"Forever, Interrupted" is Taylor Jenkins Reid's first novel and I found it amazing. It reads like a true story and had me laughing and crying through its ups and downs.
Elsie Porter meets and falls in love with her true love in a matter of months but, after 10 days of marriage, he is killed in an accident before he has a chance to tell his family about their marriage. The story is told by weaving a chapter about their courtship with present day struggles of dealing with her husband's death with the support of her close friend, Ana, and having to meet a mother-in-law who didn't even know she existed.
As Elsie weathers the storms that have come her way, she and her mother-in-law, Susan, forge a relationship out of the love they both had for the same man. Through that they both find healing and Elsie evens finds ways through that healing to start to build a new life - something she hadn't thought possible. pazt
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Sunday, April 15, 2018
"Victoria & Abdul" - the movie
I wanted to see "Victoria & Abdul" in the movie theater but couldn't find anyone to go with me and I lost track of time and missed it. I've been waiting to get it from my local library and it is very popular so it was a bit of a wait!
It's the story of Queen Victoria in her later years and a young Indian man, Abdul, who comes to England to present her with a coin in a ceremony. He was chosen to do the honors because he was tall. She asks that he stay on and they develop a friendship.
It paints a picture of how lonely it can be to be the Queen and the need to have someone around she can talk honestly to so Abdul is elevated to the role of "teacher." They develop a friendship that creates a great loss for him when she dies. It is a beautiful story but also doesn't deny the intrigue that goes on within the palace. There are those who want Abdul gone! pazt
It's the story of Queen Victoria in her later years and a young Indian man, Abdul, who comes to England to present her with a coin in a ceremony. He was chosen to do the honors because he was tall. She asks that he stay on and they develop a friendship.
It paints a picture of how lonely it can be to be the Queen and the need to have someone around she can talk honestly to so Abdul is elevated to the role of "teacher." They develop a friendship that creates a great loss for him when she dies. It is a beautiful story but also doesn't deny the intrigue that goes on within the palace. There are those who want Abdul gone! pazt
Thursday, April 12, 2018
"A Man Lay Dead"
"A Man Lay Dead" is Ngaio Marsh's first book in the Roderick Alleyn novel series. Some of her books have been made into two hour shows in Britain and my spouse and I have watched most of them. Earlier this year he set out to read her Alleyn novels in order and I decided to do the same. The TV adaptations of her books do not display the depth of her stories nor do them justice in a condensed form because she has such a beautiful way of describing people, places, and events that does not come through in a film. In addition, I love her sense of humor!
In this.tale Sir Hubert Handesley is hosting one of his infamous weekend parties at his country estate but this time he has something new up his sleeve. He has decided it will be a murder mystery weekend and one of his guests will be informed by one of the staff that they are the murderer and they are to choose their victim. When the lights go out and the gong sounds, the rest of the party are to set about solving the murder. There is only one hitch - a real murder.
Nigel Bathgate has been invited for the first time to one of these weekends by his cousin, Charles Rankin, and becomes a prime suspect when it is his cousin who is murdered and he stands to inherit his cousin's fortune. However, he's not the only one who stands to benefit from his cousin's death plus Charles was a bit of a ladies man so that and a Russian mob tie widens the field of suspects.
Inspector Alleyn arrives from Scotland Yard to take charge of the investigation and he has his work cut out for him. This is a great mystery that will keep you guessing to the very end! pazt
In this.tale Sir Hubert Handesley is hosting one of his infamous weekend parties at his country estate but this time he has something new up his sleeve. He has decided it will be a murder mystery weekend and one of his guests will be informed by one of the staff that they are the murderer and they are to choose their victim. When the lights go out and the gong sounds, the rest of the party are to set about solving the murder. There is only one hitch - a real murder.
Nigel Bathgate has been invited for the first time to one of these weekends by his cousin, Charles Rankin, and becomes a prime suspect when it is his cousin who is murdered and he stands to inherit his cousin's fortune. However, he's not the only one who stands to benefit from his cousin's death plus Charles was a bit of a ladies man so that and a Russian mob tie widens the field of suspects.
Inspector Alleyn arrives from Scotland Yard to take charge of the investigation and he has his work cut out for him. This is a great mystery that will keep you guessing to the very end! pazt
Friday, April 6, 2018
"The Mountain Between Us"
"The Mountain Between Us" starring academy award winner, Kate Winslet, and golden globe winner, Idris Elba, is based on the novel by Charles Martin. I haven't read the book but I had heard favorable reports about the movie so I checked it out for my hubby and I to watch this evening.
It's the story of a Philadelphia neurosurgeon and a New York journalist who find each other stranded in the Boise airport after all commercial flights are cancelled due to a storm. He needs to be home to perform brain surgery on a child the next morning and she needs to get home for her wedding so they charter a small plane together. When the plane crashes in the mountains and the pilot dies, they are stranded on the mountain with the pilot's dog. Since the pilot didn't file a flight plan, no one knows where they are and neither one called anyone at home to tell them they'd chartered a plane.
