"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Last Child

"Waiting On " Wednesday is a weekly even hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we talk about upcoming book releases that we're excited about.  

My can't-wait-to-read book this week is John Hart's THE LAST CHILD due to be released May 12th. 

From Publishers Weekly:

A year after 12-year-old Alyssa Merrimon disappeared on her way home from the library in an unnamed rural North Carolina town, her twin brother, Johnny, continues to search the town, street by street, even visiting the homes of known sex offenders, in this chilling novel from Edgar-winner Hart (Down River). Det. Clyde Hunt, the lead cop on Alyssa's case, keeps a watchful eye on Johnny and his mother, who has deteriorated since Alyssa's abduction and her husband's departure soon afterward. Whena second girl is snatched, Johnny is even more determined to find his sister, convinced that the perpetrator is the same person who took Alyssa. But what he unearths is more sinister than anyone imagined, sending shock waves through the community and putting Johnny's own life in danger. Despite a tendency to dip into melodrama, Hart spins an impressively layered tale of broken families and secrets that can kill.

Doesn't that sound like a great book? What new release are you waiting on?

Musing Mondays: Non-Fiction

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about reading non-fiction…

Do you read non-fiction regularly? Do you read it in a different way or place than you read fiction? (question courtesy of Diane)

I do read non-fiction, but not as often as I used to. I like to read biography's and current event books, but since I started my blog I've focused mainly on fiction. I've only read four or five non-fiction books in the last year. One that really left an impression on me was INFIDEL by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. [Review here]. Currently, I'm reading THE AUDACITY OF HOPE. My non-fiction reading isn't as regimented as it is with novels, therefore it takes a lot longer to finish them.

I don't read non-fiction any differently than fiction. I like to read sitting up - mainly because if I lay down or get too comfy I fall asleep! That makes reading in bed very difficult even though I love it. My favorite place to read is in the recliner in my bedroom between two corner windows. The lighting is perfect.

Musing Mondays is graciously hosted weekly by Rebecca at Just One More Page.

The Sunday Salon: New Beginnings

This certainly has been a strange week. This is my first post since Tuesday. My last day at the job I've had for the past nine years was Friday. It was a job I loved and I worked for a man I respect, who is a good friend, so needless to say, its been a tough week. As I've mentioned before, the crashing economy has been especially hard on Florida in the construction industry and that's where I've made my life. Since 1983 I've worked in all aspects of the business. Unfortunately, New Colony Homes is taking a hit and can no longer afford to keep the office open. So its time now for me to explore other things. Because of my retinal disease and low vision, I'm now going to take the step I've been putting off for some time now and will file for disability, with the hope of maintaining a small bookkeeping business from my home as a supplement. The upside is that I'll be gaining lots of reading and blogging time! Yay!

I did manage to do a few bookish things in the early part of the week. For one, I finished ETTA by Gerald Kolpan. [Review here] It's a western-themed novel about Etta Place, the girlfriend of the "Sundance Kid" and member of the Hole-In-The-Wall Gang. Very enjoyable storytelling from a debut author.

I picked up TRUE COLORS by Kristin Hannah at the library on Monday. I had to wait two months for this one!! But it is worth the wait. I'm halfway through it and if it weren't for other things going on, I'd have finished it already, but my mind hasn't been on reading the last several days. This is the first book I've read of Ms. Hannah's and I am loving it. Her writing just flows fom page to page and I love the premise of the story. Three sisters, raised on a ranch in a small town in Washington state, and the bonds of family loyalty. It has a little bit of everything, even a murder. It's a great story! I'll definitely be picking up more of her books if they're anything like this one.

I received an ARC of THE LAST BRIDGE by Teri Coyne from LibraryThing on Thursday that I'm very anxious to start reading. I think it's going to be a real page turner from what I've read about it. I also got Jodi Picoult's HANDLE WITH CARE that I won from BookClubGirl last week. That's another author I've never read before. But that one is going to have to wait a bit. I've got a few ARC's to get through first.

I'm planning to get back into reading today and hopefully finish TRUE COLORS. And I'm also going to spend some time catching up on my blog reading. I'm scared to even look at my Google Reader!!! I hope you are having a pleasant Sunday - what book has your attention today?

Etta by Gerald Kolpan

Whenever you decide to read a 'fictionalized' story about a real person you never really know what to expect. I came across this debut novel on a few blogs and since I like reading books with a western theme, I was drawn to it.

Etta Place was known as the Sundance Kid's girlfriend and a member of the Hole-In-The-Wall-Gang from the late 1800's. Not much is known about this mysterious woman other than her striking beauty, her taste for fine clothing and apparent privileged family lineage.

Here's what Random House says about the book ~

Beautiful, elusive, and refined, Etta Place captivated the nation at the turn of the last century as she dodged the law with the Wild Bunch, led by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Her true identity and fate have remained a mystery that has tantalized historians for decades. Now, for the first time, Gerald Kolpan envisions this remarkable woman’s life in a stunning debut novel.

Kolpan imagines that Etta Place was born Lorinda Jameson, the daughter of a prominent financier, who becomes known as the loveliest of the city’s debutantes when she makes her entrance into Philadelphia society. Though her position in life is already assured, her true calling is on horseback. She can ride as well as any man and handle a rifle even better. But when a tragedy leads to a dramatic reversal of fortune, Lorinda is left orphaned, penniless, homeless, and pursued by the ruthless Black Hand mafia.

