Curled Up With a Good Book and a Cup of Tea

In December 2000 a small story ran in the Baltimore Sun about a local student named Wes Moore who had received a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. In that same paper was a large story about four men who killed a police officer in a botched armed robbery. The police were searching for two of the suspects, one of whom was named Wes Moore. The student Wes Moore couldn't shake off the coincidence and wrote a letter to the other Wes who was by then serving a life sentence in jail as a convicted murderer. This led to continued correspondence and a friendship that has lasted years. Over time they came to realize that they had grown up in similar neighbourhoods, were both fatherless, in and out of school and had run into trouble with the police at an early age. So how did their lives take such different paths? Wes Moore writes both stories in alternating narratives, comparing the crucial stages of their childhoods and adult lives. The similarities are incredible. They both had oppo...

With the bookshop where she works about to close, Laura Horsley has found herself unemployed and unsure of her future. Then, a chance encounter at a store event brings about an interesting opportunity, a job organizing a literary festival in the heart of the English countryside. Excited but nervous Laura agrees to the job. But soon she finds herself in over her head. Somehow she has led the committee to believe that she is a personal friend of the author they most want to appear at the festival, an author who is famous for being a recluse and who never leaves Ireland. A big fan of Dermot Flynn and not wanting to disappoint her new employers, Laura sets off to Ireland to convince Flynn to come out of hiding. But what awaits her is a temperamental and mad writer who is suffering from a severe case of writer's block. On top of that Flynn seems to take a liking to Laura, a little too much of a liking. Can Laura convince Dermot to come out of hiding? And can she keep a comfo...

I am excited to be giving away a copy of Sins of the Mother by Victoria Christopher Murray! A quick synopsis: Jasmine Larson Bush is finally living a drama-free life. She’s left her lying, cheating, stealing stripper days behind and is standing by her husband’s side as the first lady of one of the largest churches in New York City. The Bushes have been blessed with the best of everything—including two lovely children. But just when Jasmine has committed her life completely to God, her daughter Jacqueline is kidnapped from a mall the day after Thanksgiving. The police and the church community join in the frantic search to find the four-year-old. As the days pass without any sign of her daughter, Jasmine begins to crack under the strain and turns to Brian Lewis, Jacqueline’s biological father, for solace. Has Jasmine’s past finally caught up to her? Will her daughter be found or will Jasmine pay the ultimate price? You can also check out my review here . This giveaway will run until mi...

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren and designed to show others what books have come into our homes in the past week. Here is what I received from the library this week: On A Dollar a Day by Christopher Greenslate "On a Dollar a Day" examines how Americans eat and at what cost. Sections on eating the food stamp diet, what it really costs to eat healthfully and organically, and how to find the best buys at the grocery store make it an ideal book for these challenging economic times. Here's the Deal Don't Touch Me by Howie Mandel A frank, funny, no-holds-barred memoir that reveals the Deal or No Deal host's ongoing struggle with OCD and ADHD-and how it has shaped his life and career.

In A Paradise Built in Hell Rebecca Solnit states that what we believe happens and what actually happens in the wake of a major disaster are two very different things. The media, movies and government will have us believe that disasters turn our society into a chaotic and dangerous place. But Solnit argues that instead there is a wave of altruism in which people come together rather than divide. Using five major disasters - the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, 1917 Halifax explosion, 1985 Mexico City earthquake, September 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina - to support her argument, Solnit tells the stories of every day people who rose to the occasion and did so with joy. The hope of the book is to show that the utopias that emerge following disasters can be inspirational and provide a new vision of what our every day society could be. The book is more of an academic work than an inspirational one. There are numerous stories to support Solnit's argument. The first...

