#67

Yannick Murphy's "The Call" is a different kind of novel. It's about a New England Veterinarian who's live is changed when his son suffers a hunting accident that leaves him in a coma. He searches for the person responsible for the shooting that has caused the turmoil in his family and in the midst of it a stranger arrives requesting a favor. Interesting read if you can get around the style and the talk of flying saucers.

#66

Got this one from Amazon recently and for some reason it gave me the worst nightmare I've had in ages. Don't really know why, but I was screaming my head off in the middle of the night. Megan Abbott's "The End of Everything" is about two young girls that are neighbors and inseparable best friends. One day one disappears and it's up to the other friend to find her. She figures out who was in the area before her friend disappeared and she discovered clues that led to finding her friend after she's been missing for 3 weeks. Not your typical kidnapping and definitely a good read.

We're prepared for hurricane Irene but I don't think it's going to amount to much. I've answered a zillion calls at work from people who want generators and we haven't had any for days. I was tempted to tell them that "no we don't have any generators, but could I interest you in a nice snow blower?" That will be the next drama!

#65

Finished Marian Keyes, "The Brightest Star in the Sky." Cute read about a townhouse in Dublin that is home to an odd assortment of neighbors. Their lives begin to intersect in an unusual way. Katie is a hard working music exec, Lydia is a streetwise cabbie, Jemima, an elderly psychic, and the newly weds Mark and Maeve who live on the first floor and who are suddenly in need of everyone's help. This was another one of my recent finds in the Strand bookstore in NYC. So far so good!

Today marks the 20th anniversary of my mother's passing. Strange to think that it's been so long. She left before seeing her grandchildren graduate from college, get married, have her great grandchildren, and become successful in their careers. I always hoped that we would have had a better relationship as she got older and maybe have less "whatever" it was that made her "whatever" she was.

#64

So I've been locked in a Jury Assembly Room all week. Monday no one from our 165 members was called. Sat there for almost 8 hours on their uncomfortable chairs waiting for a call from judges chambers. Got some reading done but it was hard to concentrate with all those people chatting. Tuesday I got called to a courtroom but wasn't picked. 30 of us went up but only 14 were picked. Once again it was a long day with no other calls for everyone. Today there were two calls for court but everyone came back since a settlement was reached. I figured I was picked once so that will be it for me for the rest of the week. Fortunately I sit next to a very interesting fellow who's been chatty. I did manage to finish my book this evening. Two more days of sitting in the jury assembly room!!

Finished Rebecca Skloot's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." This is a true story about Henrietta Lacks and her life and death. She was treated for cervical cancer back in 1951. Samples of her tumor were taken and her cells were the first to every continue to grow. To this day her cells are still growing and being used all over the world. They've been to the moon and blown up in a nuclear bomb. She's helped in the cure for polio and many other diseases. This all happened while her family was living in poverty and ignorance about what was happening with their mother's cells. Skloot researched the family and Henrietta's life and has written this accounting. Finally a face has been given to the HeLa cell.

#63

When I started Karen White's "The Beach Tree," I thought it was your typical boy meets girl and they don't like each other and then they'll get together story. Wrong! Lots of twists and turns that kept me wanting to not put it down. Julie is only 12 when her younger sister goes missing. She takes up her mother's obsession to find her sister when her mother passes away a few years later. Her career is established with her love of art which she gets from her great grandfather who was a well known painter. This leads to her to a friendship with Monica and her young son Beau. The death of Monica leads Julie to Louisiana's gulf coast. Monica has left her custody of Beau, a beach house in Biloxi, and a very valuable painting which was painted by Julie's great grandfather. She's left with a mystery as to why Monica ever left Louisiana and never contacted her brother and grandmother again. I was a little disappointed in the ending. Kind of expected more from all the build up, but it was a good read.

