Summer Reading Recommendation

I just finished reading Original Sin, A Sally Sin Adventure by Beth McMullen, and highly recommend this book for your summer reading.

Lucy Hamilton is a seemingly normal stay-at-home mom with a past she wants to keep secret from everyone, including her husband and young son. Unfortunately, she gets pulled back into her old life as the spy, Sally Sin, by the Government Agency she use to work for and by her old nemesis, Ian Blackford.

I love how Beth McMullen weaves Sally Sin's past into Lucy Hamilton's current life, and how we get to see her thought process while she tries to solve a mystery. Lucy/Sally is a fun character who isn't much different than any of us (well, except for her ability to get herself into and out of extraordinary adventures). She's definitely someone I could see myself hanging out with.

After finishing the book, I believe (hope) that this is going to be the first in a series, and I can't wait for the next one. Lucy Hamilton/Sally Sin is my new hero.

If you like a book that is full of intrigue, suspense, love, and laughter... Original Sin should be on your Summer reading list. It won't be released until July, but it's available for pre-sale. Go ahead, order it... I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Great Reads

I've been reading a lot lately. Loved Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo started out slow, and I was wondering why so many people raved about it, but I pushed myself through the first couple of chapters and ended up being hooked. If you haven't read them, you really should... and I'd suggest you read them before you see the Swedish films because, although they are well made, I feel that they leave out too much of what made the main characters, Lisbeth Salandar and Mikael Blomkvist, so captivating.

I also read some of the books I got when I attended the Library Association Conference, (those wonderful advance copies). I bought Kimberly Pauley's Sucks To Be Me since it was first in the series before Still Sucks To Be Me. They were both fun, quick reads. I would highly recommend them for younger readers who like the whole Vampire genre, but are a little too young to read Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse, Southern Vampire Series. Speaking of Sookie, I held off reading Dead in the Family until it was closer to the release of Dead Reckoning, (which came in the mail yesterday). Dead in the Family didn't disappoint. Charlaine Harris has created such a interesting world and I can honestly say I have enjoyed reading every one of her books. I also am crazy bout the HBO Series "True Blood." Even though they don't stick strictly by the books, they change it just enough to keep me surprised. Sadly, I've heard that the Sookie books will be ending soon... that will be like losing a good friend.

The last book I recently finished was A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. It took me a while to read, but that's because I do most of my reading at night before I fall asleep. I absolutely loved this book and hated to finish reading it. Yes, it's a Novel about witches and vampires, but the main witch, Diana Bishop, is a scholar at Oxford, and she meets her 1,500 year old vampire, Matthew Clairmont, (currently a geneticist), at the Bodleian Library. A Discovery is a suspenseful book that has magic, history, science and romance. Ms. Harkness lets you get to know the characters slowly, and she pulls you into their world as they are pulled into each others. This isn't a book for people who are only looking for light reading (via Twilight), but I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a book that makes you think.

I am now on to reading an advance copy of Original Sin, A Sally Sin Adventure by Beth McMullen. I love the main character, Sally Sin. She's a new mother being pulled back into a world she thought she left behind - that of a Spy. I'll post more about it when I am finished, but I am half way through it now and would definitely recommend it for summer reading - it will be released on July 12, 2011... I'd pre-order it now if I were you. : )

Writer's Block

I don't know why it has become so hard for me to write. I love to talk, I can tweet up a storm, but when I sit down to write on my blog, my brain becomes a blank. I think it's because when I am talking, its to people I know and they respond and the conversation flows. When I am tweeting, its within 140 characters, usually about some political issue, short and sweet. But, when I sit down and open up my blog, I stop...

I stop because I am afraid of what I might say if I just let my fingers flow. Will I write about the ten books I have read since my last post, or how much I worry about my granddaughter? Will I rave about the latest albums I love by The Black Keys and Adele, or will I tell you how disillusioned I am with the Maryland Judicial System and their total lack of continuity in Family Court cases? Should I tell you how angry I am at the GOP for totally messing up this country that I love so much, or do I tell you about the anguish I feel for my son, who has lost so much in these past few days?

The big question is: do I write about the things that exist around me, or the those things that make me who I am?

I haven't figured it out yet, but when I do, I'll let you know.