It's Friday and it's time for the hop! If you're hopping by my blog for the first time, welcome! You'll find a variety of books here - fiction, non-fiction, chick lit, biography, Christian. I finally saw Sex and the City 2 last night so I'm even going to branch out into YA and pick up The Carrie Diaries this week! Check out the hop at Crazy For Books . There you will find over 200 blogs dedicated to the wonderful world of books. Also, check back here on Sunday, I will be starting my first ever giveaway! I have a copy of Sins of the Mother by Victoria Christopher Murray to give away. You can read my review of the book here . I love Victoria Christopher Murray's writing and I'm thrilled that I can share her books with someone. Have a good weekend! Shan

Sally Thorning is an over-worked and tired mother of two young children who is desperate for a break. So when a business trip is cancelled, she doesn't tell her husband Nick and instead she books the week off and takes a secret holiday on her own. But she doesn't get much time to herself, because she meets a man named Mark Bretherick and spends the week with him. A year later Sally is back to her hectic life when she hears the name Mark Bretherick on the news. The details that are given are all the same - his address, his job, his wife Geraldine and daughter Lucy. When she looks closer she finds out that Geraldine and Lucy are dead. And the Mark Bretherick that is on the television is someone she has never seen before. The Point of Rescue is outstanding. It is thrilling and chilling with the right amount of suspense. As the story grows larger, Hannah keeps all of the pieces together and weaves an intense tale. This is a great book. Often, thrillers can become too...

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia and raised throughout Africa and Saudi Arabia. As a young woman she found herself on a plane to Canada, being forced by her father into a marriage to a cousin she had never met. When her plane had a stopover in Germany, she left the airport, boarded a train to the Netherlands and became a refugee. After gaining asylum, she became an interpreter for other Somalis at battered women's shelters and abortion clinics. Seeing the difficulty her fellow people had in adapting to Western culture, she began studying political science at a Dutch university and then became a member of Dutch Parliament, fighting for the rights of Muslim women and the integration of Islam into the West. Following the September 11 attacks on the United States, Ayaan denounced Islam. She went on to create works that were critical of Islam, including a short film about the status of Muslim women entitled "Submission." When her co-filmaker, Theo Van Gogh, was mur...

Today is the UNHCR's World Refugee Day. The theme this year is "They have taken my home, but they can't take my future." What beautiful words. From the UNHCR website - "While most refugees want to go home, some cannot safely return. But wherever they are, refugees will always strive to pick up the pieces and start over. The courage and determination demonstrated during their darkest hours will serve them well in rebuilding a new life. On World Refugee Day, let us honour them for these qualities and recognise the richness and diversity they bring to our societies." Here is my suggested reading for this day: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - Ishmael Beah Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali Left To Tell and Led by Faith - Immaculee Ilibagiza Six Months in Sudan: A Young Doctor in a War-torn Village - James Maskalyk The Bite of the Mango - Mariatu Kamara Tears of the Desert - A Memoir of Survival in Darfur - Halima Bahshir What Is The What - Dave Eg...

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren . It's purpose is to share what books came into your home this week. Here is what I picked up from the library: The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund by Jill Kargman (2009) Married to the founder of Comet Capital, Holly Talbott is slowing becoming a reluctant Mrs. Hedgefund. Sure, it's great to be a stay-at-home mom to her son Miles and to have a rolodex of eager donors when she is fundraising for the local hospital. But, the lunches are called luncheons because they take eons, even botox can't stop her mother-in-law's withering stares, and her husband, Tim, is away so often it feels like she's single again. I Know I Am But What Are You? by Samantha Bee (2010) Candid, outspoken, laugh-out-loud funny essays from the much-loved Samantha Bee, the Most Senior Correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart . Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende (2010 Born on the island of Saint-Domingue, Zarité-known as Tété-is the daug...

