Sunday Salon: A Variety of Books

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit Mailbox Monday.

I missed the giant moon last night, though we saw it Friday night. It's overcast here. Hope you got a chance to see it.

Got a few new books and proofs 

Two Dogs and a Parrot by Joan Chittister, published by BlueBridge

Crooked River by Valerie Geary, published by William Morrow Paperbacks

Embracing the Seasons: Memories of a Country Garden by Gunilla Norris, published by BlueBridge

The Gilded Hour by Sara Donati, published by Berkley....two female doctors in nineteenth-century New York and the transcendent power of courage and love…

Murder in Megara by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, Poisoned Pen Press

Everyone Has Their Reasons by Joseph Matthews, PM Press

Nondual, audio CD of music by Kirtan Rabbi (artist)

What's on your reading desk this end of August?

Book Beginning: THE INVISIBLES by Cecilia Galante

The Friday 56: *Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader. Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. Post it. Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.
Also, visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

The Invisibles: A Novel by Cecilia Galante, published August 4, 2015 by William Morrow Paperbacks; women's fiction
 Book beginning, chapter one:

It wasn't until she reached the corner of Grove Street, where the sidewalk buckled and the pre-dawn smells of yeast and fabric softener perfumed the air, that Nora remembered it was her thirty-second birthday. She stopped abruptly, as if someone had yanked a leash around her neck, and let the information settle along her shoulders. Thirty-two. The number rolled around in her head, and she waited for the onslaught of-- what was it exactly: relief? dread?-- that was supposed to arrive at reaching the end of another year, but it didn't come. Instead, the first line from a book she had once read occurred to her: "Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person"....

 Book description: ... the complicated and powerful bonds of female friendship. Thrown together as teenagers at Turning Winds Home for Girls, Nora, Ozzie, Monica, and Grace quickly bond over their troubled pasts and form their own family which they dub The Invisibles. But when tragedy strikes after graduation, Nora is left to deal with the horrifying aftermath alone as the other three girls leave home and don't look back.

Fourteen years later, Nora is living a quiet, single life working in the local library. She joins The Invisibles in Chicago for a reunion that sets off an extraordinary chain of events that will change each of their lives forever.

page 56: "We go around the circle, and everyone tells the rest of the group what they want. It can be anything, as long as it's not totally ridiculous, like a million dollars or something. And then, before the next meeting, we'll try to find a way to give it to you."

Looks like a compelling read. Looking forward to reading this one, sent by the publisher.

Book Review: Tahoe Blue Fire by Todd Borg

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

Tahoe Blue Fire: An Owen Mckenna Mystery Thriller #13 by Todd Borg, published August 1, 2015 by Thriller Press.

First paragraph:

PROLOGUE The big rotary snowblower was parked in the dark at the side of the road where the shoulder had been cleared of snow. The unusual snow removal machine was one of the huge ones, built on a double engine chassis, designed for clearing highways. The driver engine was idling quietly despite its size. The much larger blower engine was off. Because that engine made so much noise, the operator would fire it up at the last minute.  

Three kills. Maybe four or five.

Teaser, first chapter:

"It would be too dangerous for me to come to your office," the woman on the phone said. She had told me her name was Scarlett Milo and that she'd wanted to meet and that she was in significant danger. 

My comments:  
Another in the Owen McKenna Mystery thriller series that I have enjoyed so much. The author always includes some pressing and important social issues in his novels, and this one is no exception.
An important part of the plot is the issue of football head injuries and memory loss suffered by many retired professional football players.

The author also touts Lake Tahoe and environs, highlighting its lakes, mountains, ski resorts, as part of the charm of the surroundings. These surroundings of course play a large part in the suspense, chases, and atmosphere of the novels.

In Tahoe Blue Fire, a woman is shot on the deck of her mountain home, a house is burned down, and Owen McKenna, PI, is targeted more than once in attempts to stop his investigations of several recent murders, some of them by shooting and others more bizarre. The motives for crime are somehow tied up to a Renaissance legend. Owen travels to Florence and Tuscany, Italy to get information from Renaissance scholars about the legend of the Blue Fire of Florence, to see how this might link to the Tahoe murders.

