Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight

Where they found her by kimberly mccreight

Photo Credit: Goodreads

 

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

Where They Found Her

Summary from Goodreads:

At the end of a long winter, in bucolic Ridgedale, New Jersey, the body of an infant is discovered in the woods near the town’s prestigious university campus. No one knows who the baby is, or how her body ended up out there. But there is no shortage of opinions.

When freelance journalist, and recent Ridgedale transplant, Molly Anderson is unexpectedly called upon to cover the story for the Ridegdale Reader, it’s a risk, given the severe depression that followed the loss of her own baby. But the bigger threat comes when Molly unearths some of Ridgedale’s darkest secrets, including a string of unreported sexual assaults that goes back twenty years.

Meanwhile, Sandy, a high school dropout, searches for her volatile and now missing mother, and PTA president Barbara struggles to help her young son, who’s suddenly having disturbing outbursts.

Told from the perspectives of Molly, Barbara, and Sandy, Kimberly McCreight’s taut and profoundly moving novel unwinds the tangled truth about the baby’s death revealing that these three women have far more in common than they realized. And that their lives are more intertwined with what happened to the baby than they ever could have imagined.

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

Wowza, folks. When I read RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA by Kimberly McCreight, I was completely impressed with Kim’s ability to tell a story that was gripping and made me want to flip the pages as fast as I could. So, I’ve been a bit impatient awaiting her next foray into the fiction world- and WHERE THEY FOUND HER was pretty much worth the wait (Although, RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA set a very high bar for stories by Kim!) Continue reading

The Happy Hour Choir by Sally

the happy hour choir by sally kilpatrick

Photo Credit: Kensington Books April 28 2015

 

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

The Happy Hour Choir

Summary from Goodreads:

Life has dealt Beulah Land a tough hand to play, least of all being named after a hymn. A teenage pregnancy estranged her from her family, and a tragedy caused her to lose what little faith remained. The wayward daughter of a Baptist deacon, she spends her nights playing the piano at The Fountain, a honky-tonk located just across the road from County Line Methodist. But when she learns that a dear friend’s dying wish is for her to take over as the church’s piano player, she realizes it may be time to face the music…

Beulah butts heads with Luke Daniels, the new pastor at County Line, who is determined to cling to tradition even though he needs to attract more congregants to the aging church. But the choir also isn’t enthusiastic about Beulah’s contemporary take on the old songs and refuse to perform. Undaunted, Beulah assembles a ragtag group of patrons from The Fountain to form the Happy Hour Choir. And as the unexpected gig helps her let go of her painful past—and accept the love she didn’t think she deserved—she just may be able to prove to Luke that she can toe the line between sinner and saint…

Continue reading

Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline

Every Fifteen Minutes audio

Photo Credit: Macmillan Audio

 

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

Every Fifteen Minutes

Summary from Goodreads:

Dr. Eric Parrish is the Chief of the Psychiatric Unit at Havemeyer General Hospital outside of Philadelphia. Recently separated from his wife, Caitlin, he is doing his best as a single dad to his seven-year-old daughter Hannah. His work seems to be going better than his home life, however. His unit at the hospital has just been named number two in the country and Eric has a devoted staff of doctors and nurses who are as caring as Eric is. But when he takes on a new patient, Eric’s entire world begins to crumble. Seventeen-year-old Max has a terminally ill grandmother and is having trouble handling it. That, plus his OCD and violent thoughts about a girl he likes makes Max a high risk patient. Max can’t turn off the rituals he needs to perform every fifteen minutes that keep him calm. With the pressure mounting, Max just might reach the breaking point. When the girl is found murdered, Max is nowhere to be found. Worried about Max, Eric goes looking for him and puts himself in danger of being seen as a “person of interest”. Next, one of his own staff turns on him in a trumped up charge of sexual harassment. Is this chaos all random? Or is someone systematically trying to destroy Eric’s life?

Continue reading

The Daughter by Jane Shemilt

 

the daughter

Photo Credit: William Morrow

 

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

The Daughter

Summary from Goodreads:

How well do you really know those you love?

Jenny loves her three teenage children and her husband, Ted, a celebrated neurosurgeon. She loves the way that, as a family, they always know each other’s problems and don’t keep secrets from each other.

But when her youngest child, fifteen-year-old Naomi, doesn’t come home after her school play and a nationwide search for her begins, secrets previously kept from Jenny are revealed.