Jasmine Larson Bush is finally living a drama-free life. She’s left her lying, cheating, stealing stripper days behind and is standing by her husband’s side as the first lady of one of the largest churches in New York City. The Bushes have been blessed with the best of everything—including two lovely children. But just when Jasmine has committed her life completely to God, her daughter Jacqueline is kidnapped from a mall the day after Thanksgiving. The police and the church community join in the frantic search to find the four-year-old. As the days pass without any sign of her daughter, Jasmine begins to crack under the strain and turns to Brian Lewis, Jacqueline’s biological father, for solace. Has Jasmine’s past finally caught up to her? Will her daughter be found or will Jasmine pay the ultimate price? Sins of the Mother is Urban Christian fiction at it's best. The story is gripping, chilling and heartbreaking while at the same time faithful, encouraging and inspirational. Vict...

It's Friday and it's time for the Book Blogger Hop! Hop on over to Crazy For Books and check out some great book blogs. If you are into Young Adult books, there is a wealth of amazing blogs for you to find there. No matter what genre you're into, you'll find great blogs. Well, World Cup action is starting for today, so I must go watch! Happy Friday! Shan

In this sequel to The Personal Shopper Annie Valentine is back and learning a few lessons about relationships. Now that she is living with Ed, a teacher from her children's school, she has to learn how to keep spending under check (or at least under wraps.) But soon this proves too difficult. Annie has ordered 500 pairs of shoes from a Hong Kong designer, in the hopes of starting a retail business of her own. But right now, they're hiding in the spare room. On top of that, on a spur of the moment romantic trip to Italy (with the entire family in tow) she has bought 50 handbags to sell back home. If Ed doesn't approve of this, he certainly won't approve of the fact that she got all of the money for this by borrowing against her mortgage. Will Annie and Ed's relationship survive these secrets? Late Night Shopping is a fun novel, just as The Personal Shopper was. Annie Valentine is great series character, following in the footsteps of Bridget Jones and B...

The World Cup has begun and around the world people are glued to their television sets, cheering for their favourite team and enjoying what is known as the beautiful game. In The World Is a Ball: The Joy, Madness and Meaning of Soccer, John Doyle examines the global appeal of soccer and how the realities of life are played out on the pitch. The book is written from Doyle's perspective as a journalist covering recent major soccer tournaments. Though he is a television critic, soccer was influential in his life starting as a young boy growing up in Ireland. But then his Canadian newspaper sends him to cover the World Cup in 2002 and from there he begins his account of exciting games, crazy fans, and the grip that soccer has on the world. Doyle not only covers the tournaments and games in-depth, but he takes you behind the scenes, introducing you to fans, players, journalists, taxi drivers and everyone who is touched by soccer fever. If you are a die-hard soccer fan and you h...

On Friday, as I was looking through the blogs I read, I noticed a lot of people had signed up for Bloggiesta. I was curious, so I checked it out. Usually I'm not online on the weekends, but this sounded too good to pass up. My blog needed some work and updating, so why not sign up? But, this weekend was also the first weekend of the World Cup! I wasn't sure just how much I would get accomplished with so much football to watch (thankfully, my team plays tomorrow.) So here is what I accomplished this weekend: 1. I have a new background and header, lighter and brighter reflecting the fact that summer is here! 2. I set up an email address, wrote a review policy, posted them to my blog and even contacted a publishing company. 3. I learned TONS about RSS Feeds and Subscriptions and got them set up on my blog. 4. I cleaned up my labels 5. I responded to comments that needed responding to. 6. I discovered some fabulous book blogs, got to know the book blogging community bett...

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren to show which books have entered our homes in the past week. Two books arrived at the library for me this week. That's good because it means I'll be able to make progress on my to read pile rather than making it bigger! Here is what I got. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore In December 2000, the Baltimore Sun ran a small piece about Wes Moore, a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper also ran a huge story about four young men who had allegedly killed a police officer in a spectacularly botched armed robbery. The police were still hunting for two of the suspects who had gone on the lam, a pair of brothers. One was named Wes Moore. Wes just couldn't shake off the unsettling coincidence, or the inkling that the two shared much more than space in the same newspaper. After following the story of the robbery, the manhunt, and the trial to its conclusion, he wrote ...

