It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - May 15

Welcome to It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday.   

 

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.       

Welcome to another It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday! I am posting this early so that I can get a head start Monday morning on visiting blogs. 

How was your weekend? I hope all the moms out there had a nice Mother's Day. This was the first Mother's Day without my mother-in-law, and my in-laws' celebration of life was Saturday on their wedding anniversary, so our weekend came with a mix of different emotions.

Flowers from the kids

The Lil' Diva made supper and this yummy chocolate cake

The Lil' Princess made me this lovely e-card. 

Speaking of the Lil' Princess, she is home for the summer! Here are some photos from our trip to Wilmington to pick her up.

Hubby celebrated his birthday while we were there

Airlie Gardens

Downtown Wilmington waterfront

Eating bagels at Round the last day in Wilmington

As far as reading goes, I am still making my way through this one on NetGalley. It's not a long book, but I haven't had much time this week. 

I read another chapter of this one.

I am considering this one completed, but I honestly didn't read it beginning to end. Each day is set up as a devotional, so it was really hard to listen to it in the car and feel like it was effective. After six days, I skipped ahead. I would need to go back and listen daily in the comfort of my home to get the most out of it.

I finished this book and will be ready on May 29 for my review at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. 

I would like to start this devotional this week.

Upcoming virtual book tours:

• The Ghost Hunters Series Spotlight - May 22
• The Giving Back Tree by Tarky Lee - May 29 (review at TC&TBC)
• A Final Farwell by Marilyn Meredith - June 20 (review)
• All That Glitters by Mike Martin - June 29 (review)
• Ravage & Son by Jerome Charyn - Aug 21 (review)

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

This little gem got delivered this week. It is the final book in Marilyn Meredith's Tempe Crabtree Mystery Series. I am really going to miss these characters as much as I miss the Rocky Bluff P.D. ones that Meredith writes under the name F. M. Meredith. Both series are now completed. I wish my dear friend well, and am grateful that Facebook keeps us connected. 

My hope is to finish editing a proof for an author before the end of the week. Wish me luck!

Happy Mother's Day!

[The Lil Princess and the Lil Diva]




HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVERYONE!

Thank you for your continued support of The Book Connection.

Keep looking for more special features during the month of May and don't forget to enter our two book giveaways--which you'll find here and here.

Coming this week: Marriage and relationship expert Tim Kellis, young adult fantasy author Herbert Howard Jones, Dawson Church, author of The Genie in Your Genes, Barbara Weaver Smith, and HBF Teacher, whose book makes you wonder if teachers are being left behind.

May Special Feature: Remembering Mom by Margay Leah Justice

As part of our special May feature dedicated to mothers, I have asked some of my writing and blogging friends to share memories of their mothers with our readers. This one is from Margay Leah Justice. Margay is the mother of two wonderful daughters and the author of the book, Nora’s Soul. She can be reached at: http://margayleahjustice.com.

For me, one of my fondest memories of my mother was going to see Paper Moon at the local theater, just the two of us. This was quite a feat in those days as I came from a good-sized family and it was difficult to get alone time with Mom. Somehow, she managed it and the two of us went to the movie together. But it wasn’t just a movie, it was an adventure. Along the way, we stopped off in a perfume shop called Rickles and the shop lady dipped a blue feather in perfume for me. I remember treasuring that feather, sticking it in the back of a book to preserve the smell for as long as I could. I would frequently take it out, breathe in the pretty aroma, and remember how special I felt walking down to the theater with my mother. Just the two of us. I don’t remember much about the movie itself other than the fact that it starred Ryan and Tatum O’Neil and they portrayed a father and daughter con artist team in the depression era. What I remember the most was how special I felt sitting beside my mother in the darkened Movie Theater and having her all to myself for those precious two hours. It didn’t matter that we didn’t talk for most of that time; it was important just to be together. Now, all these years later with two daughters of my own, I hope that I leave good impressions like that upon them.

Books for Moms

With Mother's Day quickly approaching, I figured I would feature some of the books that would make great gifts for Mom.


We reviewed Life is Tough - I Doubt I'll Make it Out Alive by Stacy Gooch-Anderson last month. What I enjoyed most about this book of humorous life lessons for moms is the way that Gooch-Anderson is easily able to reach the heart of her readers even when she is also tickling their funny bones. Read the review.


We also reviewed How Can I Run a Tight Ship When I'm Surrounded by Loose Cannons? - Proverbs 31 Discoveries for Yielding to the Master of the Seas by Kathi Macias in April. While this book tells of the author's struggle to become the virtuous woman from Proverbs 31, it also shows us the natural progression of growing in grace. Macias's compassion and humor make this a must read. See our review.


For a funny look at life, aging, motherhood and world events, look no further than When Life Stinks, It's Time to Wash the Gym Socks by Kelly Epperson. You can go here to check out the review.


For the mystery loving mom, consider The Devil Can Wait by Marta Stephens, the second book in her Sam Harper crime series--which we reviewed here or Kindred Spirits by Marilyn Meredith. You can find our review of Kindred Spirits here.













Moms who enjoy historical fiction might like Shades of Gray by Jessica James. This novel filled with complex characters and an intriguing plot was our choice for favorite book read in 2008 in the fiction category. You can the review here.



Also recommended are, The Lost Diary of Don Juan, A Novel by Douglas Carlton Abrams--which we reviewed here, Faith and Honor by Robin Maderich, whose review can be found here, and Copper Fire by Suzanne Woods Fisher. You'll find that review here.







What mom doesn't enjoy a bit of romance? For inspirational romance fans, you might pick up a copy of Ten Thousand Charms by Allison Pittman.

This book--which we reviewed here-is the first book in Pittman's Crossroads of Grace series. Quills & Promises by Amber Miller would be another great selection. Read our review here.



If Mom likes her romance on the spicy side, great books to pick up would be Woman on Top and Woman in Charge by Sherry James. These are both books in her Studs for Hire series.
You can find out more about the these books here and here.

Show Mom how much you love her. Add a book to her home library today!

May Special Feature - Remembering Mom by Marilyn Meredith

As part of our special May feature dedicated to mothers, I have asked some of my writing and blogging friends to share memories of their mothers with our readers.

This one is from Marilyn Meredith, author of over twenty-five books, who also writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. series under the name of F. M. Meredith. The latest book in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series is No Sanctuary--which we reviewed here.

You can find Marilyn online at http://fictionforyou.com and http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com.

My mom passed away at age 97, still alert of mind, her body worn out. I have many, many memories of mom, but one I enjoy thinking about is the time she, my sis and I went to Hawaii on a tour. Mom was 80 at the time. Oh, what a glorious time we had. We stayed in the Royal Hawaiian on Oahu first (the pink hotel on Waikiki beach), traveled by plane to Kauai and then on to Maui. Though mom was quite able-bodied, we got better rooms because of her age.

Sis and I swam in the ocean every chance we got. Mom would sit on the beach guarding our belongings. On Maui, Sis and I swam and floated way out to sea. When we realized how far we were, we spotted mom jumping up and down back on shore. She was probably hollering too, but we couldn't hear her. When we waded in, she bawled us out like we were little kids.

Everywhere we went, someone presented us with a lei--except at one stop. Mom, obviously disappointed, said quite loudly, "Aren't we getting leied?" Of course it sounded like "laid" and everyone had a good laugh.

We also had an adventure on Kauai when we took a helicopter ride over Kauai's Grand Canyon. Lush green and lots of waterfalls. Exciting for all three of us as we'd never been in a helicpoter before.

It was a wonderful trip and I'm so glad we did it.

Marilyn