Miranda's Big Mistake by Jill Mansell

Thank you to Danielle Jackson from Source Books

About Miranda's Big Mistake from the Source Books website:

An irresistible summer read from Jill Mansell, an international bestselling author.

Jill Mansell is one of the UK's premiere contemporary authors, with her 19th title coming out in January 2009. She has sold nearly 4 million copies of her books in the UK.

Miranda is thrilled with Greg. He's gorgeous, funny, and practically perfect. Greg thinks Miranda is great, but he hasn't told her everything about himself. After all, even the sweetest girl is likely to be put off by a man who's left his newly pregnant wife. But there's no way she'll ever find out... is there?

My Thoughts

To say that I fell in love with a book would be somewhat dramatic but “wow...” Miranda meets this perfect man and he seems to be interested in all the same things that she is...but...then she finds out that he left his wife because she got pregnant. 'Got' being the operative word here...apparently she did it all by herself...to spite him. She broke the rules.

This book recounts the journey of revenge that Miranda takes to pay back this self-centred man and how along the way she gathers up and shelters those in need...including a homeless man who is more than he seems.

This story is more than a simple revenge plot. This story celebrates women in all guises...old and forgotten...pregnant and discarded...single and desperate and Miranda herself...lost and searching. The pace of the story is perfect as each nugget of fact unfolds itself and each character evolves.

All the characters are fleshed out completely and the humour just dances off the pages. I can't wait to read more books by Jill Mansell whose style is reminiscent of Marion Keyes and Sophie Kinsella but she also has a voice that is all her own.

Bravo Jill Mansell.

Kitty Raises Hell by Carrie Vaughn Blog Tour

Kitty Raises Hell

Full Description

Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. ... more

About Author

Carrie Vaughn had the nomadic childhood of the typical Air Force brat, with stops in California, Florida, North Dakota, Maryland, and Colorado. She holds a Masters in English Literature and collects hobbies, fencing and sewing are currently high on the list. She lives in Boulder, Colorado. Her website is www.carrievaughn.com.

Participating sites:
http://BookingMama.blogspot.com
http://booksamyreads.blogspot.com
http://cafeofdreams.blogspot.com/
http://Cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com
http://acircleofbooks.blogspot.com/
http://amateurdelivre.wordpress.com
http://cindysloveofbooks.blogspot.com/
http://confessionsofaromancebookaddict.wordpress.com/
http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com
http://stephaniesbooks.blogspot.com/
http://www.bookthoughtsbylisa.blogspot.com
http://www.bananas4books.blogspot.com/
http://www.chikune.com/blog
http://www.foreigncircuslibrary.blogspot.com
http://www.jennsbookshelf.blogspot.com/
http://www.msbookish.com
http://www.myfriendamysblog.com
http://www.writeforareader.edublogs.org
http://www.amberstults.com
http://literaryfeline.blogspot.com
http://confessionsofaromancebookaddict.wordpress.com/
http://www.wrightysreads.blogspot.com
http://bookzombie.blogspot.com/
http://fictiontofruition.blogspot.com
http://wendisbookcorner.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/darbyscloset
http://inbedwithbooks.blogspot.com
http://thisbookforfree.com/
http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/
http://www.grammasreads.blogspot.com
http://samsbookblog.blogspot.com
http://bookseriesreviews.blogspot.com/

http://unmainstreammomreads.blogspot.com/

BLOG TOUR : Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly

Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly



Full Description

Here at last is one Irish family's epic journey, capturing the tragedy and triumph of the Irish-American experience. In a rousing tale that echoes the myths and legends of Ireland herself, young Honora Keeley and Michael Kelly wed and start a family, inhabiting a hidden Ireland where fishermen and tenant farmers find solace in their ancient faith, songs, stories, and communal celebrations. Selling both their catch--and their crops--to survive, these people subsist on the potato crop--their only staple food. But when blight destroys the potatoes three times in four years, a callous government and uncaring landlords turn a natural disaster into The Great Starvation that will kill one million. Honora and Michael vow their children will live. The family joins two million other Irish refugees in one of the greatest rescues in human history: the Irish Emigration to America. Danger and hardship await them there. Honora and her unconventional sister Maire watch their seven sons as they transform Chicago from a frontier town to the "City of the Century", fight the Civil War, and enlist in the cause of Ireland's freedom. The Kelly clan is victorious. This heroic story sheds brilliant light on the ancestors of today's 44 million Irish Americans.

