Thank you for Visiting

This book club provided an opportunity to discuss books with authors from 2009 - 2013. I like to think we were a group of daughters, sisters, wives, mothers, well... women finding time to meet while juggling daily life. I hope you enjoy exploring The Manic Mommies Book Club Archives. We read 46 books over the years, with audio or written author discussions for each book read documented on this blog. Note: The audio archives are no longer available on iTunes. ~ with kindness & gratitude, Mari

November 2011 Selection: The Orphan Sister

I love it when listeners recommend books for us to read, it’s even better when the author is available to discuss the book with us!

This month we are reading an interesting novel about triplets, exploring the relationships of a set of identical twins and their triplet sister who shared a womb. I always read/hear about twins and their connections but have never thought about how might this be different for the triplet who doesn’t share the ‘identical’ label.

I’m reading this book now and am enjoying it, I don’t know any ‘multiples’ so it’s quite interesting to read about the connections and isolation that could happen to someone.

Giveaway: Watch for a 24 book giveaway to post in the next day/two, on the Manic Mommies website

When: November 16th at 8PM EST

Call in details: 724-444-7444
     Call id: 90383#
     Pin: 1#

Synopsis: Clementine Lord is not an orphan. She just feels like one sometimes. One of triplets, a quirk of nature left her the odd one out. Odette and Olivia are identical; Clementine is a singleton. Biologically speaking, she came from her own egg. Practically speaking, she never quite left it. Then Clementine’s father—a pediatric neurologist who is an expert on children’s brains, but clueless when it comes to his own daughters—disappears, and his choices, both past and present, force the family dynamics to change at last. As the three sisters struggle to make sense of it, their mother must emerge from the greenhouse and leave the flowers that have long been the focus of her warmth and nurturing.

For Clementine, the next step means retracing the winding route that led her to this very moment: to understand her father’s betrayal, the tragedy of her first lost love, her family’s divisions, and her best friend Eli’s sudden romantic interest. Most of all, she may finally have found the voice with which to share the inside story of being the odd sister out. . . .

October 2011 Selection: The Midwife's Confession

I scold myself each morning as I walk down the stairs with three things in hand, an iPhone, iPod, and iPad. How did I become this person? A better question might be, why am I okay with this?

The easy answer, I love knowing I can carry a stack of books with me. I am listening to The Paris Wife on my iPod, reading a memoir on the iPad and if I must confess…I’m listening to a business book on my iPhone during the day. My iPhone is also my listening option for podcasts (no headphones needed).

Reading from an e-reader most of the summer I had all but forgotten what it felt like to hold a book in my hands. Then my copy of The Midwife’s Confession arrived. I found myself enjoying turning the pages as I read. This story is a page turner!

I must confess… there’s nothing like holding a real book in your hands. I hope you enjoy this month’s book as much as I did.

Click here to read my review

Happy reading, Mari

Giveaway: Watch for a 24 book giveaway to post in the next day/two, on the Manic Mommies website

When: October 5th at 8PM EST

Call in details: 724-444-7444
     Call id: 90383#
     Pin: 1#

Synopsis: Dear Anna, What I have to tell you is difficult to write, but I know it will be far more difficult for you to hear, and I'm so sorry…

The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind their close friend Noelle's suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle—her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her friends and family—described a woman who embraced life.

Yet there was so much they didn't know. 

With the discovery of the letter and its heartbreaking secret, Noelle's friends begin to uncover the truth about this complex woman who touched each of their lives—and the life of a desperate stranger—with love and betrayal, compassion and deceit.