Suspenseful as always, and very atmospheric, this is another excellent thriller by Todd Borg. I recommend it for those mystery lovers who are also history buffs, armchair travelers, and lovers of the outdoors.

For more info on the author and his books, visit ToddBorg.com

Based on the book beginning and teaser, would you keep reading?
Thanks to the author for a review copy of this book.

Book Review/Tour: Come Away with Me by Karma Brown

Come Away With Me by Karma Brown, published by Mira (August 25, 2015) 
"A story of love and loss, one woman’s discovery that life is still worth living, even if it’s not the life you planned. One minute, Tegan Lawson has an adoring husband, Gabe, and a baby on the way. The next, a patch of black ice causes a devastating accident that will change her life. Tegan is consumed by grief—not to mention anger toward Gabe, who was driving on the night of the crash. But Gabe reminds her of their Jar of Spontaneity, a collection of their dream destinations and experiences, and so begins an adventure of a lifetime. 
From the markets of Thailand to the flavors of Italy to the ocean waves in Hawaii, Tegan and Gabe embark on a journey to escape the tragedy and search for forgiveness. 
But they soon learn that grief follows you no matter how far away you run, and that acceptance comes when you least expect it." (publisher)

My comments: An intriguing story of a woman's coping with sudden, shocking loss, the novel has a plot twist at the end that will leave you spellbound! I was attracted to the book by the travel aspect and the story's premise of far away lands and experiences helping to deal with sorrow. Certainly a good book to read this summer!

Karma Brown is a National Magazine Award winning freelance writer and journalist, and a member of the Professional Writers Association of Canada. She lives just outside Toronto with her family and writes powerfully emotional upmarket women’s fiction, in the vein of Me Before You. COME AWAY WITH ME is her first novel.

Thanks to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for a review ARC of this book. Check out other reviews of Come Away with Me to see the tour schedule. 

Sunday Salon: Short Stories and Nonfiction

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit Mailbox Monday.

I''m in a a strange non-reading mood this mid summer. Been starting and discarding books left and right. I think I might be having beach fever and feel like leaving off reading for a while.

These look good though.

Pacific by Simon Winchester, expected publication October 27, 2015; Harper
A biography of the Pacific Ocean and its role in the modern world, exploring our relationship with this imposing force of nature.

Mendocino Fire by Elizabeth Tallent, expected publication October 20, 2015; Harper
...the master of short fiction delivers a diverse suite of stories about men and women confronting their vulnerabilities in times of transition and challenge.

Two new books to share. What's on your reading desk? 

Book Beginning: The Girl from the Garden by Parnaz Foroutan

The Friday 56: *Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader. Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. Post it. Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.
Also, visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

The Girl From the Garden by Parnaz Foroutan, published August 18, 2015 by Ecco.
Genre: literary fiction, historical fiction
Book beginning, Chapter One:

In the outskirts of Los Angeles, in the sprawl of suburban homes that sit in the lap of dry, gold hills, there is a garden. In the warmth of last summer evenings, the perfumes of honeysuckles and jasmines in this garden are maddening. Earthen pots of cosmos and geraniums surround the yard. Near the back wall grows a pomegranate tree. A fig tree fruits in the late summer, the grape arbor hides her clusters in among the leaves, the boughs of the apple tree nearly touch the soil in autumn, and the orange tree, soaking beneath the Southern California sun, provides year-round. Mint vines creep to cover the grounds, and nasturtiums explode in blossom. This garden belongs to an elderly woman. Her name is Mahboubeh Malacouti. Her first name means "the most beloved." Her last name means "of the heavenly."

Book description:
"A debut novel in which a crisis of inheritance leads to the downfall of a wealthy family of Persian Jews in early twentieth-century Iran.

Asher Malacouti—the head of a prosperous Jewish family in the Iranian town of Kermanshah—cannot have the one thing he desires above all: a son. His young wife, Rakhel, is made desperate by her failure to conceive, and grows jealous and vindictive....
Asher makes a fateful choice that will drive Rakhel to dark extremes to preserve her status within the family.

