Curled Up With a Good Book and a Cup of Tea

What does a girl do after discovering her fiancé is sleeping with another woman, disrupting your best friends wedding, and breaking the groom’s hand with the heel of your Louboutin?  Why you run off to another country of course! Angela Clark has had one heck of a weekend.  And the only thing she can think to do is get out of London and go anywhere else.  In her case, New York City.  She plans to just hide out for a while but it seems the city has something else in mind.  When the concierge at her hotel, Jenny, takes her under her wing, the city comes through big time.  Before she knows it, she’s dating two guys (one investment banker, one indie rock band frontman) and writing all about it in a blog for a major magazine.   But while her romantic life is easy to put down on paper, it’s not so easy to figure out in real life.  Angela definitely loves New York but is her new life enough to keep her there or will the city get the better of h...

Sisters Polly and Clare couldn’t be leading more different lives.  Polly is living in London working in the financial industry and has the apartment and closet to match her high-flying job.  Clare is living in their home village of Elderchurch in a small cottage, a single mum with two children and barely making ends meet.  For years, the girls have barely spoken to each other, convinced they have nothing in common and nothing to cement their sisterly bond.  But when Polly’s life suddenly takes a drastic turn, she finds herself with no money and nowhere to turn but home. Polly doesn’t want anyone to know the real reason she has returned, even when she has to move in with her sister.  With an old flame reappearing for Polly and a busy new career for Clare, the sisters find themselves leaning on each other for the first time in years.  And when they are forced to confront a family secret they both blamed themselves for, they may realize they need each o...

In an abandoned military base close to the ocean and far from any town, Thomas watches as the man he has kidnapped comes around.  Kev, a NASA astronaut, doesn’t recognize his captor but Thomas has brought him here for a reason.  He didn’t want to resort to chaining him up, but he needs to talk to Kev and this was the only way he could do it.  But as Thomas tries to get the answers he so desperately wants, things spiral out of control. Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? is the newest novel by Dave Eggers.  Written entirely in dialogue, the book is an examination of the issues that are plaguing society today.  War, government, sexual abuse, police brutality, and more is covered as Thomas brings more and more people into the fold to figure out where things have gone wrong. This is a novel where the opinions are all over the map. Some people love it, some are left scratching their heads, and many sit firmly in the middl...

Is there really such a thing as a perfect proposal? Best friends Suzie and Harry run The Perfect Proposal website, helping those in love find the perfect way to pop the question.  Their business is doing well, even if their own love lives are not.  When Harry comes up with a way to take their business into the big leagues however, there may be more drama on the way. Harry has decided that he will find one hundred different ways to propose to Suzie over one hundred days in a bid to find her perfect proposal.  But all Suzie sees is one hundred days of heartbreak as she secretly holds a love for Harry, something she knows will never be returned.  How does a woman in love handle being asked “will you marry me” when she knows she can’t say yes? One Hundred Proposals is the newest novel from Holly Martin, writer of The Guestbook .  And just like that novel, this one is absolutely fantastic. Only one week into the holidays and I already know that th...

Allison Weiss is a hardworking woman - she balances her marriage, demanding daughter, aging parents, and successful website.  On the surface, she has it all, but underneath she is hiding a dark secret.  Unable to keep it all together, to deal with the pressure of work and family, worried her marriage is on the rocks, Allison has turned to painkillers to keep her going.  Originally prescribed them for a back injury, she finds that as her life is increasingly hectic, the pills keep her calm. But what starts as one or two pills a day turns into a habit that has her ordering thousands of dollars worth of pills online.  She thinks she has everyone fooled but cracks begin to show and she can’t keep it up.  She soon finds herself in the last place she ever thought she’d be: rehab.  But stuck in there with repeat rehabbers, alcoholics and heroin addicts, Allison doesn’t think she belongs there and will do whatever she can to leave. All Fall Down is the ...

It's hard to believe that July is already here.  My son is now done his first year of school and heading into French school next year and my daughter is moving on to grade 3.  The time flies!  Now I've got both kids and my husband home for the next two months.  So far I'm excited, though I may be starting my back to school countdown in a few weeks! June was a difficult month reading-wise.  I would slump then read a bunch in a few days, then slump again.  The start of the World Cup certainly didn't help.  Here is what I read with my GoodReads ratings: A Proper Family Holiday - Chrissie Manby ***** All Fall Down - Jennifer Weiner **** Face to Face with Jesus - Samaa Habib **** Finding Spiritual Whitespace - Bonnie Gray **** Forty Things to Do Before You're Forty - Alice Ross **** Women of the Word - Jen Wilkin **** The Fifth Gospel - Bobby Conway **** Deathbed Dimes - Naomi Elana Zener **** Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophe...

Today is one of my favourite days of the year - Canada Day!  This year we are celebrating the 147th anniversary of the birth of this wonderful country.  There are so many things I love about being Canadian - poutine, free health care, saying "sorry" when it's someone else's fault, Tim Horton's, Corner Gas, ketchup chips, Rick Mercer...I could go on.  Most importantly I love the diversity of this country that brought my family together.  I couldn't ask for a better place. To celebrate Canada today, I want to share some of the fantastic literature that our country has to offer.  Here are links to some of the great CanLit I have reviewed that has been released so far in 2014. The Bear - Claire Cameron For Today I Am A Boy - Kim Fu All The Broken Things - Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer Landing Gear - Kate Pullinger All My Puny Sorrows - Miriam Toews The Ever After of Ashwin Rao - Padma Viswanathan Deathbed Dimes - Naomi Elana Zener As well, here are re...