Thanksgiving

Life has been a bit crazy, so it has been quite a while since I have posted anything here. Today I just wanted to blog about those things I am thankful for - so, if you'll indulge me:

• I am thankful for my parents. They provided me with a strong foundation and allowed me the freedom to become the woman I am today;
• I am thankful for my sisters (two older and two younger -- yes, I am the well-adjusted middle child -- and a special cousin who feels like a sister), we might not always see eye-to-eye, but they are a source of strength and, no matter what, we are always there for each other;
• I am thankful for my sister/brother friends (they know who they are), and although we don't see or speak to one another every day, my heart knows you are here with me;
• I am thankful for all of the people who have walked through my life, the ones who are still here and the ones who have moved on;
  
• I am thankful for the fine young man my son has become, and the beautiful grandchildren he has given me. He has been struggling lately with a very difficult break-up and custody dispute, but I believe he will come out of this a stronger person. Here is hoping that the Courts do the right thing and award him custody of his child;
• I am thankful for my health. I had a scare recently, but, luckily, I pay attention to my body and didn't wait, so I am now cancer free;
• I am thankful for my career and my co-workers. I've spent 26 years at the same place of employment and have been lucky enough through the years to have moved from one interesting job to another. My position now - the one I will retire from - gives me a great sense of fulfillment and it doesn't hurt that I work with the coolest people on the planet. They make it very easy to climb out of bed and go to work every morning; and last but not least...
• I am thankful for my life... the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly! Everything that has happened to me, every good or bad choice that I have made, every wonderful or horrible person I have let into my life, brought me right here, to this place... and I am happy. I am proud of the person I have become, and my life is joyful, with no regrets! 54 years of wonderful memories and looking forward to 50 more years to make even more!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Am I blogging again?

A lot has happened since the last time I was here... not anything I can really talk about, but rest assured... lots of D-R-A-M-A going on around me. Hopefully, things will work out well when it is all over and done with.

On a lighter note, I just finished reading the novel Jane by April Lindner, which is due to be published in October 2010. (Another one of the advance reading books I got when I went with my wonderful cousin, The Optimistic Pessimist, to the ALA Conference). Jane is a modern retelling of Jane Eyre... I know, I know, I was thinking the same thing, but I was pleasantly surprised while reading it. Ms. Lindner has done a lovely job with the story, and I almost forgot about Jane Eyre while reading it.

In Ms. Lindner's retelling, Jane Moore ends up having to withdraw from Sarah Lawrence College after her parents are killed in an accident, leaving her without the resources to continue to pay her tuition. Jane doesn't have a healthy relationship with either her sister or her brother, so she can't turn to them. She submits her resume with Discriminating Nannies, Inc. and accepts their offer to be the Nanny for a famous rock star's daughter. She moves into his estate, Thornfield Park, and the love story begins.

I would definitely recommend this book to younger readers, and to anyone who has read and loves Jane Eyre. I think you will enjoy this book too.

My First Blog

Here I am, totally new to this whole blogging thing, not knowing exactly what I'm going to blog about... but, feeling oh so left out. I love music, reading, art, my family and friends, and I am very passionate about politics, so any of these might be a good start.

How about reading? My wonderful cousin (the Optimistic Pessimist) took me to the American Library Association (ALA) Conference held in DC this past July. I had a fabulous time, and I received a stash of books -- most of which were advance, uncorrected galleys (which is kind of exciting to think I get to read books not many people have access to). I already have a ton of books that I have bought over the past couple of years but haven't read yet... so, adding these to my list has pushed me over the edge and I started reading again.

The first book I picked up was Ruta Sepety's between shades of gray, which will be published in March 2011 by Philomel Books (a division of Penquin Young Readers Group). I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and, although the subject matter was dark, Ms. Sepety's story is really one of strength, perseverance, and hope. The novel begins in 1941, and is told through the eyes of 15 year old Lina, who, along with her mother and younger brother are forced from their home in Lithuania, and sent to work camps in Siberia. Their struggles during the forced march and while in the work camps are heartbreaking.

Man's inhumanity to man never ceases to amaze me, and although Stalin's deportations from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia occurred in the 1940s, I can't help thinking of all of the beautiful human beings around the world today who suffer because of hatred based on religion, race, and class.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially to open the dialog with American youth on why it is so important to cherish our diversity.