I am so glad that I joined in the Bloggiesta fun! I've accomplished a lot with my blog and learned so much about more about blogging than I ever knew! On Friday, I spent a total of two hours working. This includes networking around to other blogs involved, as well as the first two mini challenges. Through these mini challenges I managed to: -make a thorough list of what I want to do (thank you Kim and Jackie for getting me started and giving me a lot of great ideas.) -get my blog listed in a couple of directories -create an email signature with my blog link -create a separate email account for my blog -write my review policy (thank you Jennifer, I recently realized the need for this and your post was very helpful.) Today is Saturday and so far I have spent two hours working. Today I: -added a new, lighter background to my blog -learned about RSS feeds and set up a subscribe to feature through both a reader and email (thanks Puss Reboots for this, I had absolutely no knowledge o...

I've been thinking about making a few changes to my blog lately. When I first started it, I was totally new to the blog world and not quite sure what I was doing! But now that I've been around for 6 months, I figured I'd fix things up a bit. And when better to do it than during the Bloggiesta! Bloggiesta is new to me, but this is the third time it's been happening and it's hosted by Maw Books Blog . So what do I want to do to my blog? 1. I'm thinking of a new background and header to reflect upon the fact that summer is here! 2. I need a review policy (and with this comes setting up an email address specifically for it.) 3. I want to learn more about RSS Feeds and Subscriptions 4. I need to clean up my labels 5. I need to get in there and respond to some comments. 6. I want to discover more fabulous book blogs, and branch out into the community. I think that is doable this weekend. I'm looking forward to it!

It's Friday which means that it's the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Crazy-for-books . Check it out, each week I find amazing book bloggers to follow. Everyone in my house is very excited, the World Cup starts today! We're big soccer fans and whenever the World Cup, or Euro, is on it's all we are focused on for the month. This year we're looking forward to a Netherlands victory!!! I'm also very excited for my reading this coming week. I just picked up Ayaan Hirsi Ali's "Nomad." She is such an incredible writer with an amazing story to tell. If you have not read her book "Submission" I highly recommend it. Happy weekend, happy reading, and happy World Cup. Hup Holland Hup! Shan

It is May of 1914 and Europe is close to war. Richard Hannay has recently returned to London from Africa to build a new life when he comes home one night to find his neighbour waiting for him at his door. His neighbour, a freelance spy, informs Hannay that he has uncovered a German plot to assassinate the Greek Premier during a visit to London and steal British war plans. With these people on to him, the spy has faked his own death and must stay alive until the plot is put into action so Hannay allows him to hide in his flat. But when Hannay returns home the next day to find the spy has been murdered, he soon finds himself caught up in the plot and on the run. Hannay decides to take up where the spy left off, and he goes on the run through Scotland pursued by both the German spies and the police. He plans to alert the authorities of the plot at the last possible minute and thus has three weeks to stay alive in the Scottish terrain. When the time comes to alert the authorities, it ...

Make-up artist Emma Hamilton and her rugby trainer husband James have decided that it is time to have a baby. At the age of 33 and married for two years, Emma is constantly facing the questions of "when are you going to have kids?" With her friends and family members having children, she figures it will be easy and has it all planned out - she'll go off the pill in December, get pregnant in January, have the baby in September and be back in shape by Christmas. But things don't happen that way for Emma. And soon she finds herself immersed in a world of post-coital headstands, ovulation kits, hormone-inducing drugs, probing specialists, and in vitro fertilization. Combined with the continuing "when are you going to have a baby" questions and other criticisms about her lack of children, it all begins to drive Emma mad and the fact that she is alienating her friends and family is the least of her worries. The Baby Trail is a smart and humorous look at a ver...

