How To Grow An Addict #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading How to Grow an Addict by J.A. Wright. Course Title: Rehabilitation Studies. Department: Fiction.

About The Book:

Randall Grange has been tricked into admitting herself into a treatment center and she doesn’t know why. She’s not a party hound like the others in her therapy group - but then again, she knows she can’t live without pills or booze. Raised by an abusive father, a detached mother, and a loving aunt and uncle, Randall both loves and hates her life. She’s awkward and a misfit. Her parents introduced her to alcohol and tranquilizers at a young age, ensuring that her teenage years would be full of bad choices, and by the time she’s twenty-three years old, she’s a full-blown drug addict, well acquainted with the miraculous power chemicals have to cure just about any problem she could possibly have - and she’s in more trouble than she’s ever known was possible.

About The Author:

J.A. Wright was raised in the Pacific Northwest and moved to New Zealand in 1990. She is the founder and director of the World Buskers Festival, and the New Zealand Jazz and Blues Festival. With more than thirty years in recovery from drug addiction, she’s been crafting this novel for years.

Buy this book at How To Grow An Addict on Amazon.

 
 

All In Her Head #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading All in Her Head: A Novel by Sunny Mera. Course Title: Psychology of Sexuality. Department: Women’s Fiction.

  

About The Book:

As a young girl growing up in the Midwest, Sunny experiences the shame and stigma of scandal when her father is banned from their church for having an affair with the pastor’s best friend’s wife. As Sunny grows older, she begins to build the life she’s always wanted: she marries, buys a house, enrolls in graduate school, and soon has a baby on the way. But when she experiences the psychological phenomena of orgasmic labor, it triggers a chain of bizarre events, and she gradually descends into a world of delusion and paranoia. As Sunny struggles to separate the real from the unreal, she relies upon friends and family to ground her in truth and love - and keep her from going over the edge into madness.

About The Author:

I’m a mother who writes and lives in Brooklyn, New York, where I landed by way of New Hampshire. I was inspired to write the book All in Her Head: A Novel after my diagnosis of severe mental illness and my battle with postpartum depression, psychosis, and delusional disorder. I come from a privileged, educated, and stable home; I grew up attending a small, private Christian school that my parents and their friends founded in our attic in Topeka, Kansas. Thankfully, medication is effective for me and I wasn’t criminalized for my illness. On my journey, the thing I needed was more role models to explain how to share. I needed to hear stories of people who told their stories, and see more stories explaining how to teach others to listen. This would have helped so much during my dark days and then during my early days of insight. I’ve spent the last decade writing a narrative I can live with. Now that I’m finished with this story, I can work on what I want: mothering and writing about things that aren’t centered on me. I’m sharing this story with the aspiration that others will share my real hope for building a reality that is a place we want to live.

Buy this book at All In Her Head on Amazon.

Postcards From The Sky #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading Postcards From The Sky by Erin Siedmann. Course Title: Integrated Aviation. Department: Memoir.

About The Book:

The aviation world is a man’s world - it always has been, and it continues to be so today. In fact, women make up a mere 5 to 6 percent of the total pilot population worldwide. But from the first time Erin Seidemann experienced what it was like to see the world from a small plane’s perspective, she was hooked - and she’s spent much of her time since then fighting her way into becoming one of that 5 to 6 percent. Postcards from the Sky: Adventures of an Aviatrix tells of the struggles and adventures one encounters as a woman in the male-dominated space of aviation. With humor and equanimity, Seidemann recounts her varied experiences as a female pilot - from the chauvinistic flight instructor she makes the mistake of falling in love with to the many, many customs agents who insist she can’t possibly be her plane’s owner (“Where’s your boyfriend?”) - while at the same time giving insight about just what makes flying so incredible and so very addictive. Frank, funny, and full of adventure, Postcards from the Sky is an entertaining foray into a world few women have dared enter.

