Empty Nest by Marty Wingate

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Carol Early Cooney

Dear Reader,

I have missed you!  Sorry for the long absence but I have been a bit under the weather.  Nothing really horrible but it has been endless to shake.  Along with not feeling well, I lost all concentration.  I wasn’t reading or writing.  I must have really been bad, huh?

I do have multiple books to share with you.  I will try and share them over the next few weeks.  The following book comes out today for the Amazon Kindle.  If you like to be one of the first to read, this is your chance.

Empty Nest: A Birds of a Feather Mystery by Marty Wingate

This is the second in the “Birds of a Feather Mystery” series by Marty Wingate.  The first book came out in July of this year.  The first book was entitled Rhyme of the Magpie. The stories feature Julia Lancaster.  Julia is the head of the Tourist Information Center in Smeaton-under-Lime in Suffolk.   I reviewed Rhyme of the Magpie and the other series by Marty Wingate last June.

In Empty Nest, Julia is temporarily living in the Hoggin Hall because her flat has to be cleared of toxic mold.  While living in the Hall, she is there when Lord Fotheringill’s son returns to the Hall.  He has not been to the Hall often since his parent’s divorce twenty years prior.  At the same time the new estate manager starts working for Lord Fotheringill.  Julia feels her position needs to be justified to both men along with making it clear that she is not going to be the next Lady Fotheringill.  When a friend of Lord Fotheringill’s son is found dead, Julia starts looking into the background of the estate manager and finds that nothing is quite what it seems.

Empty Nest is a cozy mystery.  It is the perfect read when you  in front of a fire with a blanket.  (That location only lives in my head.  On the couch works too!) There is intrigue and tension in finding the killer.  Julia finds that she has uncovered the mystery and almost ends up the next victim of the killer.

It is a fine light read.

Thanks for reading!

//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=httpcecoocom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00UEL0JQU&asins=B00UEL0JQU&linkId=CQIG2OLJETYWIOFK&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true
 

Posted in Talking Books | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Carol Early Cooney

furiously happy

Fellow Reader,

In case you have missed reading Jenny Lawson, she has a blog with a huge following (the Bloggress) and wrote the bestselling book, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened.  Her second book was released two weeks ago.

Her first book was very funny. It was the kind of book where it is hard not to laugh out loud. It was evident that her thought process differed from the norm and she did not have a filter when it came to speaking her thoughts.

The first book did talk about her medical issues but was far more centered on the funny episodes from her life. In her new book, she talks frankly about her medical issues (hence the subtitle “A Funny Book About Horrible Things”)

“I’ve struggled with mental illness since I was a kid but clinical depression is a semi-regular visitor and anxiety disorder is my long-term abusive boyfriend. Sometimes the depression is mild enough that I mistake it for the flu or mono, but this instance was one of the extreme cases. One where I didn’t necessarily want my life to end, I just wanted it to stop being such a bastard…

So I took to my blog and wrote a post that would change the way that I would look at life from then on…

I’m fucking done with sadness, and I don’t know what’s up the ass of the universe lately but I’ve HAD IT. I AM GOING TO BE FURIOUSLY HAPPY, OUT OF SHEER SPITE!

I’M STARTING A WHOLE MOVEMENT RIGHT NOW. The FURIOUSLY HAPPY movement. And it is going to be awesome because first of all, we’re all going to be VEHEMENTLY happy”

In the second book, there is much more about her depression, anxiety disorder, rheumatoid arthritis and other mental illnesses and the battles she faces with those diseases. The book still has laugh out loud sections but there is more reflexion about what it is like to live with mental illness. She writes to help the others she knows are out there because they have contacted her. She writes to tell the File of 24 and others that have come up to her in person that they are not alone. (The File of 24 is the file with 24 letters from people telling her that they were going to kill themselves but her writing and the reaction to it stopped them)

Jenny Lawson, the Blogg

Jenny Lawson, the Bloggress

By using her platform, she wants to help others like her and that is evident from the book and the stories in the book. While not funny all the time, there is great humor. There are times that you almost feel guilty laughing at things because you can see better that what you are finding funny is partially her illnesses.

This is not an outrageously funny sequel to Let’s Pretend This Never Happened.  This book is an explanation of what it is like to live mental illness and try and come out alive. It is written in a humorous fashion but is very serious.

Would I recommend it? I would. I think that if you do not suffer from mental health issues that it can help you understand what it is like to live with these diseases. If you have some mental health issues , the book does what it was meant to do – show you that you are not alone.

The only proviso on the recommendation is that if you are upset by the use of foul language, this is probably not your book. (Yes, some people are and I think it is fair to warn them) The language is definitely not “G” rated.

Thanks for reading.