Naomi has vanished, leaving her family broken and her mother desperately searching for answers. But the traces Naomi’s left behind reveal a very different girl to the one Jenny thought she’d raised. And the more she looks the more she learns that everyone she trusted has been keeping secrets.

How well does she really know her sons, her husband? How well did she know Naomi? If Jenny is going to find her, she’ll have to first uncover the truth about the daughter she thought told her everything.

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

Have you ever read a book that you couldn’t stop thinking about for days after you read it? THE DAUGHTER was my latest book like that. Jane Shemilt took an average family and just ripped them to shreds- showed their ugly sides and brought up some interesting viewpoints. Continue reading

Beach Reads 2015

2015 Summer Reading

Ahhhh.. Summer reading- is there anything better? I think not. I like summer reading- the pretty covers, the lure of the whole day ahead, the fact that it does not begin to get dark till after 8pm! Reading in the summer is almost decadent to me- because wherever I am- it’s like a mini-vacation.

So here are SOME of the books that I’m pretty excited to read over the summer (some I’ve already read in anticipation of summer reads!)- some are straight up beach reads, some are my mystery/suspense that keep me guessing all the book long and there is a couple of historical fiction in here to mix things up!

 

 

1. I REGRET NOTHING by Jen Lancaster

2. LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE by Jessica Knoll

3. THE IDEA OF LOVE by Patti Callahan Henry

4. DEAR CAROLINA by Kristy Woodson Harvey Continue reading

{Guest Post} Kathryn Craft Talks About What Makes Great Book Club Fiction…

It's a Guest Post day

Hello! Today, Kathryn Craft, THE FAR END OF HAPPY, is here to talk about book club books- and to give us some tips!

 

What Makes Great Book Club Fiction?
by Kathryn Craft

Long before I started writing fiction, I belonged to numerous book clubs. Talking about books is in fact my favorite way to get to know people, and when visiting a house for the first time, I am always drawn first to its bookcase. Add in a glass of wine and snacks and I believe you’ve created the very type of social event that caused the Girl Scouts to invent a hospitality badge. So it’s probably no shock that I was drawn to write this type of novel.

Have you ever shown up to book club, had a five-minute discussion about whodunit, and then abandoned the discussion for neighborhood gossip? Yeah, me too. Not every book makes a great book club pick, and when that happens—well, that’s why you have the snacks and the wine.

Here are some of the book qualities I’ve identified, through the years, that are bound to generate great book club discussion. Continue reading

{Guest Post} The Thing About Southern Women by Beth Albright

It's a Guest Post day

 

Hey lovelies! Today Beth Albright, my most favorite Southern Belle, is here to talk to us about Southern women. So buckle up and let’s get you all up to speed on the ways of a Southern girl!

Beth’s latest book, DAYDREAMS IN DIXIE, is in stores so be sure and check it out! And because Southern ladies know hospitality- Beth has a prize to give away today- a signed copy of DAYDREAMS IN DIXIE and other goodies! Be sure and check it out (AFTER you read the guest post!) Continue reading

TBR vs Review Pile for Book Bloggers- Is there a difference?

TBR vs Review pile

So we all know the common joke: “I was born with a TBR pile that I will never finish”. We, as book lovers, know this is true. There will always be more books to add to the pile. Backlist books you find out about months, years, decades, eons after they are published. Truly, we book lovers know that we will never get through the pile of books we want to read!

But what happens if you are a book blogger? Should you divide your TBR pile into 2 stacks- your review consideration pile and your personal TBR pile?

Let’s discuss why we that might be a good idea….. Continue reading

Literary Friday, ya’ll…….

literary friday

I’ve been trying my best to hide it- but this week, between my work and my blogging, I’ve felt like I was pulled into a million pieces. Seriously. So I am SO looking forward to the weekend! The adorable Miss A will be in town- so not sure how much rest I’ll get (she likes to get up VERY early and resists nap time like it’s a monster that might snatch her up!) But, I’m looking forward to seeing her cute face!

 

Onward to Literary Friday!

 

1. Deep South Magazine and their #literaryfriday: Rita Leganski news, Gatsby, and THE LONGEST RIDE (plus much more!)

 

2. Allison @ The Book Wheel talks about friends and Cleaning Out The Proverbial Closet!

 

3. The Socratic Salon has been breaking down and talking ALL about A LITTLE LIFE. Continue reading