Witnessed through the memories of the family's sole surviving daughter, Mahboubeh, now an elderly woman living in Los Angeles, The Girl from the Garden unfolds the tragic history of the Malacouti family in a long-lost Iran of generations past. Inspired by the author's own family, it is an exploration of sacrifice, betrayal, and the legacy of the families that forge us." (goodreads)

Page 56: 

Mahboubeh had no one to run to, no one to protect her from Rakhel's anger and spite.

I find it intriguing that the story is based on the author's memories of her own family and am looking forward to reading this.

Waiting on Wednesday: Night of the White Buffalo by Margaret Coel

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

Night of the White Buffalo by Margaret Coel, expected publication September 1, 2015; Berkley
Genre: mystery

"At Wind River Reservation, Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and Father John O’Malley investigate a mystery overshadowed by a mythological miracle…

A mysterious penitent confesses to murder, and then flees the confessional. Two months later, rancher Dennis Carey is shot dead along Blue Sky Highway. With the tragic news comes an astonishing secret: the most sacred creature in Native American mythology, a white buffalo calf, was recently born on Carey’s ranch.

The miraculous animal draws pilgrims to the reservation, frustrating Vicky and Father John as they try to unravel Carey’s murder and the disappearances of three cowboys from his ranch.

It could be coincidence, but Vicky doesn’t believe in coincidences. And at the back of Father John’s mind is the voice from the man in the confessional. "(goodreads)

What novel are you waiting for to be published? 

First Chapter: THE PARIS KEY by Juliet Blackwell

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

The Paris Key: A Novel by Juliet Blackwell, to be published September 1, 2015 by NAL

First paragraph, first chapter:

Her uncle Dave always used to say, "Remember the locksmiths' code, Genevieve. Never reveal the secrets you find behind locked doors, and never - ever! - abuse the power to open a lock." 

Book description: An American in Paris navigates her family’s secret past and unlocks her own future, in this evocative novel by Juliet Blackwell. Genevieve Martin spent the happiest summer of her life in Paris, learning the delicate art of locksmithing at her uncle’s side. But since then, back in the States, she has been holding herself back from those around her, including her soon-to-be-ex-husband.

Faced with an incredible opportunity to return to Paris to take over her late uncle’s shop,  she realizes the city also holds secrets about her family that could change her forever.

Based on the first paragraph, would you keep reading?

Winner of Life in New York

Life in New York: How I Learned to Love Squeegee Men, Token Stickers, Trash Twisters, and Subway Sharks, nonfiction by Laura Pedersen, published Jul 28, 2015; Fulcrum Publishing

The winner of the giveaway contest, chosen by Randomizer, is Sharon Berger. An email has been sent out.  Thanks to all who entered.

Sunday Salon: Shakespeare, Alternate History, and Baseball Verses

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit Mailbox Monday.

A few new books in diverse genres to share:

The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson, to be released October 6, 2015 by Hogarth
One of Shakespeare's final plays, "The Winter's Tale" is the story of newfound love, treacherous jealousy, revenge, regret, and ultimately, redemption. Award-winning author Jeanette Winterson will introduce this classic in a new and unique way, in the first installment of Hogarth's historic Shakespeare series. (goodreads)

The British Lion: A Novel by Tony Schumacher, to be released October 27, 2015 by William Morrow.
In this alternate history thriller set in the years after World War II, the victorious Germans now occupy a defeated Great Britain. London detective John Rossett joins forces with his Nazi boss to save the commander’s kidnapped daughter as the Germans race to make the first atomic bomb.
Rossett must secretly find Ruth Hartz, a Jewish scientist working in Cambridge. Spared from death because of her intellect and expertise, she is forced to work on developing the atom bomb for Germany.  (goodreads)

Red Sox Rhymes: Verses and Curses by Dick Flavin,  published July 14, 2015; William Morrow.
From the voice of Fenway Park comes a collection of sixty-four humorous and nostalgic poems celebrating the Boston Red Sox.