//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=httpcecoocom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1250077001&asins=1250077001&linkId=KR6JWJBDZAR5C5QF&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true

Posted in Talking Books | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Birds of Passage by Joe Giordano

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Carol Early Cooney

 

Birds of Passage

Dear Fellow Reader,

This week’s book is a first book by an author who has been published in numerous publications. Birds of Passage by Joe Giordano is a picture of Naples and New York City in 1905. As the book opens, Leonardo Robustelli  is unable to find a job in Naples and succumbs to the lure of accepting a steamship ticket to America so that he can earn money to bring  home to his mother. His mother and father are against the idea but Leonardo has decided that he has to go and seek his fortune. He boards the ship to America and finds that crowded and unsanitary conditions make for a torturous trip. When he reaches American, he learns that there is not easy to find work there either.

At the same time, back in Napes, Carlo Mazzi has found himself in trouble for the murder of the owner of the neighboring farm. To save his son, Salvatore Mazzi, has his brother take Carlos to Palermo where Carlo boards a ship under an assumed name and sails for America. The arrangements on board did not work out as planned and at the end Carlo is threatened with betrayal. He kills the man who would betray him and leaves the boat in New York.

1905 boat at see

Both men live in the Italian ghetto and their paths  cross. Leonardo recognizes Carlo when Carlo is assigned to share the room that Leonardo shares with his friend Giuseppe Fontana. Conflict arises when they fall in love with the same woman. Leonardo finds the living hard in New York and longs to return to his mother in Italy but won’t return until he has made money. In the meantime they must find their way through the corruption of the city that is controlled by the Irish who are not interested in sharing with the Italians. The Italians have their own corrupt ways and are fighting to join the Irish in the control of the city.

This book rapidly catches your attention and keeps it throughout the book. There a many characters and they are used to paint a picture of this time of change in New York. The corruption was overwhelming and scary for those trying to earn a living. The descriptions are well drawn – you can see the filth of the times and almost smell the unsanitary conditions. The book tells the story of the Robustelli and Mazzi families and how they are connected. While the book covers about a year in their lives, it is a year of great change for both families.

This book was a not my usual reading and it was a welcome change. I found myself caught up in the story. There is a lot of violence but I did not find it  graphic.

Thanks for reading!

//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=httpcecoocom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1941861083&asins=1941861083&linkId=6R56IYCB6X4N24AE&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true

 

 

 

Posted in Talking Books | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Posted on October 3, 2015 by Carol Early Cooney

Big magic book

Dear Fellow Readers,

Elizabeth Gilbert’s name is widely known due to her best-selling book Eat Pray Love. The book was a phenomenal success and was made into a movie with Julia Roberts. Ms. Gilbert has followed that success with another memoir entitled Committed and then a work of fiction, The Signature of All Things. Prior to her success with Eat Pray Love, she had authored 4 other books and many magazine articles.

She has presented two TED talks. One is “Your Elusive Creative Genius”  and the other “Success, failure and the drive to keep creating”.

Those who have watched those talks will find the material from those talks a part of her new book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. The 288 page book is broken into six sections – Courage, Enchantment, Permission, Persistence, Trust, and Divinity. Throughout the book, there are examples from people to illustrate various points.

“Q:  What is creativity?

A: The relationship between a human being and the mysteries of inspiration.”

 The book is written to urge the reader to find and acknowledge their personal creativity and foster that creativity in their lives. The tone of the book is conversational and the author is free with her personal opinions on the concept of the tortured artist and the cost/benefit of higher education for creativity and more. She does talk about fear and rejection – two top issues of creatives.

“I happen to believe we are walking repositories of buried treasure. I believe this is one of the oldest and most generous tricks the universe plays on us human beings, both for its own amusement and for ours: The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all and then stands back to see if we can find them. The hunt to uncover those jewels – that’s creative living. The courage to go on the hunt in the first place – that’s what separates a mundane existence from a more enchanted one. The often surprising results of that hunt – that’s what I call Big Magic.”

My opinion –

If you watch the Ted talks and like what she says in her talks, you will like this book. I happen to really like her talk on “Your Elusive Creative Genius” and that theme is expanded in this book. I think she makes excellent points about how one the best teacher is practice and observation. While I have seen that others do not find her suggestion for dealing with fear realistic, I don’t have any problem with it. (Make it a companion on your journey, just make sure it is not in charge. You might as well acknowledge its existence because it won’t just go away.) (Seriously, if you can talk to your socks -via Marie Kondo- then talking to your fear is easy…)

But I understand that not everyone will be willing to accept her views on creativity. Since we are not talking about a hard and fast concept, there will be differing views.

Elizabeth Gilbert speaking at TED Conference

Elizabeth Gilbert speaking at TED Conference

I personally like the concept of inspiration being a visitor and that you invite the visitor or at least be open to a visit. From what I have read from other authors,  many subscribe to that theory and I believe it. I believe that sometimes you can sit down to write and the story will just grow without the author having any idea what will happen. But as Ms. Gilbert and others will state without hesitation, you have to show up and do the work. It is the day in and day out work that invites inspirations visits.

