Little Library - Saturday Snapshots

Have you heard of Little Free Libraries? I have but I hadn't seen one until we took a drive to Woodinville, Washington. This one was located on the side of the road on the way to the Columbia and Chateau Ste Michele wineries.

If you're curious about the Little Free Library organization or would like to start one of your own, here's a link that will tell you more. It even includes a map of locations and instructions for building a little library of your own.

Little Free Library

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, 

click HERE or on the box below.  

To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) 

have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite. 

Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate 

for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. 

Watercolors in the Rain - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

     An established artist meets and falls in love with a talented novice, but the timing is all wrong. Can soulmates reunite or will they have to be satisfied with memories?
     Author Kay Springsteen has created an engrossing tale of two artists in Watercolors in the Rain. Her artistic "word pictures" are detailed and fascinating and add color and depth to this romantic story. The author must be an artist herself! I'm including one example of her descriptive writing in today's Friday 56. 

Book Beginning:
"Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination." - Voltaire
Chapter One
     Heaving a dramatic sigh her mother would be proud of, Eve stood at the base of the concrete steps and studied the ancient building currently known as Sinclair Galleries. Gargoyles stared back at her from the roof. She squinted up at the closest one, an ugly sucker with a downturned mouth and jagged teeth - had the serpent caught in its talons just writhed?

The Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
     Focusing on his painting, he picked up his palette and brush and began touchups on the lilacs at the edge of the canvas. He dragged the brush through the umber, loading one side of the bristles, and then added a stem. Twirling the brush across the canvas so umber blended seamlessly into forest green, he added a leaf.

Genre: Contemporary Romance (Adult content)
Book Length: 411 Pages
Amazon Link: Watercolors in the Rain
Author Website: Kay Springsteen - The Romance of Your Life
FYI: I have previously featured The 13 of Hearts by this same author HERE

Synopsis:
     When graphic designer Eve St. Aubin walks into an art exhibit and finds herself in a heated kiss with world renowned artist Kyle Sebastian, her memories whisk her back to the summer they’d shared five years earlier. He’d been her mentor in more ways than one… until he left without a word. Now she has nothing to say to him… or at least that’s what she keeps telling herself. 
     When he met Eve, Kyle’s career had been in the tank. Lighting the fuse on her talent had rekindled his own artistic ability. Loving her, watching her blossom as a woman had inspired him to new heights. He'd had to let her go back then, but he always knew he'd see her again. Now that he has, he's not prepared for the edgy woman she’s become, nor did he expect he'd still be in love with her. 
     When explanations aren’t that simple, and no common ground seems to be had, how will they overcome their past to create a future? Or can they?

                

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
Click HERE to connect to other Book Beginnings posts (sponsored by Rose City Reads) 
Click HERE to join other Friday 56 bloggers (sponsored by Freda's Voice)

Twitter: @SandyNachlinger

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Round the Bend (Oregon Historicals Book 1) - Teaser Tuesday and First Chapter / First Paragraph

     Rain Trueax is a terrific storyteller. In Round the Bend she takes her readers on a journey from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon's Willamette Valley via the Oregon Trail. Along the way the wagon train experiences runaway horses, treacherous river crossings, and violent storms, and as well as human adversaries and conflicts. 
     The author's attention to detail adds realism and depth to the story. She vividly portrays the challenges for women in caring for their families while crossing the plains, the dangers to children, the camaraderie and conflicts among the pioneers, the wagon master's absolute authority over his charges, and so much more. We get to know the book's characters well and come to understand their motivations and fears. Rain Trueax's research must have been extensive. 
     Round the Bend is the first of four books in the Oregon Historical series, and it stands alone. I'm looking forward to reading them all.
FYI: I've featured excerpts from Rose's Gift (here), by this same author, on my blog earlier.

First Paragraph:
Independence, Missouri - Spring 1851
     "You don't seem at all excited that finally we're on our way!"
     "You think that, do you?"
     "Matt, don't you feel it? Like we're geese and heading north or the first who came to this land. Finally it's us heading for adventure and excitement." Amy tugged on the rough cotton of his rolled up sleeve, demanding his attention, which seemed to be wandering to a robin calling from a nearby oak.