This is a story of survival and learning to depend and support one another and the journey they travel changes both their lives forever. I found it well worth viewing! pazt
It's the story of a Philadelphia neurosurgeon and a New York journalist who find each other stranded in the Boise airport after all commercial flights are cancelled due to a storm. He needs to be home to perform brain surgery on a child the next morning and she needs to get home for her wedding so they charter a small plane together. When the plane crashes in the mountains and the pilot dies, they are stranded on the mountain with the pilot's dog. Since the pilot didn't file a flight plan, no one knows where they are and neither one called anyone at home to tell them they'd chartered a plane.
This is a story of survival and learning to depend and support one another and the journey they travel changes both their lives forever. I found it well worth viewing! pazt
"False Friend"
Andrew Grant's second novel, "False Friend," in the Detective Cooper Devereaux mystery thriller series kept me reading into the early morning hours a couple of nights until I finished it. It was good but not quite the same caliber as the first one in the series, ""False Positive." This novel left me with more questions at the end than answers which was a disappointment -- but maybe that was the author's ploy -- to get me to seek out the next one in the series as soon as possible? If so, it worked! pazt
Friday, March 30, 2018
"At The Table of Wolves"
"At The Table of Wolves" is the first book in the Dark Talents series by Kay Kenyon, an American science fiction and fantasy author from Wenatchee, Wa. It was released in 2017 followed by the second book in 2018 and is the first of her work that I've read but it will not be the last.
Kim Tavistock is the daughter of an American woman and her father is English aristocracy. When Kim's parents divorced, she went to America with her mother but has recently returned to England to live on her father's (Julian) estate. Julian is rarely at home -- off tending to business affairs which Kim has her doubts about. In reality he is part of a secret government organization and cannot share with Kim his real work. Kim's only (and much loved) brother was killed in the last war and she's still mourning his death.
This novel is set before the start of World War II when the Nazi's were coming to power in Germany. Julian's organization is much worried about the possibility of another war but the government in power wants to pretend all is well and ignores their warnings.
The historical aspects of the book are interesting threaded in with the novel's "Bloom" theory. New "talents" are appearing throughout the world and they will likely change the way the next war is waged. Kim herself has the "spill" talent which means people confide in her and share information without meaning to which means Julian has to be very careful around his daughter.
Kim is also a freelance journalist and, using this as her cover, begins to investigate a woman her father has been seeing who has a German friend. Kim thinks she might be a spy and is worried about her own father's political leanings. When she spends a weekend at this woman's house and meets her brother and a German visitor, Kim's "adventure" begins as well as her own espionage work and fight for her life. pazt
Kim Tavistock is the daughter of an American woman and her father is English aristocracy. When Kim's parents divorced, she went to America with her mother but has recently returned to England to live on her father's (Julian) estate. Julian is rarely at home -- off tending to business affairs which Kim has her doubts about. In reality he is part of a secret government organization and cannot share with Kim his real work. Kim's only (and much loved) brother was killed in the last war and she's still mourning his death.
This novel is set before the start of World War II when the Nazi's were coming to power in Germany. Julian's organization is much worried about the possibility of another war but the government in power wants to pretend all is well and ignores their warnings.
The historical aspects of the book are interesting threaded in with the novel's "Bloom" theory. New "talents" are appearing throughout the world and they will likely change the way the next war is waged. Kim herself has the "spill" talent which means people confide in her and share information without meaning to which means Julian has to be very careful around his daughter.
Kim is also a freelance journalist and, using this as her cover, begins to investigate a woman her father has been seeing who has a German friend. Kim thinks she might be a spy and is worried about her own father's political leanings. When she spends a weekend at this woman's house and meets her brother and a German visitor, Kim's "adventure" begins as well as her own espionage work and fight for her life. pazt
Sunday, March 25, 2018
"The Theory of Everything"
My husband and I just watched the movie, "The Theory of Everything," which is the love story of Jane and Stephen Hawking. They met at Cambridge as students and shortly afterwards he was diagnosed with an illness that was to have been fatal in 2 years. As we all know, that proved not to be the case since Stephen Hawking died earlier this month at age 76. (His illness was diagnosed at age 22.)
Although his family was concerned about Jane's ability (and strength) to cope with Stephen's progressive illness, they did marry - a marriage that would last 30 years until their divorce. In the beginning their life was difficult but manageable and they found a lot of joy in one another but, as his care demands grew, life became more stressful for Jane as they did not have the finances at that time to hire additional help. They did have three children, too, which also would have been another demand on Jane's time.
Someone who recommended the movie to me said they cried all the way through it but I did not (and I do often cry during movies) so it wasn't depressing as I thought it might be.
Eddie Redmayne does an incredible job of playing Hawking and Felicity Jones as his wife, Jane. I highly recommend this movie. pazt
Although his family was concerned about Jane's ability (and strength) to cope with Stephen's progressive illness, they did marry - a marriage that would last 30 years until their divorce. In the beginning their life was difficult but manageable and they found a lot of joy in one another but, as his care demands grew, life became more stressful for Jane as they did not have the finances at that time to hire additional help. They did have three children, too, which also would have been another demand on Jane's time.
Someone who recommended the movie to me said they cried all the way through it but I did not (and I do often cry during movies) so it wasn't depressing as I thought it might be.
Eddie Redmayne does an incredible job of playing Hawking and Felicity Jones as his wife, Jane. I highly recommend this movie. pazt
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