Because I read this book from the perspective of a writer, I am not sure how the book sounds if you are not a writer. We all read (and watch) with our own particular slant and so I cannot tell you if you are a painter that you will  get as much out of the book. I think you might but many of the examples are about writing.

Did I like the book? Yes, I did. It is one of those books that I wish I had bought the physical book rather than the eBook so that I can easily mark it up to go back to passages.

The bigger question for you is will you like the book? I think that if you like her 19 minute TED talk on creative genius, this is the book for you. If you listen to the talk and are not impressed, then you might want to check out the library copy or pass on it all together.

Thanks for reading!

//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=httpcecoocom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1594634718&asins=1594634718&linkId=WENJ42JUVSU5UYIG&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Three New Books for You

Posted on September 19, 2015 by Carol Early Cooney

Dear Readers,

Wow! I am behind. I have been reading (Hiding in books, you might say.) There have been many changes in my life recently and I have been thrown a bit off balance.

I will admit to you (not like this is out in public, like on the internet or anything) that I have re-read the most of the Sookie Stackhouse series. If you have not read these books, I do suggest them. I did not watch the series based on the books but from what I heard, it was different from the books. Yes, there are vampires. Yes, there are werewolves. But the stories move along well and are entertaining.

//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=httpcecoocom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B000OCXHRW&asins=B000OCXHRW&linkId=NSCZSBJFW6DY7KQH&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true

But let’s talk about some newer releases.

The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs by Matthew Dicks was released on September 8, 2015.

Caroline is living a quiet life. She is married to a wonderful man and has a teenage daughter. She is a fantastic photographer who won’t show her work because she is not ready to deal criticism of her work. She works at a big box phot o studio where the shots she takes are prescribed and boring.

As the book opens, she is at a parent’s meeting with her husband. The leaders of the school/meeting have just belittled one of the parents and somehow it triggered a break with Caroline. She had had enough of them. She looked the leader in the eye and said two words that were not “happy birthday.”  She could not believe she did it. No one could believe she did it. Her husband was shocked.

The next day, her moody, mute-around-her daughter went to school. Caroline got a call to come to the school. It seems that her daughter had had an altercation. The daughter of the meeting leader called the daughter to task in school for what Caroline had said the night before. Caroline’s daughter was about to get suspended from school.

Caroline decides to take action. She decides that she has lived her life feeling bad about herself because of an incident in high school. She walks out of the school with her daughter (without talking to the principal) and decides to drive to her hometown to confront the bully from her past.

The trip revives her relationship with her daughter and may serve to give Caroline more of a backbone.

It is also a reminder that things are not always what they seem.

I liked this book. I felt that the emotions felt by Caroline seemed real and understandable. I did not realize at first that the book was written by a man. How awful did that sound? I was surprised because he understood the teenage and adult feelings of his main female character. Shame on me for being biased.

I had not heard of Matthew Dicks before but he has several other novels and is also a storyteller, teacher, and life coach. To find out more about him, he has an interesting web site http://www.matthewdicks.com/

//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=httpcecoocom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1250006309&asins=1250006309&linkId=AX4RRMSQXQ6EQJGR&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true

Girl Meets Class by Karin Gillespie was released on September 8, 2015

Toni Lee Wells life was going well. She was on the road to become a professional tennis player. That was all she knew. She had gone through schools that were geared for kids who were going to be professional tennis players.

Suddenly she was injured and her tennis career was over. She had no idea what to do. She was wealthy thanks to her Aunt. She turned to booze and men to try and blunt the pain of being out of tennis.

As the story opens, Toni Lee is being picked up for public drunkenness by her father. Soon after that her Aunt announces that Toni Lee is cut off. Her condo and allowance are no longer hers. But if she can get a job and keep it for 1 year, then she can have a cool $5 million.

Getting a job is harder than she thought. She takes the one job that will take her – teaching with the Teacher Corps program in the toughest inner city school in her city. She is ill equipped to take on the role of teacher, especially in this school with these students.

Can she make it a year? It looks doubtful. Toni Lee also has a secret from her Aunt and Father. The secret has influenced how she feels about herself. Fortunately, she confronts the issue and it helps her move ahead with her life.

This book was fine light reading. It did have some twists and turns and the plot moved along well. Overall, a good popcorn book.

//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=httpcecoocom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1941962858&asins=1941962858&linkId=SMFEYVXM5FRG4ETF&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true

Miss Dreamsville and the Lost Heiress of Collier County by Amy Hill Hearth released September 8,2015

This is the second in the Miss Dreamsville series. I did not read the first book did not find it to be a problem with reading this book.

In case I have not said this enough before, I do love books about crazy or semi-crazy southern women. They get me every time. While this book is not exclusively about that, there is an element of it in the book. There are lots of characters and a mystery or two to solve along the way. All pretty light hearted but an enjoyable read.

//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=httpcecoocom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=147676574X&asins=147676574X&linkId=65OCNEBQYQS3NGXS&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true

So there are three books for you to think about reading. I liked all three.

Thanks for reading!

 

Posted in Talking Books | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments