book so I kept reading. I am happy to say that I enjoyed the book from that point on.  Eventually the confusion began to clear, I knew who I was dealing with and I finally grasped the idea the author had. I am sorry it took me so long to get there, but at least I did and I can even say that I liked the ending of the book very much.

After finishing the book and thinking back on what I'd just read, the ending and the message it conveyed, I started appreciating Rickert's vision of what she wanted to do with this book. THE MEMORY GARDEN is a book about friendship, secrets, loyalty, regret and forgiveness. Once you finish reading, its for the reader to sit back and decide which characters were real and which characters were not. If you haven't read it, you may not understand that last comment, but that's OK. I'm not going to ger more specific than that because I always try not to give anything away in my reviews. You'll have to read it and see for yourself.

The bottom line for me is that even though I had a rough start with this one, I am glad I stuck with it and I will try more of Ricker's work in the future.

Book Review: The Richest Season

Joanna and Paul have been married for 25 years, they have two grown children who are embarking on their own new, young lives miles away from their parents. Paul is a communications executive who has worked very long hours for most of his married life. Joanna, the dutiful corporate wife who always put her family first. Her career was her children and Paul, when he was home from his constant business trips. Until now. With the surprise news of yet another transfer and the thought of doing it alone, without the children, it was just too much for her to take.

Joanna makes a decision that will affect not only her entire family, but people she doesn't yet know, but will become very important to her life. Pawleys Island, South Carolina holds special memories for Joanna from her teens and she feels that if there's any place she can go to figure out what she wants to do with the rest of her life, that's where she needs to be.

Grace Finelli, a recent widow who has always dreamed of living near the ocean, is finally living her dream on Pawleys Island. After spending her life completely afraid to follow her own path, she has reached a point that its now or never. She has a beautiful beach house that is so close the sea, you can hear the waves kissing the dunes below her deck.

This is the story of two women who are each facing very different challenges in their lives and whether they like it or not, they need each other. Their needs are what bring them together and sometimes what pushes them apart.

Without getting into too much detail that may give the plot away, this is a story of regret and second chances. For the most part, the characters were believable to me, but at times, I found myself questioning the choices Joanna made. I didn't agree with some of them and it would irritate me. When you've been married to someone for 25 years, I believe you owe that person a little more than what Joanna showed her husband. Paul's character was very believable and I'm sure his corporate personality would be a difficult thing to live with. However, it bothered me that Joanna would up and leave without so much as a conversation with her husband. I don't think people in the real world just walk out of their life within hours of deciding and with no plan at all. Especially after being such an organized and profficient wife for so long. She showed more loyalty to her new friend, Hank in Pawleys Island than to her husband of 25 years. Another thing about Joanna and Grace is they came across a little cold. I think I was surpised that these two women didn't seem to bond with each other until almost the end. I was expecting a little more of a friendship between the two. That being said, I did enjoy the story and felt like I knew the characters pretty well even though I didn't agree with their actions all the time.

Maryann McFadden has a good writing style that flows easily from page to page. Her descriptions of the locale are so vivid you can almost smell the salt air and feel the wind on your face as you read. It is a lovely story about people and choices they make. There's not a lot of drama and it did get a bit slow for me at times, but I did enjoy the book. It would make a nice beach read for the summer.