Sunday Salon: Busy December

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, and Stacking the Shelves, hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Visit It's Monday, What Are You Reading? hosted by Book Date. 

Getting ready for the holidays also means clearing the house of extra kitchen items, clothes, even furniture. I may need more time!

This Sunday Salon is a day early because I woke up this morning thinking it was Sunday! That's what happens when hubby gets a Friday off. Throws the whole weekend feeling off. But so glad for the extra day this weekend!

Two new ARCs and a book to share this week:

Under the Influence by Joyce Maynard, to be released February 23, 2016 by William Morrow

The New York Times bestselling author of Labor Day and After Her returns with a poignant story about the true meaning—and the true price—of friendship.

Shelter by Jung Yun, to be released March 15, 2016 by Picador.

Why should a man care for his parents when they failed to take care of him as a child? A debut novel that asks what it means to provide for one's family.




Kingdom Come: An Elizabeth Harris Mystery by Jane Jensen, to be released January 5, 2015 by Berkley
In Amish country in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a troubled detective has to solve a crime. 


I am still reading:

The Witch's Market by Mingmei Yip, fiction

The Hot Countries by Timothy Hallinan, thriller 



Recent reviews:
The Sound of Glass by Karen White, fiction
What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan, psychological suspense

What's new this week for you?  

Book Review: The Sound of Glass by Karen White

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.

... a Southern family’s buried history, which will change the life of the woman who unearths it, secret by shattering secret. 

Book beginning:

Beaufort, South CarolinaJuly 1955
An unholy tremor rippling through the sticky night air alerted Edith Heyward that something wasn't right. Like a shadow creeping past a doorway in an empty house, or the turn of a latch on a locked door, the movement outside Edith's attic window raised the gooseflesh along her spine. Her breath sat in her mouth, suspended with anticipation as icy pinpricks marched down her limbs. 

Page 56: 

"...I have no idea what you were thinking just showing up on my doorstep expecting to stay with me."

My comments:
4.5/5 stars. The issues of domestic violence are addressed in this novel. I had reservations about the idea of it being carried on from generation to generation, being passed on like a defective trait. The question of nurture versus nature is controversial and made me think about it, reading this novel. 

The character Loralee made me weepy in several parts of the book, and is one of the very likeable characters created by the author. She made the book more than worthwhile.

Title: The Sound of Glass by Karen White
Published May 12, 2015 by NAL
Genre: Southern faiction
Source: personal library

Book Review: What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan

What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan, published December 1, 2015 by William Morrow Paperback.

Gilly Macmillan explores a mother’s search for her missing son, weaving a taut psychological thriller.

A brief summary: A divorced single mother of an eight-year-old boy becomes distraught when her son goes missing in the park during a regular Sunday walk with their dog.

 The cops follow multiple leads, just hints and threads of clues, as no one saw the boy in the woods during the walk or after he ran ahead of his mother to a rope swing in a secluded clearing just ahead of them. 
Rachel becomes a suspect in the case, while she does her best to follow leads to find her son. Who in contact with young Ben in his everyday life and would have reason to abduct him? Seems several people fit the bill. As days go by, no one is sure of the outcome. But a determined detective on the police force is sure he is on the right track. 

My thoughts:
I was immersed in the book, into the very realistic and well-drawn character of Rachel, who seemed helpless and put-upon, desperate to find Ben. Her ex-husband is not a big help, nor is his new and younger wife. 
The character of the detective is also intriguing, a man sure of his instincts in the case yet conflicted at the same time. 
The plot lagged a bit toward the middle, when it seemed as if nobody was getting anywhere in the case and no new clues cropped up. But read on.....exciting things start to happen fast. 

Themes in the book: Child abduction, family dynamics, divorce, single mothers, police procedure, the psychology behind some of those who abduct children. 

I gave this engrossing read five stars! Excellent for a debut novel.

I received an ARC of this book for my impartial review.

First Chapter: For Better or Worsted by Betty Hechtman

Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter, First Paragraph every Tuesday. Share the first paragraph(s) of your current read or book interest, with information for readers. Also share a teaser from the book with Teaser Tuesday at A Daily Rhythm.

I chose this book to highlight because of the clever title. I haven't read the others in the series, but I'm pretty sure this is a stand-alone cozy.

For Better or Worsted by Betty Hechtman, Crochet Mystery #8, published 2013
Genre: cozy mystery

Molly Pink and her crochet group, the Tarzana Hookers, are always game for a new adventure. But when their newest member is accused of turning her wedding into happily-never-after for the groom, Molly’s chance to find the truth is hanging by a thread ...

