It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
Sunday, October 27, 2024
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - Oct 28
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Book Spotlight & Excerpt: A Wolff in the Family by Francine Falk-Allen
Award-winning author Francine Falk-Allen’s two acclaimed memoirs have been featured by Buzzfeed and PopSugar, and have received a Kirkus star. A fan of genealogy research, Francine enjoyed uncovering her family’s history, and traced both her maternal and paternal ancestors back to the 1600s. She never imagined that one day she’d discover a jaw-dropping family secret.
A Wolff in the Family
Chapter 21
Naomi was sick to death of arguing with Frank. It seemed like every time he came back from Evanston, they had an argument. She couldn’t imagine why that town seemed to set him on edge.
When he had come in from his last run, she’d rushed to hug him and had detected perfume. It was that new one, “My Sin.” Ha! Pretty funny. She recognized it because Frances liked it and had bought a tiny bottle of it. And she wasn’t going to ignore it.
“What’s that perfume I smell?” she asked as she pulled away from him.
“Perfume? Ha! You’re imagining things. It’s probably yours from the last time I left.”
“It’s definitely not mine,” Naomi responded, a chill in her voice. Hers was cheap, besides.
“Well, I have no idea how it got there, if it’s even there at all. Maybe one of the maids at one of the boardinghouses had a lot on and moved my jacket or something.”
Naomi decided to let sleeping dogs lie—for now, in any case. She couldn’t prove it, but she was suspicious and decided to be on her guard the next time he came home.
The thing was, men did this kind of thing. He may have gone to a dance with a woman or something. But he wouldn’t have worn his denim jacket to a dance, she reasoned. And he doesn’t even like to dance!
She had heard women at church gossiping about how railroad men had a floozy in every town where they stayed overnight. Would Frank sleep with another woman, though? Naomi just didn’t have the time or energy to worry about that. She didn’t like it, though.
“Well, if you’re out there doing things you ought not to, I will never know for sure,” she said flippantly. “But that isn’t my perfume. Frances wears that—but you haven’t seen her today, have you?”
“Matter of fact, I was by Mrs. Birch’s on my way here and Frances and I had a hug. It was on my way home, so I stopped in to say hello.”
Naomi bit a fingernail and looked at the floor, then back at Frank. “Well, you’re gettin’ off easy this time, Mister,” she said, and forced a smile. She didn’t want to spend the few days he was home in a snit.
Purchase from Amazon or visit Goodreads for more buying options!
FRANCINE FALK-ALLEN: was born in Los Angeles and has lived nearly all of her life in northern California. She had polio in 1951, and has lived her life as a disabled person making an effort to be a “normie.”
Falk-Allen was originally an art major and later completed her BA in Managerial Accounting, running her own business for over thirty years. She has always sought creative outlets, such as painting, singing, and writing. She began doing extensive family genealogy research in 1999, and has traced both her maternal and paternal ancestors back to the 1600s.
Her first book, “Not a Poster Child: Living Well with a Disability,” won gold and silver awards and was on several best books lists in 2018 and 2019, including Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2018, PopSugar and BuzzFeed, and was nominated to 25 Women Making a Difference in 2019 by Conversations Magazine.
Her second book, “No Spring Chicken: Stories and Advice from a Wild Handicapper,” received a Kirkus star, given to “books of exceptional merit” by Kirkus Reviews, and was named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of August 2021. “No Spring Chicken” was also a finalist in Foreword Reviews’ Indie Awards in 2021.
Her third book, “A Wolff in the Family” is a riveting early twentieth century saga set in the western United States and based on scandalous family history.
Francine spends a significant amount of time managing the effects of post-polio. She facilitates a polio survivors’ group as well as a writing group, and volunteers on her town’s Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Committee. She loves the outdoors, swimming, gardening, movies, well-written literature, being with friends and sharing British tea and a little champagne now and then. She resides in San Rafael, California, with her husband. Learn more at: https://francinefalk-allen.com
Sunday, October 20, 2024
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - Oct 21
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
Friday, October 18, 2024
Interview with Joanne Howard, Author of Sleeping in the Sun
Joanne Howard is an Asian American writer from California. She holds an MFA in writing from Pacific University. Her poetry received an honorable mention from Stanford University’s 2019 Paul Kalanithi Writing Award. Her fiction has been published in The Catalyst by UC Santa Barbara, The Metaworker Literary Magazine and the Marin Independent Journal and her nonfiction has been published in Another New Calligraphy and The Santa Barbara Independent. She lives in Santa Rosa, CA.
Thursday, October 17, 2024
Book Review: The Prodigal's Holiday Hope by Jill Kemerer
When Sawyer Roth decides to return to Sunshine Bend, he has no idea what his buddies will think of him. Rumor is he has been up to no good since his father's death and squandering away his inheritance, but Ken McKay needs a ranch manager and Sawyer needs a job away from the city, so he returns to the ranch once owned by his family for a fresh start. What he doesn't expect is Tess Malone.
Tess and her son, Tucker, live with Ken on the ranch. Her stubborn father didn't even tell her that he hired that no good Sawyer to manage it. Well, Sawyer won't win her over quickly, even if he did grow up on Sunshine Bend and she is desperate for help. But with Christmas approaching, and her dad in dire straits, Tess has to lean more on Sawyer than she would like.
Sawyer isn't fond of getting too close to Tess either. But she and her son sure could weave their way into his heart if he isn't careful.
I loved The Prodigal's Holiday Hope so much that I stayed up late to finish it. I simply couldn't wait to see how it all turned out. The first book in Kemerer's Wyoming Ranchers series is a strong debut, bringing together an engaging plot, well-developed characters, romance, and the ranching life. Cowboy romances remain one of my favorites, and The Prodigal's Holiday Hope is a fine example of an author knowing her audience and delivering a solid story that will leave you yearning for more. Lucky for readers, there are four other books in this series.
If you enjoy romance, second chances, seeing characters learn how to move on from past hurts, and seasonal stories filled with the joy and hope of the holidays, then you need to grab The Prodigal's Holiday Hope today!
- ASIN : B095X2R6NY
- Publisher : Love Inspired; Original edition (October 26, 2021)
- Publication date : October 26, 2021
- Language : English
- File size : 1707 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 174 pages
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Book Review: The Merry Matchmaker by Sheila Roberts
- Publisher : MIRA; Original edition (October 1, 2024)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 336 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0778369609
- ISBN-13 : 978-0778369608
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Book Review: Where Evil Lives by Ellie Dias
- ASIN : B0CW1HY2CV
- Publisher : Ellie Dias (April 2, 2024)
- Publication date : April 2, 2024
- Language : English
- File size : 2575 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 304 pages