Sandra Nachlinger's Blog, page 58

Book Beginnings on Fridays and Friday 56: Flight Behavior

BOOK BEGINNINGS: A certain feeling comes from throwing your good life away, and it is one part rapture. Or so it seemed for now, to a woman with flame-colored hair who marched uphill to meet her demise. Innocence was no part of this. She knew her own recklessness and marveled, really, at how one hard little flint of thrill could outweigh the pillowy, suffocating aftermath of a long disgrace.
FRIDAY 56: Butterflies crossed her field of vision continuously at close range, black-orange flakes that made her blink, and they merged in a chaotic blur in the distance, and she found it frankly impossible to believe what her eyes revealed to her. Or her ears: the unending rustle, like a taffeta dress.
GENRE: Literary / Women's Fiction / PoliticalNUMBER OF PAGES: 416AMAZON LINK: Flight Behavior
MY THOUGHTS: Ever since I read The Poisonwood Bible, I've been a Barbara Kingsolver fan. Although I'm only on Page 75 of Flight Behavior, I can tell it's going to be another favorite. I love her humor and the way she captures the beliefs, superstitions, and daily life of an Appalachian farming community - and that's just in the first 75 pages.

AMAZON SYNOPSIS (partial): Dellarobia Turnbow is a restless farm wife who gave up her own plans when she accidentally became pregnant at seventeen. Now, after a decade of domestic disharmony on a failing farm, she has settled for permanent disappointment but seeks momentary escape through an obsessive flirtation with a younger man. As she hikes up a mountain road behind her house to a secret tryst, she encounters a shocking sight: a silent, forested valley filled with what looks like a lake of fire. She can only understand it as a cautionary miracle, but it sparks a raft of other explanations from scientists, religious leaders, and the media. The bewildering emergency draws rural farmers into unexpected acquaintance with urbane journalists, opportunists, sightseers, and a striking biologist with his own stake in the outcome. As the community lines up to judge the woman and her miracle, Dellarobia confronts her family, her church, her town, and a larger world, in a flight toward truth that could undo all she has ever believed.  


~~~~~~
Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56. Just click on the links below and add your blog post to the lists. Book Beginnings on Fridays (hosted by Rose City Reader) The Friday 56 (hosted by Freda's Voice)                 

Many thanks to Peggy Strack for naming...

    Many thanks to Peggy Strack for namingI.O.U. SEX as one of her Top Five Favorite Reads for 2012. 
We are honored to be among those chosen. 
To see Peggy's other selections and to learn more about her, click here. Peggy is the author of A STOP IN THE PARK, which has been featured on this blog here. I highly recommend her book.
I.O.U. SEX is available in paperback and ebook formats on Amazon (here) 
and so is A STOP IN THE PARK (here.)

Teaser Tuesday: Three Moons Over Sedona

TEASER: Back inside her room, Georgia folded herself into the claw foot tub in the closet-sized bathroom. She pulled her legs into her chest as tears trickled down her cheeks. Holding her shins tight with her arms, she rocked back and forth, wondering just how and when she'd grown to be a fifty-three year old widow with grown children and grandchildren. 
(at 5% on my Kindle)
AUTHOR: Sherry HartzlerGENRE: Women's FictionNUMBER OF PAGES: 313AMAZON LINK:
 Three Moons Over Sedona
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: Georgia slides behind the wheel of her husband’s beloved 1976 Fleetwood convertible, starts the engine and just keeps driving. Georgia Mae Brown has always lived an ordinary life. That is, until her husband dies in the arms of a younger woman. Six weeks after his death, empowered by a volatile mix of freedom and retribution, Georgia begins a journey of a lifetime. 

Traveling two thousand miles to Sedona, Arizona, Georgia finds work in a café managed by the kooky proprietor, Trish Martin. Next door, the Moon Tide Gift Shop is owned by the exotic Zoe Atwater, the daughter of screen legend, Gloria Atwater. Befriended by these two flamboyant characters, Georgia finds new life in Sedona, an artisan town surrounded by the magnificent red rock scenery of Oak Creek Canyon. This energizing landscape of mysterious vortexes and new-age spiritualism revitalizes her soul. However, her two new friends have their own agendas, generating a major crisis that takes the three women to LA and a media Hollywood funeral. Georgia is suddenly thrust into the surreal world of A-list movie stars, glamorous Rodeo Drive, and tabloid hell. 

Three Moons Over Sedona is an odyssey of the human heart, filled with secrets, regrets and finally forgiveness. Georgia is a survivor who learns that although you can never run away from yourself, you can—through pure determination—become the person you were always meant to be.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) "teaser" sentences on your blog from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

Thank You, Micki Peluso!