About The Author:

Erin Seidemann was born and raised in New Orleans in Southeastern Louisiana, a part of the state often described as “South of the South.” She attended Loyola University New Orleans and graduated cum laude with a degree in English writing. Her writing has appeared on numerous blogs, as well as on al.com, aopa.org, laaviator.com, womenofaviation.org, wdsu.com, and News with a Twist, as well as in Women in Aviation magazine. She recently earned her commercial pilot license.

Buy this book at Postcards From The Sky on Amazon.

 
 

Put A Ring On It #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading Put a Ring On It by Beth Kendrick. Course Title: Commitment Crash Course. Department: Chick-lit.

About The Book:

Brighton Smith doesn’t do outrageous. As an insurance actuary, it’s her job to assess risk and avoid bad investments. But when her fiance calls to confess he’s married someone else on a whim (“I looked at her and I just knew!”), she snaps. That night, at a local bar, Jake Sorensen - hot, rich, and way out of her league - buys Brighton a cocktail. At midnight, she kisses him. And by dawn, they’re exchanging vows at a drive-through chapel. Brighton knows Jake is a bad bet, but she doesn’t care. After a lifetime of playing it safe, she’s finally having fun. Until the whirlwind romance gives way to painful reality and Brighton finds out the truth about why a guy like Jake married a girl like her. With her heart on the line and the odds stacked against them, Brighton must decide whether to cut her losses or take a leap of faith that this love affair is one in a million.

About The Author:

Beth Kendrick is the author of several novels, including New Uses for Old Boyfriends, Cure for the Common Breakup, The Week Before the Wedding, and The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service.

Buy this book at Put A Ring On It on Amazon.

 

The Black Velvet Coat #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading The Black Velvet Coat by Jill G. Hall. Course Title: Exploratory Studies. Department: Women’s Fiction.

 

About The Book:

Twenty-eight-year-old struggling San Francisco artist Anne McFarland is determined to get a one-woman show, even though no one, including herself, believes she can do it. But when she buys a coat at a thrift shop with a key in its pocket, strange, even magical, occurrences begin to unfold, and she is inspired to create her best work ever. Fifty years earlier, it’s 1963, and the coat’s original owner, young heiress Sylvia Van Dam, is headed toward a disastrous marriage with a scoundrel. In a split-second reaction she does the unimaginable, which propels her on a trip of self-discovery to nature-filled Northern Arizona. When Anne and Sylvia’s lives intersect, they are both forced to face their fears - and, in the process, realize their true potential.

About The Author:

Jill G. Hall facilitates creativity groups for artists of all types and curates exhibitions at Inspirations Gallery, NTC at Liberty Station. Her poems have been published in A Year in Ink, Wild Women, Wild Voices, City Works Press, Serving House Journal, and The Avocet. She resides in San Diego with her husband, Jerry, and beagle-bassett, Lucy.

Buy this book at The Black Velvet Coat on Amazon.

 
 

Pretending To Dance #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading Pretending to Dance by Diane Chamberlain. Course Title: Intro to Social Work. Department: Women’s Fiction.

About The Book:

Molly Arnette is very good at keeping secrets. She and her husband live in San Diego, where they hope to soon adopt a baby. But the process terrifies her. As the questions and background checks come one after another, Molly worries that the truth she's kept hidden about her North Carolina childhood will rise to the surface and destroy not only her chance at adoption, but her marriage as well. She ran away from her family twenty years ago after a shocking event left her devastated and distrustful of those she loved: Her mother, the woman who raised her and who Molly says is dead but is very much alive. Her birth mother, whose mysterious presence raised so many issues. The father she adored, whose death sent her running from the small community of Morrison Ridge. Now, as she tries to find a way to make peace with her past and embrace a future filled with promise, she discovers that even she doesn't know the truth of what happened in her family of pretenders. Told with Diane Chamberlain's compelling prose and gift for deft exploration of the human heart, Pretending to Dance is an exploration of family, lies, and the complexities of both.