Season of Salt and Honey by Hannah Tunnicliffe, to be published September 1, 2015; Touchstone
Francesca 'Frankie' Caputo is finally going to marry the man she loves. But when a freak accident cuts her fiancé Alex's life tragically short, Frankie flees from her overbearing Italian-American family to an abandoned cabin in a remote part of Washington forest. As her heart slowly begins to heal, Frankie discovers a freedom that's both exhilarating and unsettling.

So when her old life comes crashing back in, Frankie must decide: will she slip quietly back into her safe, former existence? Or will a stronger, wiser Frankie Caputo stand up and claim her new life?

What's on your reading desk this week?

A Pattern of Lies by Charles Todd: Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

A Pattern of Lies: A Bess Crawford Mystery #7 by Charles Todd, to be released August 18, 2015; William Morrow
Genre: historical mystery

An explosion and fire at the Ashton Gunpowder Mill in Kent has killed over a hundred men. It’s called an appalling tragedy—until suspicion and rumor raise the specter of murder. While visiting the Ashton family, Bess Crawford finds herself caught up in a venomous show of hostility that doesn’t stop with Philip Ashton’s arrest. Indeed, someone is out for blood, and the household is all but under siege. 
The only known witness to the tragedy is now at the Front in France. Bess is asked to find him.(goodreads)

I have read several of the Bess Crawford mysteries and am looking forward to this one.

What new release are you waiting for?

Book Review: LIFE IN NEW YORK by Laura Pedersen

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

Life in New York: How I Learned to Love Squeegee Men, Token Stickers, Trash Twisters, and Subway Sharks, nonfiction by Laura Pedersen, published Jul 28, 2015; Fulcrum Publishing

First paragraph, Chapter One:

As my bus lurched toward the Lincoln Tunnel a sign proclaimed: NO TRUCKS OVER 12' 6". Underneath, in equally large letters, was painted, WE MEAN IT! Obviously I was entering a reckless, self-destructive society that couldn't or, more likely, wouldn't follow the kind of simple direction I'd learned in kindergarten.... After the Lincoln Tunnel sign I was half expecting a troll to ask me a riddle before I was allowed to enter the Big Bad City.

Teasers: There are a ton of great sentences that describe Laura Pedersen's take on New York City. First of all, I noted that NYC is not just the island of Manhattan but describes some five boroughs that includes the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. Here are some notable and interesting, to me, observations that Pedersen makes:

New York is the number-one tourist destination in the United States. 

Most city residents live in small, cramped apartments....(I)t's not uncommon to live with roommates well into your forties.  

Solitude is rare and considered a luxury....people must often go out on the street with their cell phones to get some privacy. 

You determine where to live in Manhattan, not based on income but on age. 

To promote desegregation, both racial and economic. Kids take subways and buses all over the five boroughs, traversing back and forth to school every day. 

New Yorkers tend to have pets instead of kids. 

The one constant throughout New York City's history has been its ability to change, adapt, and reinvent itself.

And one fact that I especially appreciated about NYC: the drinking water is clean and free. But I'd miss the chance to have solitude, every day and often...There is so much more that Pedersen discusses in her book: the founding and history of NYC, the present subway system, the cultural life, humidity and allergies in the summers, the neighborhoods, the variety of foods and people, and more.

I loved this book. It's informative, current, and humorous. Not at all a dry history or travel book. It's one to read if you are thinking of moving to NYC or just visiting there.

Enter the GIVEAWAY, courtesy of the publicist/publisher, now through August 17, 2015. The contest is open to U.S. and Canadian residents. Email me at harvee44@yahoo.com with the heading New York Giveaway. A winner will be notified by email on Aug. 18 and asked for a mailing address. Good luck! UPDATE: The winner was Sharon Berger!

Sunday Salon: A Library Surprise

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit Mailbox Monday.

Getting used to Windows 10. Anyone using it? How do you like it?
I haven't noticed too many differences, so far.

We went to the library to return books and borrow DVDs. I got a book I thought my hubby would like, but landed up reading it myself. The thriller, One Mille Under by Andrew Gross, reminds me of some of the Nevada Barr mystery novels featuring park ranger, Anna Pigeon. At least at the beginning.

