My Book Retreat

Hello from the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Last week, I was busy getting ready for vacation, so I didn't get much reading or writing done. And this week, I'm on vacation so I don't plan on spending much time on the computer ~ it's raining at the moment, so I figured I'd hop on and get this post up at least! I hope you've had a good week.

What I'm Reading
I'm still reading The Lake House by Marci Nault, which is turning out to be a great beach read.

Up Next for Me
I'll need to pick up Big Girl Panties by Stephanie Evanovich, which is on tour right now. My review is scheduled for August 8.

What the Kids are Reading
C read The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies last week. He really enjoyed this story about a brother and sister.

M is now reading Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel, a classic that she seems to be enjoying.

What are you reading this week? It's Monday! is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, so hop over there if you'd like to se…

Good evening. I hope you had a great week and enjoyed a lot of good reads. Here's what I've been up to this week.

Recent Reviews and Other Posts
I wrote two reviews last week. The first was for a children's book, The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis, which is a wonderful adventure story for elementary aged kids. The other was a time travel novel called The Show by John A. Heldt. It was a nice follow-up to The Mine, which I read last year.

What I'm Reading
I finished The Diabolist by Layton Green last week. I must say it's my favorite of the series, and you don't have to have read the others to read this one. I'm hoping to get the review written this week.

I'm now reading The Lake House by Marci Nault.

Up Next for Me
After I finish The Lake House, I think I'll pick up Indivisible? The Story of the Second American Civil War by Paul Martin Midden, another review book.

I'm skipping my kids' update this week. We'll be back to it next week.

What ar…

The Show by John A. Heldt is a sequel to one of my favorite books of 2012, The Mine. It starts by recapping some of the happenings from the first book, but from the perspective of Grace Vandenberg, who falls in love with a time traveler named Joel. Grace discovers the letter that Joel left behind earlier than she was supposed to, and follows him forward in time, from 1941 to 2002.

Although it was a bit of a recap, it was fun to read the story from Grace's perspective. Heldt shows us how she adapts to this new world before she finally finds Joel in modern-day Seattle. We then watch as Grace and Joel build a life and family together. And then Grace is suddenly transported back to 1918.

I will admit that I would have liked to have read more about Grace in 2002 than having her thrown back in time. But it was an interesting story, and heartbreaking as she struggled with being away from her husband and children. The main issue I had was that there was a bit of a romance story in 1918. I…

When Stella and Tom move to a new home in London, they are sad to have left their friends behind. But soon they have a mystery to solve. Their neighbor's dog, Harry, keeps disappearing. Where is he going and why is he always wet when he comes home? As they investigate the area in the garden where Harry seems to come and go, they discover a hidden tunnel that takes them back to their garden ... almost 100 years ago.

The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis is a wonderful children's book that reminds me of the adventurous stories I read as a child. I saw other reviewers say something similar. I'm not sure what it is about the way the story is told, but it is reminiscent of children's books from many years ago, yet it will definitely appeal to the kids of today.

Stella and Tom have an adventure in the past that leads to new friends and discoveries. While it's a time travel story, it doesn't have a lot of fantasy elements (although there are some moles that act a bit unusua…

Good evening. I hope you've all had a wonderful week. I had a wonderful four-day weekend. We didn't go anywhere, which was nice. Just hung around and got things done. The kids were home all last week, but are back to camps this week. Despite the holiday, I did get some reading done. But I did not get any writing done here on the blog. I'm spending some time right now writing a few reviews that I was supposed to write a month ago!!

Recent Reviews and Other Posts
Last night, I finished  reading The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. It was okay, but definitely not one of my favorites. Since I probably won't get to the review in the next week, I'll just say that the racing references really did turn me off from it. I know it's about way more than dogs and race cars - it's very philosophical - but all of the racing analogies were just a bit too much for me. I also wasn't crazy about the storyline, but I'll get more into that when I do finally wr…

Good morning. I hope you've had a great week. The highlight of my week was an author signing on Friday night. I took the whole family to see Weird Al Yankovic at a local bookstore. He was signing his new book, My New Teacher and Me!, which is a follow up to When I Grow Up, which we all love. The new book features the same character as his first, Billy, and it's a really cute.



Recent Reviews and Other Posts
Last week, I reviewed a fun thriller by Allan Leverone: Parallax View. I also posted an interview with author Ann Whitely-Gillen.

What I'm Reading
I'm now reading The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. It's my July book club book. It's okay so far, but I am not really into dogs or racing, so I don't think it's going to be a favorite for me.

I still have The Diabolist by Layton Green waiting for me to finish. It's a great book, but I want to get one more book club book out of the way before I read the rest of it.

I also started reading The S…