June 2012 Book Selection Announced!

I'm please to announce our June selection, The Singles.  I have read a lot of light/fun novels recently and this is one of my favorites.

The Singles is told from different voices, the bride opens the story but it's told by the people to attend the wedding as a 'single'. As the story goes on we learn how the singles know the bride and groom, their relationships, insecurities, and more. It's a very fun look at an evening (and the morning after).

A great summer selection! 

I'm so excited to that we are reading this book and that we get to discuss it with the author, Meredith Goldstein.

Synopsis: Bee wanted the perfect wedding; she got the “Singles”
 
Back in her single days—before she met the man of her dreams—Beth “Bee” Evans hated being forced to attend weddings solo. Determined to spare her friends the same humiliation, she invites everyone on her list with a guest. Much to her chagrin, however, Hannah, Vicki, Rob, Joe, and Nancy insist upon attending Bee’s lavish Chesapeake Bay nuptials alone. The frustrated bride dubs them the “Minus-Ones” and their collective decision wreaks unintended havoc on her otherwise perfectly planned wedding weekend.

When: June 20th at 8PM EST
Call in details: 724-444-7444, call id: 90383#, Pin 1#

Giveaway: To enter this month’s giveaway, send an email (comments are not considered entries) to mari.partyka [at] gmail.com. Put ‘The Singles’ in the subject line. Please include your shipping address in the body of your message.

Winners will be selected at random on Sunday evening, May 20th.

May 2012 Book Selection Announced!

Our May selection is one of my favorite books read this year. THE UNDERSIDE OF JOY explores the definition of family and the limits of love, postnatal depression, infertility, child custody and the role of step mothers. There’s something in this novel for almost everyone!

I'm so excited to that we are reading this book and that we get to discuss it with the author, Sere Prince Halverson.

Synopsis: Losing a husband is virtually unbearable. Losing your children to the birth mother who abandoned them, whilst you are still grieving, is one heartbreak too far. It must not be allowed to happen … Ella counts as her blessings her wonderful husband, two animated kids and an extended family who regard her as one of their own.

Yet when her soul mate Joe tragically drowns, her life is turned upside down without warning, and she finds that the luck, which she had thought would last forever, has run out. When Joe’s beautiful ex-wife, who deserted their children three years earlier, arrives at the funeral, Ella fears the worst. And she may well be right to. Ella discovers she must struggle with her own grief, while battling to remain with the children and the life which she loves. Questioning her own role as a mother, and trying to do what is right, all she is sure of is that she needs her family to make it through each day. Yet when pushed to the limits of love, Ella must decide whether she is, after all, the best mother for her children.

When: May 23rd at 8PM EST
Call in details: 724-444-7444, call id: 90383#, Pin 1#

Giveaway: To enter this month’s giveaway, send an email (comments are not considered entries) to mari.partyka [at] gmail.com. Put ‘The Underside of Joy’ in the subject line. Please include your shipping address in the body of your message.

Winners will be selected at random on Tuesday evening, April 10th.

March 2012 Selection: The Last Time We Met

Originally posted on Manic Mommies

I’m a big fan of the audio book. If the book is really good, you might catch me folding laundry, doing the dishes, or maybe listening while running errands. I know I look silly with my ipod clipped to my waist, one ear bud in and the other dangling but I’m willing to turn ‘must do’ tasks into me time whenever possible. An audio book can be a wonderful companion while working in the yard, just don’t snip the cord in two while pruning!

The narrator can make or break the experience though. If Cassandra Campbell is reading the story, I know I will enjoy it a little bit more. I tend to stay away from thrillers and scary books since I listen while running in the woods. Erin has mentioned the Steig Larsson series a few times but I haven’t found the courage to listen. Have you read/listened to this series?

Our January book selection was a great one, a dark tale. Our next book is also a page turner!

Synopsis: Adored and nurtured by his adoptive parents in California, Asher Stone has moved effortlessly through a nearly perfect life. He is on the verge of a professional soccer career-when a car accident throws his future into doubt. Suddenly, Asher begins to wonder about his past, and about the girl who gave him up for adoption in Colombia two decades ago. And so begins his search for a woman named Rita Ortiz.

From the teeming streets of Bogata to a tiny orphanage tucked into a hillside, Asher untangles the mystery of Rita's identity, her abrupt disappearance from her home, and the winding journey that followed. But as Asher comes closer to finding Rita, his own parents are faced with fears and doubts. And Rita must soon make her own momentous choice: stay hidden in her hard-earned new life, or meet the secret son who will bring painful memories-or the promise of a new beginning . . .

UPDATE: Our call was postponed from March to April 4th, giveaway closed.
When: April 4 at 8PM EST

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

Giveaway: To enter this month’s giveaway, send an email (comments are not considered entries) to mari.partyka [at] gmail.com. Put ‘The Second Time We Met’ in the subject line. Please include your shipping address in the body of your message.

Winners will be selected at random on Wednesday evening, February 15