My Thoughts:

This is one of the best stories I have read in a long time. Such a well put-together tale and amazing character outlines. I was intrigued from the first chapter.

About The Author:

Diane Chamberlaine is the international bestselling author of twenty-three novels. She lives in North Carolina with her partner, photographer John Pagliuca, and her shelties, Keeper and Cole.

Buy this book at Pretending To Dance on Amazon.

 
 

Rooville #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading Rooville by Julie Long. Course Title: Intro to Meditation. Department: Fiction.

About The Book:

Even after thirteen years in Southern California, Owen Martin can feel the corners of his squareness still sharply evident. He’s a TV weatherman bored by the beautiful climate. He wants to coach basketball but all the kids play soccer. And he seems to be the only person who thinks a fruit smoothie is a poor substitute for a vanilla shake. When he’s fired from his job, Owen is relieved to head home to Iowa, to the town his ancestors founded and the simple life he knew before his father died. He can’t predict the atmospheric pressure he's about to encounter, which, as any meteorologist knows, is the key catalyst for change. In his absence, Martinville has become the center of the Transcendental Meditation movement and host to all things alternative. There are golden domes for mass meditations, a vegan café where the burger joint stood, and all the shop doors around Town Square now face east. But far worse than anything is the danger to the Martin family farm. In a town divided between “Regulars” and “Roos” (gurus), Owen is clear where he stands until he falls for a levitator instead of the down-to-earth girl he had in mind. With old customs and open-mindedness clashing like warm and cold fronts, Owen gets caught in a veritable tornado. Can he save the farm, get the girl, and reunite the town? Maybe...if he’s willing to embrace a change in the weather.

My Thoughts:

This is a fun read. A different sort of story that leads you into a maybe unknown world of alternative lifestyles and ways to live. I love the romantic story as well. A fun read!

About The Author:

Julie Long was born in Fairfield, Iowa, a typical Midwestern town (the kind with a bandstand in town square), which just happened to become the center of the Transcendental Meditation movement. For several years she lived in Southern California (where she never did find the center of town) before opting for the rural life in Western Pennsylvania. Today she lives on a farm with her husband, extended family, and an English bulldog. She co-authored Baby: An Owner’s Manual, A Mouthful of Truth, and Fat, Dumb & Lazy. This is her first novel

Buy this book at Rooville on Amazon.

 
 

The Good Neighbor #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading The Good Neighbor by AJ Banner. Course Title: Bad Behavioral Studies. Department: Suspense.

About The Book:

Shadow Cove, Washington, is the kind of town everyone dreams about - quaint streets, lush forests, good neighbors. That’s what Sarah thinks as she settles into life with her new husband, Dr. Johnny McDonald. But all too soon she discovers an undercurrent of deception. And one October evening when Johnny is away, sudden tragedy destroys Sarah’s happiness. Dazed and stricken with grief, she and Johnny begin to rebuild their shattered lives. As she picks up the pieces of her broken home, Sarah discovers a shocking secret that forces her to doubt everything she thought was true - about her neighbors, her friends, and even her marriage. With each stunning revelation, Sarah must ask herself, Can we ever really know the ones we love?

My Thoughts:

Ohhhh this is a good spooky suspense story for the Fall. Perfect for the sometimes eerie colder weather! Curl up with this book, but keep a light on!

About The Author:

AJ Banner illuminates the darkest corners of the human heart with her stories of suspense. Born in India and raised in Canada and California, she earned degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. She lives with her husband on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.

Buy this book at The Good Neighbor on Amazon.

 
 

Sleeping With The Enemy #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading Sleeping With The Enemy by Tracy Solheim. Course Title: Scandal Studies 101. Department: Romance.