Teaser (from 39% on my Kindle):
First had been the darkening sky, then lightning striking on all sides of the column, forcing women and children to ride in the wagons. Canvas covers were no protection as the bolts slashed down - multiple prongs slamming into the earth and leaving behind burnt sage or blackened earth - visible reminders of nature's arbitrary and deadly force.

Genre: Historical Romance
Book Length: 308 Pages
Amazon Link: Round the Bend
More Info: Rain Trueax's Blog

Rather than post a synopsis, here's Rain Trueax talking about Round the Bend:




    This is the first of four books, which follow the Stevens family through four romances as it tells some of the story of the founding of Oregon. Each of the romances stands alone, no cliff hangers. Heat level, with 1 least and 5 highest, is ♥♥♥♥. Some strong language and mild profanity.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

Link at BibliophileByTheSea

Twitter: @SandyNachlinger

Facebook: sandy.nachlinger

Where Did You Get That Idea?

I'm over at Smart Girls Read Romance today, blogging about where the idea came from for I.O.U. SEX. Stop by and say "hi."

Here's the link: Smart Girls Read Romance

The Hurricane Sisters - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

Dorothea Benton Frank has become one of my favorite authors. Like other books of hers that I've read, The Hurricane Sisters takes place in the Low Country of South Carolina. This story focuses not only on the relationship between three generations of women but also on abuse of women and date rape. 
The author portrays the older characters as vibrant individuals with full and interesting lives, which I always appreciate. The Hurricane Sisters is a worthwhile read and an entertaining story.
FYI: The story is told in alternating points of view in first person.

OOOPS! I just realized that I messed up and posted my Tuesday post on Friday! Oh, well. Hope you enjoy it anyhow.

First Chapter / First Paragraph:
(Prologue)
     My husband, Clayton, and I were at the police station getting my mother, Maisie, out of jail for brushing up against the wrong side of the law. Her actual charges were still unclear. She claims it is not against any law in the state of South Carolina to take a llama for a walk on the open road. He was, after all, on a leash. The local police beg to differ, saying this is a case of animal cruelty, endangerment, and reckless behavior. Legal or not, it wasn't normal. I was glad they brought her in to the police station until I could get there because her behavior surely demonstrates a lack of sound judgment. Or not. Maisie was crazy like a fox and we all knew it. So I sat and waited while Clayton made things right between the Town of Mount Pleasant and Maisie by writing a check.

Teaser (from Page 223 in my trade paperback edition):
Martha Lou's was one of those places you'd only know about if you were from Charleston or if a local took you there. The location was in, how do we say this diplomatically, a reemerging neighborhood, the building was as pink as a bottle of Pepto-Bismol featuring a sort of fabulous fish mural on the exterior wall, and the interior decor was a little to the left of chic.

Genre: Contemporary Women's Fiction
Length of Book: 393 Pages (trade paperback)
Amazon Link: The Hurricane Sisters
Author Website: Dorothea Benton Frank

Synopsis:
(Partial blurb from Goodreads)
     Once again Dorothea Benton Frank takes us deep into the heart of her magical South Carolina Lowcountry on a tumultuous journey filled with longings, disappointments, and, finally, a road toward happiness that is hard earned. There we meet three generations of women buried in secrets. The determined matriarch, Maisie Pringle, at eighty, is a force to be reckoned with because she will have the final word on everything, especially when she's dead wrong. Her daughter, Liz, is caught up in the classic maelstrom of being middle-age and in an emotionally demanding career that will eventually open all their eyes to a terrible truth. And Liz's beautiful twenty-something daughter, Ashley, whose dreamy ambitions of her unlikely future keeps them all at odds.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

Link at BibliophileByTheSea

Twitter: @SandyNachlinger

Facebook: sandy.nachlinger

The Giver - Teaser Tuesday and First Chapter / First Paragraph

I don't often read science fiction or young adult novels, but after seeing the opening paragraph and synopsis of The Giver on someone's blog, I decided to give this book a try. I was blown away by this story! No wonder the book has won all kinds of awards. I highly recommend The Giver for readers of all ages. It is Book 1 in the Giver Quartet, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest ASAP.
FYI: I understand this book was made into a movie but when I watched the trailer, it seemed to encompass more than the story told in this book. Perhaps it is based on all the books in the series.