This one features Dani, a whitewater guide in Aspen, Colorado who finds out more than the sheriff wants her to after she discovers the body of an expert kayaker in the river. Her godfather, who happens to be a PI, is sent to her rescue. Enjoying it so far!

New books on my reading shelf:

9 1/2 Narrow: My Life in Shoes, a memoir by Patricia Morrisroe, published April 14, 2015; by Gotham. 
A funny, poignant coming-of-age memoir told through the shoes that she wore.

A Window Opens, contemporary fiction by Ellizabeth Egan, to be released August 25, 2015; Simon and Schuster
Alice Pearse, a compulsively honest, longing-to-have-it-all, sandwich generation heroine for our social-media-obsessed, lean in (or opt out) age. 

Broken Homes and Gardens, a novel by Rebecca Kelley, published April 28, 2015; Blank Slate Press
A girl, a guy, a broken-down house. Not exactly on-again, off-again, Malcolm and Joanna are in-again, out-again: in love, out of each other’s arms, in an awkward co-living arrangement, out of the country. Their unconventional relationship is the only way, Joanna says, to protect herself from the specter of commitment, which inevitably leads to heartbreak. (goodreads)

The Guilty One, a novel by Sophie Littlefield, to be released August 11, 2015 by Gallery Books.
(A) gripping exploration of the damage people can do to each other, and the resilience they find in themselves.
A man stands on the Golden Gate Bridge, poised to jump…if a woman on the other end of the phone tells him to. (goodreads)

What books are you reading this week? I am reading several books at once -
 Updike,  a biography by Adam Begley
and a few others. 

Book Review: Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen

The Friday 56: *Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader. Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. Post it. Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.
Also, visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

Queen of Hearts: A Royal Spyness Mystery #8 by Rhys Bowen, published August 4, 2015, Berkley

Book beginning, first chapter:

KINGSDOWNE PLACE, EYNSFORD, KENT

MONDAY, JULY 9, 1934
Dear Diary: Weather fine but absolutely nothing to do. Dying of boredom.

I was sitting in a white wicker chair under a spreading chestnut tree on a manicured lawn.Behind me the stately battlements of Kingsdowne Place, seat of the dukes of Eynsford, were reflected int he perfect mirror of the lake, its surface ruffled only by a pair of gliding swans. Before me was a tea table, groaning under tiers of cucumber and smoked salmon sandwiches, strawberries and cream, eclairs, Victoria sponges, petit fours and scones with clotted cream. It was about the most perfect afternoon one could wish for, one of those rare English summer days when the only sounds are the buzzing of bees among the roses the clickety-clack of a distant lawn mower and the thwack of ball on bat at the cricket match down in the village.  

Page 56:

When we went down to dinner, there was no sign of Princess Promila.

"She was very subdued last night," I said. "I hope she's feeling all right."  

My comments: What an intriguing plan for a mystery series. A young English aristocrat, Lady Georgiana Rannock, is regularly commissioned as a royal spy by the Queen, who wants to keep tabs on everyone around her. Georgie travels on the Queen's behalf, reporting back to Her Majesty on the goings on with her subjects in and around the realm.

In this novel, however, it's Georgie's actress mother who persuades her on a trip across the Atlantic to America, where she plans to get a quickie divorce in Reno, Nevada, so she can marry her latest beau, the wealthy Max.

The trip on the boat across the Atlantic is adventurous, with lots of important people, including an Indian princess and a movie mogul, Cy Goldman. Cy persuades Georgie's mom to act in his latest picture in Hollywood and arranges for her to stay at his Hollywood mansion. When Cy turns up dead, however, several suspects at the crowded mansion come into the fore. Georgie is, of course, involved in the sleuthing to find out what happened to Cy.

Well known movie stars such as Charlie Chaplin appear at the Hollywood mansion, adding to the glamour and intrigue of the setting and place. The author seems to throw in everything but the kitchen sink to keep this mystery enticing. Even having an Agatha Christie-like scenario where many people are confined and isolated in a house where a murder has occurred, while the police try to find the culprit. And all these devices work.