About The Book:

Dot-com millionaire Jay McManus is discovering that owning a pro football team like the Baltimore Blaze isn’t easy. An anonymous blogger is out to destroy his reputation, and now his team is being sued by its own cheerleaders. If Jay’s not careful, he could lose big - and not just financially. Bridgett Janik’s brother may play for the Baltimore Blaze, but she’s not thrilled to be defending Jay McManus, the man who broke her heart. It’s bad enough she has to mingle with Jay during games, but working beside her former lover may be too much for her body - and her heart - to resist. Jay’s determined not to let Bridgett slip away from him a second time. But, as the two follow the mysterious blogger’s trail, secrets - both past and present - are revealed, and Jay and Bridgett must decide if their relationship can be something more than just sleeping with the enemy.

My Thoughts:

I don't usually like books about sports. It just doesn't interest me. But this book was different. It was intriguing. A good read, and not all about sports!

About The Author:

Tracy Solheim is the author of international bestselling contemporary romance novels featuring hot football players and the women who love them. In addition to writing novels, she is a regular columnist for USA Today's Happily Ever After Blog. She lives in Georgia with her husband, two nearly adult children, a Labrador retriever who thinks she’s a cat and a horse named after her first novel: Game On. When Tracy's not at the barn with her daughter or working out with friends - i.e. lifting heavy bottles of wine - she’s writing. Except for when she’s reading, but that’s just research.

Buy this book at Sleeping With The Enemy on Amazon.

 
 

The Admissions #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading The Admissions by Meg Mitchell Moore. Course Title: Sociology 101. Department: Women’s Fiction.

About The Book:

The Hawthorne family has it all. Great jobs, a beautiful house in one of the most affluent areas of northern California, and three charming kids with perfectly straight teeth. And then comes their eldest daughter's senior year of high school....Firstborn Angela Hawthorne is a straight-A student and star athlete, with extracurricular activities coming out of her ears and a college application that's not going to write itself. She's set her sights on Harvard, her father's Alma Mater, and like a dog with a chew toy, Angela won't let up until she's basking in crimson-colored glory. Except her class rank as valedictorian is under attack, she's suddenly losing her edge at cross-country, and she can't help but daydream about the cute baseball player in English class. Of course Angela knows the time put into her schoolgirl crush would be better spent coming up with a subject for her term paper - which, along with her college essay and community service hours has a rapidly approaching deadline. Angela's mother, Nora, is similarly stretched to the limit, juggling parent-teacher meetings, carpool, and a real-estate career where she caters to the mega rich and super-picky buyers and sellers of the Bay Area. The youngest daughter, Maya, still can't read at the age of eight; the middle-child, Cecily, is no longer the happy-go-lucky kid she once was; and the dad, Gabe, seems oblivious to the mounting pressures at home because a devastating secret of his own might be exposed. A few ill-advised moves put the Hawthorne family on a heedless collision course that's equal parts achingly real and delightfully screwball. Sharp and topical, The Admissions shows that if you pull at a loose thread, even the sturdiest of lives start to unravel at the seams of high achievement.

My Thoughts:

This is a great read. A good read to curl up with this Fall. It'll have you turning page after page because you just have to know what happens. Every family has their secrets and what you see on the outside is not always what is happening on the inside!

About The Author:

Meg Mitchell Moore is the author of the novels The Arrivals and So Far Away. She lives in Newburyport, MA, with her husband and three daughters.

Buy this book at The Admissions on Amazon.

 
 

The Legacy Of Us #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading The Legacy of Us by Kristin Contino. Course Title: Ancestry 101. Department: Women’s Fiction.

About The Book:

Taking readers from 1905 Italy to present-day Philadelphia, The Legacy of Us uncovers how the lives of three generations of women are changed by love, loss and one little necklace. Liz Moretti thought she knew almost everything about her grandmother, Ella, from her love of "The Golden Girls" to the perfect pound cake recipe. But when Ella passes away and Liz finds a cameo locket with a marriage proposal engraved inside (from a man who was not her grandfather), she realizes that sometimes a person's secrets are discovered only after they're gone. On top of losing Ella, Liz's career as a jewelry designer is stagnant and her love life lacks sparkle, too. When she reconnects with the one who got away, Liz thinks maybe things are finally starting to look up. But after a few drinks and a trip down a flight of stairs, Liz wakes up to realize the cameo is gone. Her ex offers to look for it, but so does Justin, the intriguing new guy in her apartment building. While dealing with her feelings for two very different men and generally trying to reinvent her mess of a life, Liz finds answers and solace in Ella's diary. The story of the cameo, and the relationship between her grandmother and great-grandmother, an outspoken socialite from Italy, inspires Liz to grow up and accept responsibility for her missteps. Eventually she must choose between the life she thought she wanted and the promise of something better.