First Paragraph:
     It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. No. Wrong word, Jonas thought. Frightened meant that deep sickening feeling of something terrible about to happen. Frightened was the way he had felt a year ago when an unidentified aircraft had overflown the community twice. He had seen it both times. Squinting toward the sky, he had seen the sleek jet, almost a blur at its high speed, go past, and a second later heard the blast of sound that followed. Then one more time, a moment later, from the opposite direction, the same plane.

Teaser (from 51% on my Kindle):
"Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences."

Genre: Young Adult / Science Fiction

Book Length: 204 Pages

Amazon Link: The Giver

More Books by This Author: Amazon Author Page

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
The haunting story centers on Jonas who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. Lois Lowry has written three companion novels to The Giver, including Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son.

Read a National Public Radio (NPR) interview with the author here: Lois Lowry Interview. There's also an audio interview included here.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

Link at BibliophileByTheSea

Twitter: @SandyNachlinger

Facebook: sandy.nachlinger

Road Signs - Saturday Snapshots

In an era of GPS and driverless cars, I think it's fun to think about how motorists navigated in the past. Here's a Texas roadway sign from the late 1940s or early 1950s. That's my grandmother, standing at the intersection of Highway 67 and 220. Perhaps my Papaw had a road map in the glove compartment of his car (Mamaw never learned to drive), or maybe someone told him to take the Highway 220 cutoff to get to wherever he was going. I wonder why they stopped at this particular spot.

Cool photo, isn't it?

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, 

click HERE or on the box below.  

To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) 

have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite. 

Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate 

for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. 

Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Girl in Hyacinth Blue - Teaser Tuesday and First Chapter / First Paragraph

Have you ever read a book that goes backward in time instead of forward? That's the structure of Girl in Hyacinth Blue. In this story, the ownership of a painting is traced back through history, with each chapter revealing the effect the painting has on its owner, until the final chapter reveals the artist.

First Paragraph:
Love Enough
     Cornelius Engelbrecht invented himself. Let me emphasize, straight away, that he isn't what I would call a friend, but I know him enough to say that he did purposely design himself: single, modest dresser in receding colors, mathematics teacher, sponsor of the chess club, mild mannered acquaintance to all rather than a friend to any, a person anxious to become invisible. However, that exterior blandness masked a burning center, and for some reason that became clear to me only later, Cornelius Engelbrecht revealed to me the secret obsession that lay beneath his orderly, controlled design. 

Teaser (from Page 83, trade paperback edition):
And her headdress! She thought it clever to suggest her family's contributions to Dutch naval history by building a ship, a man-of-war I think it was, atop horizontal rows of cadogan curls - no one wore cadogan curls anymore - as if the vessel were bravely battling those ferocious blond waves. On its stern she flew a tiny flag. 
(In case you're curious, I did a Google search for "cadogan curls" and found this: "...the ladies adopted the "cadogan," an English style, similar to the wigs worn by the men. The hair was still powdered, but it was bunched out at the side and braided or curled, and looped up at the back.")  

Genre: Literature / Historical
Book Length: 196 Pages
Amazon Link: Girl in Hyacinth Blue
Author Website: Susan Vreeland

Synopsis:
This luminous story begins in the present day, when a professor invites a colleague to his home to see a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor swears it is a Vermeer—but why has he hidden this important work for so long? The reasons unfold in a series of events that trace the ownership of the painting back to World War II and Amsterdam, and still further back to the moment of the work's inspiration. As the painting moves through each owner's hands, what was long hidden quietly surfaces, illuminating poignant moments in multiple lives. Susan Vreeland's characters remind us, through their love of this mysterious painting, how beauty transforms and why we reach for it, what lasts and what in our lives is singular and unforgettable.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

Link at BibliophileByTheSea

Twitter: @SandyNachlinger

Facebook: sandy.nachlinger