Rechristened “Etta Place” to ensure her safety, the young woman travels to the farthest reaches of civilization, working as a “Harvey Girl” waitress in Grand Junction, Colorado. There, fate intervenes once more and she again finds herself on the run from the ruthless Pinkerton Detective Agency. But this time she has company. She soon finds herself at the legendary hideout at Hole-in-the-Wall, Wyoming, where she meets the charismatic Butch Cassidy and the handsome, troubled Harry Longbaugh, a.k.a. the Sundance Kid. Through a series of holdups and heists, Etta and Harry begin an epic and ultimately tragic romance, which will be the greatest of Etta’s life. Then, when Etta meets the young and idealistic Eleanor Roosevelt, her life is changed forever.

Throughout reading this adventurous story, I had to keep reminding myself that most of it, even though some of the characters were real, never really happened. I was fully entertained by the antics of Etta and her cohorts in crime, but the fuzzy line between reality and fiction was always there. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book. I really did. The author makes it very clear in the back of the book what parts are from actual historical accounts and what he made up for the purpose of this debut novel.

The book is made up of narrative storytelling, diary entries supposedly written by Etta herself, telegrams and letters from various other characters and wanted posters with arrest warrants for the infamous bandits. All of this combined makes for a quick read and keeps the timeline of events clear to the reader.

For readers who enjoy stories from the wild west, like myself, this is a book you will be entertained by. For me, personally, I liked the author's storytelling and clever wit which kept this a light, sometimes humorous account of his vision for the tales of this most mysterious horsewoman.

ETTA

Author: Gerald Kolpan

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Published: March 2009

Pages: 336

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (I liked it)

Teaser Tuesdays

It's Tuesday and that means its time to pick two sentences from my current read and try to entice you into wanting to read it without giving any spoilers. We call it Teaser Tuesday and it's hosted each week by MizB at Should Be Reading.

My teasers this week are from TRUE COLORS by Kristin Hannah. I've just started reading last night so I really don't know what's happening here, but here goes...

She found Dallas in the bathroom, dripping wet, wearing a towel slung low on his hips. "Where's your gun?" she asked, watching him closely. ~ page 170

Musing Monday: Favorites So Far

Coming towards the end of April, we’re a third of the way through the way through the year. What’s the favourite book you’ve read so far in 2009? What about your least favourite? (question courtesy of MizB)

My favorite book so far this year is THE THIRTEENTH TALE by Diane Setterfield with THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett extremely close behind. I absolutely fell in love with Setterfield's writing and the story just kept going and going. I was never bored with it and loved the ending. THE HELP was southern fiction at it's best! Being a southerner myself, I was smitten by this book even before I read it.

As far as least favorite, nothing really comes to mind. I've been fortunate to have read some really good books this year. That being said, if I had to list them in order from 'ok' to 'most loved', I would probably say 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN by Don Piper would be it, only for the fact that I didn't care for all the medical details of his injuries sustained in the car crash. But that's not to say I didn't like the book.

I think 2009 is going to be a fabulous reading year for me as there are so many great books out there I want to read. What are your thoughts on this musing? Do you have a favorite or a least favorite to share? For more responses to this question visit Just One More Page.

[TSS] The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

For Sarah Carrier's family life was always hard. As it was for most people living in Andover, Massachusetts in 1690. For nine year-old Sarah, her two older brothers, her baby sister and her parents, hard times seemed to follow them. They fled their home in Billerica to escape smallpox which was spreading rampantly throughout the villages killing entire families. In cover of night, they traveled to Andover to live with Sarah's maternal grandmother with the hopes of starting a new life there. What they would learn later is that their oldest boy, Andrew was already carrying the deadly virus and bringing it to Andover with them.

To say the townspeople didn't take to the Carrier family is an understatement. Martha Carrier, Sarah's mother, was an extremely strong-willed woman who wouldn't back down from anyone. She had a wicked tongue and a way with words that left people speechless and sometimes a little scared. Especially with all the talk of witches in nearby Salem Village.

With the local minister fanning the flames of witchery, the rumors grew and Martha Carrier became the main target of his fury. Sarah and her mother didn't share the closeness many mothers and daughters do and the talk of spells and witchcraft made Sarah as much of an outcast as her mother. She tried not to, but she blamed her mother for how their family was treated. Sarah, herself had questions, but was too afraid of the answers to ask them. There was also the mysterious red book her mother wrote in and kept hidden away that supposedly contained the story of her father's previous life. Perhaps the book would explain why people seemed to be afraid of her father and always avoided him.

Once the arrests for witchcraft began in and around Salem, it was only a matter of time before Martha Carrier would be arrested. Sarah and her family tried to prepare themselves for the inevitable, but nothing they imagined could have prepared them for what would soon happen to their family.

THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER begins with a letter written in 1752 from Sarah Carrier to her own granddaughter, in the final days of her life. She wishes to explain their family's heritage so that this new young Sarah will have an understanding of where she comes from and the legacy she carries. After the letter, the first chapter starts in 1690 with Sarah as the narrator and continues as such throught the rest of the book.

When this book first came out last September, I had never read anything about the Salem Witch Trials and I was very curious about the story. In the last year, I've become very attached to historical fiction and this book is a perfect example of why I've come to enjoy this genre so much. THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER is rich in history and the characters are so well developed and believable. Some may think the book a bit slow in the beginning, as I did at first. But in further thinking, I changed my opinion. I think it was important to establish the tone of the story and to get to know the characters, which makes the story what it is. A fascinating, sometimes unfathomable tale of a very strange time in our country's early history.

Sarah Carrier was my favorite character in the book for her strength and courage along with her yearning to be loved as all little girls want to be loved by their mothers. I believe Kathleen Kent did a fantastic job of recreating this part of history and weaving into it a story of the family she is descended from. If you like historical fiction, you will most assuredly enjoy reading this book. And after reading it, I feel it couldn't have been titled anything else. THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER is perfect.

THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER

Author: Kathleen Kent

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Published: September2008

Pages: 352

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (Highly Recommended)