First chapter, first paragraph:

You know how they say weddings always have drama? Well, this one had an overdose. My name is Molly Pink, and the wedding in question was my friend Mason Field's daughter, Thursday's. Yes, that's really her name. I wasn't invited to the actual ceremony, which was for immediate family only, but I, along with two hundred or so others, had been invited to the reception that was being held in Mason's tented backyard. When I say tent, I'm not talking about some little open-on-the-sides thing. We're talking about a structure that took up the whole backyard. And it only looked like a tent from the outside - the interior was done up like an elegant ballroom. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

 What do you think? Would you keep reading? If you would, she has a new one out in May 2016 - Seams Like Murder. 

Sunday Salon: Christmas Lights Up!

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.

Got some multi-colored lights put up on the tree in front. Let the holiday festivities begin!

A few new books to share:

The Great Christmas Knit-Off by Alexandra Brown, published October 13, 2015 by William Morrow
Genre: fiction
Heartbroken after being jilted at the altar, Sybil has been saved from despair by her knitting obsession and now her home is filled to bursting with tea cosies, bobble hats, and jumpers. But, after discovering that she may have perpetrated the cock-up of the century at work, Sybil decides to make a hasty exit and, just weeks before Christmas, runs away to the picturesque village of Tindledale. (goodreads)

Lone Star by Paullina Simons, published November 24, 2015 by William Morrow paperbacks
(T)he unforgettable love story between a college-bound young woman and a traveling troubadour on his way to war—a moving, compelling novel of love lost and found set against the stunning backdrop of Eastern Europe.

The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown, published September 22, 2015 by William Morrow
Genre: historical fiction
In April of 1846, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of emigrants led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and fourteen others set out for California on snowshoes and, over the next thirty-two days, endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors.

What are you reading this week? 

Waiting on Wednesday:Two Mystery Novels

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted weekly by Jill at Breaking the Spine. What new releases are you eagerly waiting for. Link your post to Breaking the Spine.
These books are to be released in a week, December 1, 1015. They do look good!

Pouncing on Murder by Laurie Cass, the fourth in the Bookmobile Cat Mystery.
Springtime in Chilson, Michigan, means it's librarian Minnie Hamilton's favorite time of year: maple syrup season! But her excitement fades when her favorite syrup provider, Henry Gill, dies in a sugaring accident. 

On the bookmobile rounds with her trusty rescue cat Eddie, Minnie meets Adam, the old man's friend, who was with him when he died. Adam is convinced Henry’s death wasn’t an accident, and fears that his own life is in danger. (publisher)

What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan, William Morrow Paperback.
Gilly Macmillan explores a mother’s search for her missing son, weaving a taut psychological thriller. Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes.  (publisher)
What books are you waiting for to be published?

First Chapter: Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen

Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter, First Paragraph every Tuesday. Share the first paragraph(s) of your current read or book interest, with information for readers. Also share a teaser from the book with Teaser Tuesday at A Daily Rhythm.

My choice this week is a library book:

Playing with Fire: A Novel by Tess Gerritsen, published October 27, 2015 by Ballantine
Genre: thriller
Source: library
A beautiful violinist is haunted by a very old piece of music she finds in a strange antique shop in Rome.

The first time Julia Ansdell picks up The Incendio Waltz, she knows it’s a strikingly unusual composition. But while playing the piece, Julia blacks out and awakens to find her young daughter implicated in acts of surprising violence. And when she travels to Venice to find the previous owner of the music, she uncovers a dark secret that involves dangerously powerful people—a family who would stop at nothing to keep Julia from bringing the truth to light
(publisher)

First chapter, first paragraph:

From the doorway I can already smell the scent of old books, a perfume of crumbling pages and time-worn leather. The other antiques stores that I've passed on this cobblestoned alley have their air conditioners running and their doors closed against the heat, but this shop's door is propped open, as if inviting me to enter. It's my last afternoon in Rome, my last chance to pick up a souvenir of my visit. Already I've bought a silk tie for Rob and Lily, but I haven't found anything for myself. In the window of this antiques shop, I see exactly what I want. 

 Teaser:

"Beware the ignorant, Lorenzo. They're the most dangerous enemy of all, because they are everywhere."

I have just gotten the book from the library and am looking forward to reading it, having read a few of her other books.

Tess Gerritsen's first medical thriller, Harvest, was released in hardcover in 1996, and it marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list. Her suspense novels since then have been: Life Support (1997), Bloodstream (1998), Gravity (1999), The Surgeon (2001), The Apprentice (2002), The Sinner (2003), Body Double (2004), Vanish (2005), The Mephisto Club (2006), and The Bone Garden (2007). (goodreads) 

I guess her space thriller, Gravity, was published before the movie with a similar plot was made. Here's a description from goodreads of her 2004 book: An experiment on micro-organisms conducted in space goes wrong. The cells begin to infect the crew with deadly results. Emma Watson struggles to contain the deadly microbe while her husband and NASA try to retrieve her from space, before it's too late. Sounds thrilling.

What are you reading this week, and would you read Playing with Fire based on the beginning and teaser?