My Thoughts:

This is such a great read to cozy up to on these cod Fall days! I loved this story, loved the generational connections. And I love the little mystery of the cameo. You really truly never do know people and their stories and secrets! A great read!

About The Author:

Kristin Contino has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. Her childhood love of reading and writing translated into a career as a freelance writer and editor, and her work has appeared in retail, business, and parenting publications. She lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her family, but dreams of moving to her favorite city, London. The Legacy of Us is her first novel.

Buy this book at The Legacy Of Us on Amazon.

 
 

Uncovered #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading Uncovered by Leah Lax. Course Title: LGBT Studies/Cultural Studies. Department: Memoir.

About The Book:

In Uncovered, Leah Lax tells her story - beginning as a young teen who left her liberal, secular home for life as a Hasidic Jew and ending as a forty-something woman who has to abandon the only world she's known for thirty years in order to achieve personal freedom. In understated, crystalline prose, Lax details her experiences with arranged marriage, fundamentalist faith, and motherhood during her years with the Hasidim, and explores how her creative, sexual, and spiritual longings simmer beneath the surface throughout her time there. The first memoir to tell of a gay woman who spent years in the Hasidic fold, Uncovered is the moving story of Lax's journey toward finding a home where she truly belongs.

My Thoughts:

This was an interesting read. Probably not a memoir I would choose to have read on my own, but I enjoyed it none-the-less, and my eyes were opened to a new world, and I learned a thing or two! And interesting read.

About The Author:

Leah Lax has won awards in both fiction and nonfiction and her work has been included in numerous anthologies and publications, print and online - including Dame, Lilith, and Salon. Her work for stage has been reviewed in The New York Times, and Rolling Stone magazine, and has been broadcast on NPR. She has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Houston.

Buy this book at Uncovered on Amazon.

 
 

Shattered Blue #FRC2015

I am in my Sophomore Year at BookSparks University and participating in this year’s Fall Reading Challenge - #FRC2015. Right now, I am reading Shattered Blue by Lauren Horowitz. Course Title: Supernatural Studies, Extra Credit Opportunity. Department: Science Fiction.

About The Book:

For Noa and Callum, being together is dangerous, even deadly. From the start, sixteen-year-old Noa senses that the mysterious transfer student to her Monterey boarding school is different. Callum unnerves and intrigues her, and even as she struggles through family tragedy, she’s irresistibly drawn to him. Soon they are bound by his deepest secret: Callum is Fae, banished from another world after a loss hauntingly similar to her own. But in Noa’s world, Callum needs a special human energy, Light, to survive; his body steals it through touch - or a kiss. And Callum’s not the only Fae on the hunt. When Callum is taken, Noa must decide: Will she sacrifice everything to save him? Even if it means learning their love may not be what she thought?

My Thoughts:

This is a great addition to the world of the YA supernatural stories out there. I love the name Callum (Callan, anyone? Hee hee.) This is a great start for a series!

About The Author:

Lauren Horowitz - or “Bird” as she is often known - is a screenwriter and novelist lucky enough to call both Los Angeles and Kauai home. Bird also counts herself lucky that writing exists as a profession - how else could she share the crazy, fantastic worlds in her head? Bird studied writing at Harvard University with novelist Jamaica Kincaid, where she won several prizes including the Edward Eager Memorial Prize for fiction. She’s a proud member of the Writers Guild of America.

Buy this book at Shattered Blue on Amazon.