A big hug to Micki Peluso for her FIVE-STAR REVIEW of I.O.U. SEX. 
Micki says:

Authors Sandra Nachlinger and Sandra Allen tell a romantic and often humorous story of three friends, unhappy with their lives, who go back to the past -- a past that has brought through the years incredible twists that will keep the reader turning the pages in anticipation.
(Micki's complete review is here.)

We're so glad you enjoyed the book and we sincerely appreciate such a nice review.

Micki is an author too. You'll find her true story, AND THE WHIPPOORWILL SANG, here.

Book Beginnings on Friday and Friday 56 - A RELIABLE WIFE

BOOK BEGINNINGS: 
Wisconsin, Fall, 1907. It was bitter cold, the air electric with all that had not happened yet. The world stood stock still, four o'clock dead on. Nothing moved anywhere, not a body, not a bird; for a split second there was only silence, there was only stillness. Figures stood frozen in the frozen land, men, women, and children.

FRIDAY 56: 
"Sister, sit. I'm sorry. I'm bad and I'm sick and I say things. But just sit by me. I'm never alone, but I always feel so lonely. So far away from everybody. Nobody holds me. Nobody touches me or calls my name...."
[At 56% on my Kindle]

GENRE: Historical Fiction
LENGTH: 320 Pages
AMAZON LINK: A Reliable Wife

AMAZON SYNOPSIS:
He placed a notice in a Chicago paper, an advertisement for "a reliable wife." She responded, saying that she was "a simple, honest woman." She was, of course, anything but honest, and the only simple thing about her was her single-minded determination to marry this man and then kill him, slowly and carefully, leaving her a wealthy widow, able to take care of the one she truly loved.

What Catherine Land did not realize was that the enigmatic and lonely Ralph Truitt had a plan of his own. And what neither anticipated was that they would fall so completely in love. 

Filled with unforgettable characters, and shimmering with color and atmosphere, A Reliable Wife is an enthralling tale of love and madness, of longing and murder.

MY THOUGHTS: The author does a great job of setting the scene in his opening, doesn't he? He also establishes the tone of the book: dark and brooding. Although the beginning was slow and seemed repetitious to me, I kept reading and I'm glad I did. Once I got into it, the story kept me riveted, wondering what would happen in the end. 



*****
Anybody can participate in 
Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56. 
Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings posts.
Find other Friday 56 bloggers here.
                

Teaser Tuesday: Slightly Cracked

After reading a very good but very dark book (A RELIABLE WIFE by Robert Goolrick), I needed something lighter. So, I've just barely started SLIGHTLY CRACKED by Susan Whitfield. I'm enjoying it so far. 

TEASER:
They'd grown up climbing trees, shooting B-B guns with the boys in the neighborhood, and pillow fighting when they had sleep overs. "I double-dog dare you" could be heard on a daily basis when one challenged the other.
[at 2% on my Kindle]


Genre: Women's Fiction
No. of Pages: 308
Amazon Link: Slightly Cracked


Goodreads Synopsis:
Lifelong friends Sugar Babe Beanblossom and Daisy Marie Hazelhurst are in the throes of menopause. If that's not enough, they suspect their husbands of cheating, they're gaining weight in spite of walking and working out at the gym, and life is just not a bed of roses.


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

Hey, Y'all

When someone posted the link to this video on Facebook, I knew I had to share it on our blog!

Sh%t Southern Girls Say
This is how the women in I.O.U. SEX sound. I hope y'all will enjoy the Southernisms and have a laugh.

Bless your hearts!

Teaser Tuesday - Remember Me?

I can't think of a single thing to say about Sophie Kinsella that hasn't already been said. Her books are fresh, funny, and never disappointing. So here's a teaser from a 2008 release titled REMEMBER ME?

I can't cope with this anymore. I came into the hospital five days ago in 2004--but now magically it's 2007? Where are we, bloody Narnia?
(Page 32)

Amazon link: Remember Me?
Genre: Romance / Chick Lit
No. of Pages: 430

Goodreads Synopsis: 
When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed.

Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.

Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers. - Sandy Nachlinger

Adios, Big Tex!

On October 19, 2012, the symbol of the State Fair of Texas was destroyed by fire. Those of us who grew up in Dallas and surrounding areas couldn't believe that after 60 years, this icon was gone! 

To read my tribute to Big Tex, check out today's post on the Boomers & Books Blog: Adios, Big Tex.




- Sandy Nachlinger
Photo source:Andreas Praefcke (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Big_Tex_2008.jpg

Heat Warms Up Brain Cells

Check out my contribution to the anthologyTHE WRITE BALANCE in today's guest post on D. Jean Quarles's blog:  Heat Warms Up Brain Cells
This book of advice, secrets, and insight from writers is available on Amazon for only 99¢. Here's the link:  THE WRITE BALANCE