Ann-Marie Dornn grew up in a Hutterite colony near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba with her parents and six siblings. Her life revolved around community - meals, work, church - every aspect of her life involved the rest of the community. But when Ann-Marie was 10-years-old her family decided to leave and make their way into the "English" world. Her new life was a serious shock to the system. She couldn't be more different from the other kids at school. She and her siblings were teased and ridiculed for their Hutterite ways and no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn't seem to blend in with their new society. On top of that Ann-Marie was struggling with being torn from her old community and she missed the communal way of life she was used to. I am Hutterite is a fascinating look at Hutterite culture, communal living, and what happens when someone parts ways with their community and must find their way in the world. Leaving a Hutterite community is no easy ...

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren . Book bloggers share what books came into their house that week by mail or from a bookstore or the library. Last week, I didn't participate because I didn't get any new books! That was a first for me. I think it was because of our long weekend and the library being closed for two days that none of the books came in time for my Tuesday visit. That's okay though, it gave me time to work through my pile! Here is what I got from the library this week: A Paradise Built In Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit What most people believe and what actually happens in the aftermath of a disaster are two different things. The movies, the media, and the authorities have too often insisted that we are a chaotic, selfish species and ought to fear each other. Yet in the wake of almost every major disaster a wave of altruistic and brave improvisation saves lives, forms communities, and sh...

As my husband said this morning as he was leaving for work - TGIF! It's Friday and it's time for the Book Blogger Hop. The Hop is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books and it's a great way to find book blogs to follow. Over the past few weeks I've found some amazing blogs, some new, some well-established, and my to read list has grown very long! So if you're hopping by, welcome to Curled up with a good book and a cup of tea. (Though the weather has been so hot here I'm thinking of changing the name of my blog to Curled up with a good book and an ice cold glass of water.) I hope that you all find some good reads! Happy Friday, Shan

Tessa is a stay at home mother of two young children and wife of a renowned paediatric surgeon. While she has given up her career to focus on her family and she seems to have the perfect life she is struggling in her pursuit of happiness. Valerie Anderson is the single mother of six-year-old Charlie and an attorney. Charlie's father has never known him and Valerie has given up on love and friendship, believing it's better to do everything for herself. Both women live in the same Boston suburb and run in the same circles, but have never met and have very little in common. But when Charlie has an accident, and Tessa's husband Nick is his doctor, Tessa and Valerie become a part of each others lives in ways no one imagined. Heart of the Matter is a story of good people caught up in tragic circumstances and how the decisions they make can affect the lives of everyone around them. It is a story of love, disappointment, heartbreak, and whether second chances can and sho...

For six years American Roxana Saberi, who is of Iranian and Japanese descent, lived in Iran working as a reporter. When her press pass was taken away from her she decided to stay on and write a book about the everyday lives of Iranians. But then on January 31, 2009, four intelligence agents forced her from her home and detained her in the notorious Evin prison on charges of espionage. For several days she was held in solitary confinement and eventually was coerced into making false statements about spying for the United States. She spent weeks locked up in the prison, her family and friends not knowing where she was. She was finally granted access to them, and just when she thought her freedom was near she was convicted in a sham trial and sentenced to eight years in prison. Her story made headlines around the world, and as international pressure grew, she was finally released on appeal on May 11, 2009. Between Two Worlds is an incredible story of resilience and determination. I...

Born to a field slave on the Amity sugar plantation in Jamaica, July spends her days with her mother in the cane fields. This is until a recently transplanted English widow decides to take eight-year-old July from her mother, move her into the great house, rename her Marguerite and make her a lady's maid. July spends her days taking care of her mistress and remains close to her throughout the Baptist War and eventually, the end of slavery. Even when granted her "freedom" July remains on the plantation with her mistress. But when her mistress leaves the island along with July's lover and young child, she finds herself on her own and starting over as a free woman. The Long Song is an incredible tale of slavery in Jamaica. It encompasses all of the heartbreak, horrors, and tragedies of slavery and yet is a tale of love, determination and resilience. It is told from the perspective of July later in her life, recounting her story as her son has asked her to do. The...