I am looking forward to reading Malice at the Palace, the 9th and next in the series by Rhys Bowen.

A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

Murder on the Horizon by M.L. Rowland: Book Feature

Murder on the Horizon: A Search and Rescue Mystery by M.L. Rowland, published August 4, 2015; Berkley

I have read and enjoyed this author of the mystery series. They are full of suspenseful mystery action, but I did find the first, Zero Degree Murder, quite violent and the murders in this third novel, Murder on the Horizon, were so off-putting for me that I didn't finish the book. 

The best read for me, so far, was Murder Off the Beaten Path, the second in the series. 
The series does have a mountain setting, however, that makes the search and rescue operations interesting to read.

Book opening:
Prologue

 "Damn, that's a lot of blood," a man said, voice echoing in the large room. "What the hell d'you expect?" a second man said. "Go get a bucket."

Book description: As a volunteer for Timber Creek Search and Rescue in the mountains of Southern California, Gracie Kinkaid responds to a call out for a car that’s gone over the side of a treacherous mountain road. 

The crash proves to be one in an escalating and deadly series of events that lead her right back to Camp Ponderosa, a church-owned camp where she works as Program Director. As Gracie probes more deeply into the dark secrets at the camp, she unearths a hidden world of illegal activities, including murder…and finds herself going head-to-head with desperate perpetrators. (goodreads)

A review copy of  the book was provided by the publisher.

Book Review: The Reinvention of Albert Paugh by Jean Davies Okimoto

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

The Reinvention of Albert Paugh by Jean Davies Okimoto, published by Endicott and Hugh Books (July 23, 2015)

First paragraph, first chapter:

Al didn't quite know how he got sidetracked. He'd never thought of himself as an impulsive person, it was rare that he did anything without thinking it through and he certainly had every intension of taking Bert, his chocolate Lab, to Point Robinson. It was a beautiful fall day and Bert was eager to get to the beach were he loved to swim and retrieve his rubber frog.Of course, Al was supposed to get exercise, too. But instead of going to the beach like he'd told Eleanor he'd be doing - the past eighth months he'd been very dutiful about always letting his wife know his whereabouts - somehow, he inexplicably ended up going in the opposite direction...

A quote/teaser from chapter 2:

"I'm flunking retirement, Martha Jane.""You're doing what, Albert?""I'm flunking retirement. My retirement is a failure, it's not going well at all.""Oh, my. that doesn't sound good." 

My comments: 
Al Paugh retires and sells his veterinary practice on Vashon Island, Washington, after his heart attack and surgery, urged on by his wife Eleanor. When Al finds himself alone, retired from a practice he loved, he has only his faithful dog Bert to rely on. 

Retirement doesn't sit well with Al. He misses his practice and taking care of animals, he has to sell the house he and his wife had for years, and he has to learn to be alone. This is the story of what and how he does, how Al, in spite of being pulled in different directions in the beginning,  "reinvents" himself after retirement, with a little help from his dog and old friends. Al goes through a lot of changes; it's not a predictable story though he does find new love.. 

I enjoyed the book, as I did the author's previous one, Walter's Muse. Besides interesting and unusual characters, the book has many insightful thoughts, ideas, and observations about getting old, retiring, and finding new meaning in life, with help from people on sometimes rocky roads. I gave this a five star and think everyone would enjoy it -young or old, working or retired.  

Jean Davies Okimoto is an author and playwright whose books and short stories have been translated into seven languages. Her many awards include Smithsonian Notable Book, the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, the Washington Governor’s Award and the International Reading Association Readers Choice Award. She has appeared on CNN, Oprah, and The Today Show. Jeanie, a retired psychotherapist, and her husband Joe retired to Vashon Island in 2004 where they (and their dogs Bert and Willie) are visited by deer families and their six grandchildren. Visit her at www.jeandaviesokimoto.com

The Reinvention of Albert Paugh is the third book in Jean Davies Okimoto’s Island Trilogy, following The Love Ceiling and Walter’s Muse. 

Thanks to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for a review copy of the book. 
For the full tour schedule, see more reviews.