My root canal on Tuesday ended Friday with the back portion of my tooth breaking off. I called the office where I had it done and they said to hurry right in. I left work and traveled the almost 40 miles to get there expecting something to be done to take away the very sharp edge that was now driving me crazy. Wrong! The guy who did the procedure is on vacation and his associate, a real nasty, eye rolling snob, barely looks in my mouth but informs me that I should have had a permanent filling installed by now. First of all, I was still having pain in the tooth so why would I have a permanent filling installed when there was a possibility that it would need further work and secondly, when would I have had time. I had no days off until today and it's Sunday! Duh! Next week is jury duty and I have no idea when I'll be able to get to a dentist. I was told I have a month to get the permanent filling done. Now I have a broken molar, a tooth that is still aching, the tooth in front of it that I feel is the real culprit and was the one I originally went in to have done and an associate that doesn't want to help me. She has a dental assistant start smearing temporary filling all over the tooth which by now is over my tongue and the molars all around the area. The chick has no idea how to help me. I was so frustrated, I just left and told them I'd never be back! By the time I reached the parking lot the filling dropped out in a big chunk. Instead of a permanent filling, I now need a crown! Probably two crowns since I think the original molar will also need a root canal. This is the only recommendation for root canal that my dentist had to offer! Geez!

#62

So far, so good with my selection of books recently. Sandra Rodriguez Barron's "Stay With Me" was another good read. Five young children are discovered abandoned on a yacht in Puerto Rico in 1979 after a hurricane. No adults or witnesses to explain how they got there. They considered themselves siblings even though they were adopted by different families and taken to all parts of the US and Puerto Rico to live. As adults they are brought together by David, one of the siblings who has been diagnosed with brain cancer and needs his siblings to come together and to figure out the mystery surrounding their beginnings. Great read!

A root canal took me to the dentist today and many dollars went out the window with the repair. I pay big money every month for insurance and they can't even pay more than half what this procedure is costing me? Geez! I was very tempted to just have it pulled but that would have probably cost almost as much. The worst part is that it took a trip to my family dentist to discover I needed a root canal and then you have to go to a specialist to have it done and then it's back to your regular dentist to have a permanent filling put in it. This whole thing will cost me over $1100.

#61

I am so adding this author to my favorites. Colm Toibin's "Brooklyn" was an excellent read. Eilis is a young Irish girl who is encouraged to leave Ireland and head to Brooklyn to better her life. Time frame is in the 50's. She is sponsored by a priest who has relocated there and he helps her find a room, a job, and eventually schooling to become a bookkeeper. She eventually finds an Italian boyfriend and she seems to be on track until she receives bad news from Ireland and makes a trip back. The return to her homeland brings about some changes which could upset everything she has worked for in Brooklyn. Very inspiring!

#60

I hit the motherload of books. While in NYC we went to the Strand bookstore and they advertise 18 miles of books. WOW! It was great! I tried to control myself and only purchased 7 and had them shipped. Two days ago we went to the Borders Going Out of Business Sale (Hubby wanted to find some books) and I got about 10 books there. I'm set for a little while. Really, I'm set for a year or more with all that I have stashed away.

I just finished "Two Rivers" by T. Greenwood which was another freebie from Kindle. This was a excellent read. Started back in the 50's with a young boy and girl becoming best friends and their life growing up. She loses her mother to suicide after spending 5 years in a mental institution. His father is an inventor and always working on something in his basement workshop. His mother becomes an activist during the race riots in the 60's. She goes off to spend a summer in the south and ends up spending two years until she comes home after being badly beaten in a riot. What she doesn't bring home is a secret that remains hidden for many years. It's the Vietnam War and the young couple are trying to figure out how to keep him from being drafted into a war they don't believe in. Twelve years into the future he's now a man of 34 and he's carrying the burden of them all.

We decided to head to the Eastern Shore for a couple days and we ended up in Lewes, Delaware. It was a nice little town but the people in the restaurants were really nasty. You'd think that you'd get better customer service in resort communities. We were going to stay an additional day but Hubby decided to come home today. I had to twist his arm to at least let us stick our toes in the ocean while we were there. It was a pretty miserable day for it with over cast skies and drizzle but we did it and that was good. One more day off before I have to head back to work. I'm very sad about that.

#59

"Catharsis" by Jonathan Face was a freebie from Kindle. Not bad except I didn't like the ending. Really left me hanging. Kind of a Stephen King genre. Small New England town that purges it's residents every so often. Apparently the dregs of the country seem to end up in this particular town and they need to be purged. The children are innocent so they are saved.

Just returned from our 3 days in NYC. Expensive but fun! Great being with my Son, Daughter and Grandson for that time frame. Lots of food and cab rides!!