I’m linking up for the first Literary Junkies Link-up hosted by Taylor at Goings on in Texas and Lesley at By the Porchlight. They have also started an online book club! If you are interested, get in touch with Taylor and she will hook you up!

This week’s questions:

1) What book are you currently reading? Give us a little synopsis and your review.
2) What are your 3 favourite books of all time?
3) What is your “approach” upon entering a bookstore? Where do you immediately head after entering through the front door?

Hey girls! My friend Tarole is having an awesome giveaway over at Island Livin’ with One Haole Girl! Go check out her blog and enter to win a ton of free ad space!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
St. Martin’s Griffin
2008
Format: Paperback, 479 pages

First Line: They used to be called the Firefly Lane girls.

From the back cover: In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-place social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the “coolest girl in the world” moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all- beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer’s end they’ve become TullyandKate. Inseparable.

So begins Kristin Hannah’s magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives.

For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship – jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they’ve survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart…and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.

My Thoughts: This is a novel about a beautiful friendship. It follows Kate Mularkey, a somewhat shy girl who’s dream is to simply be a stay-at-home mom, and Tully Hart, an ambitious, spitfire who wants nothing short of fame and wealth. Their friendship starts at age 14. Kate has been raised in a Catholic family who has loved her unconditionally while Tully was raised by her Grandmother after being abandoned (several times) by her hippie, drug-addicted mother. They grow into beautiful, smart and ambitious women but take separate paths when Kate decides to quite her job and make a family. They’re secretly jealous of each others lives and separate a few times, but their friendship always outweighs their differences.  Through their ups and downs their friendship never fails.

If you’ve ever had a best friend, you will be able to relate to this story. Sometimes friends go their separate ways, but in the end, they are always a phone call away. The message I took from this book is that true friendship never fades. This book made me laugh and made me cry. Overall it was a good read. I give it 4 1/2 stars.

(I purchased this book)

Happy Reading!

1. What are you most proud of? My husband. He is so hardworking and never ceases to amaze me.
2. Where do you see yourself in ten years? In ten years, I hope to have children and be in a house that has a front porch. I’ve always wanted a porch. 
3. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? 45 minutes to an hour
4. What are you most looking forward to about Thanksgiving? See my extended family and EATING (duh)!
5. What is your favorite snack food?  Anything Chocolate, or fruit. 
6. Who’s your celebrity crush? Today, it’s Blake Shelton, however, it changes often.
7. Favorite fall fashion must-have? Scarves and Boots!
8. If you could move anywhere, where would it be & why? I’ve always thought Colorado would be a neat place to live. I’d love to be somewhere that actually gets snow! 
9. How has your year been, overall? It’s been pretty good.
10. Looking forward to anything in particular for 2013? Lots of weddings!
11. What has been your favorite year so far? Definitely last year (2011) not only because we were married, but also because of all the showers, parties, my best friend’s wedding, and obviously when we traveled to London and Paris. It was a great year full of fun and happiness.

It’s time to link up again for “Oh, How Pinteresting” hosted by Michelle over at The Vintage Apple!

Source: google.com via Logan on Pinterest

Source: pineconecamp.blogspot.de via Logan on Pinterest

Source: leblogbitch.tumblr.com via Logan on Pinterest

Source: vampyvarnish.com via Logan on Pinterest

Source: lisaferncreek.blogspot.com via Logan on Pinterest

Source: fuckyeahcatherinemiddleton.tumblr.com via Logan on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Logan on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Logan on Pinterest

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a lovely Wednesday!

“It’s Monday! What are you reading?” is a weekly meme hosted by book journey. Post the books you finished reading last week, the books you are currently reading, and the books you plan to read this week.


Book(s) Read: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton


Currently Reading: Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah


What I plan to read next: Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier


What are you reading this week?


-LC

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Washington Square Press
February, 2010
Format: Paperback, 549 pages

First Line: It was dark where she was crouched but the little girl did as she’d been told.

From the back cover: A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book- a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. One her twenty-first birthday, they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and very little to go on, “Nell” sets out to trace her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell’s death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. A spellbinding tale of mystery and self-discovery, The Forgotten Garden will take hold of your imagination and never let go.

My thoughts: This was my first time reading Kate Morton and she did not disappoint. As soon as I read “fairy tales” on the back cover while standing in the book store, I knew I had to read this novel. When I was a child, my grandmother always read fairy tales to me. Because of this, I have always loved them and the memories they created. This was a book that I had a hard time putting down, so I recommend that you only start it when you have time to read for a while.

Nell takes us on her journey to England where she learns of her ancestors but, sadly, does not complete the mystery. It is not until her death that the secrets of Blackhurst Manor and the Mountrachet family are uncovered by her granddaughter, Cassandra. Cassandra has been through a lot in her life – being abandoned by her mother and the loss of her husband and son. Will she find peace and maybe even happiness while searching for the answers she seeks?

If you like mystery novels or fairy tales, this book is definitely for you. It took be back to my childhood (not that this book is in any way meant for a child) but it reminded me of why I fell in love with fairy tales and why ancestry is so important. I give this book 5 stars.

(I purchased this book)

Happy reading!

-LC