In the author's colorful and eclectic life, she has written and directed award-winning documentaries on Irish subjects, as well as the dramatic feature Proud. She's been an associate producer on Good Morning America and Saturday Night Live, written books on Martin Scorsese, World War II, and Bosnia, and a novel based on her experiences as a former nun - Special Intentions. She is a frequent contributor to Irish America Magazine and has a PhD in English and Irish literature.

http://www.marypatkelly.com/blog/index.asp

Blog Talk Radio

Upcoming Show: 3/17/2009 11:00 AM

Host Name:	grandcentralpub
Show Name:	Live St. Patrick's Day Interview with Mary Pat Kelly author of GALWAY BAY
Length:	1 hr
Description: h:27517 s:432669	Mary Pat Kelly is the author of a novel Special Intentions, and nonfiction on subjects as varied as Martin Scorcese and the rescue of Scott O'Grady from Bosnia. In her life, she has been everything from a nun to a documentary filmmaker to a producer of short films for "Saturday Night Live". She lives in New York, NY. GALWAY BAY is a novel based on her own family's immigration story from Ireland to the US.

Letter from Mary Pat Kelly

Letter

The bones of GALWAY BAY come from my own family history, a story I discovered slowly over decades of research. In the beginning tracing my roots meant cranking through reels and reels of microfilm in a fruitless search. To access the U.S. Census records I needed the address where the Kelly’s first lived in Chicago, which I did not have.

Then I realized my father’s first cousin, Sister Mary Erigina, BVM might know. She did. Born Agnella Kelly in 1889, she had in fact lived with her great grandmother Honora Kelly. Agnella lived to be 107, her mind sharp and her interest keen.

Now I found the right reel. Here were the names of Honora’s children, their ages, but nothing about where they came from in Ireland. Finally I followed the trail to Galway and discovered at last the record of the birth of Honora Keeley, September 15, 1822. And the place? A fishing village right on the shores of Galway Bay. The cottages were gone but the Bay was the same. I stood on the beach looking out, and could almost see my great-great-great-grandfather John Keeley setting out in a pucán, guided by a knowledge of winds, currents, and the patterns followed by the fish themselves that he’d learned from past generations. I went to the site of the fish market in Galway City and imagined Honora and her mother selling the catch under the Spanish Arch, bargaining and trading, handling money. Rare for women of that time. How did that shape their character? read more...

The Potato Famine: A Memorial

My Thoughts

Galway Bay is an extremely well written book. This novel may be based upon the history of Mary Pat Kelly's family and the story of their starvation in Ireland during The Potato Famine in the 19^Th century but it doesn't read like a dry-as-dust history tome. I was thoroughly caught up in the narrative and shocked, saddened and inspired by this family. This family's history is just one triumphant saga of the horrific moment in history when the Irish people were almost wiped out by the potato blight that killed off their only food source. A very enjoyable read.

Please visit the other stops on this blog tour:


http://2kidsandtiredbooks.blogspot.com
http://athomewithbooks.blogspot.com/
http://book-thirty.blogspot.com/
http://readersrespite.blogspot.com
http://www.myfriendamysblog.com
http://bermudaonion.wordpress.com
http://www.acircleofbooks.blogspot.com
http://www.corinnesbookreviews.blogspot.com
http://lorisbookden.blogspot.com/ http://www.bookthoughtsbylisa.blogspot.com
http://teddyrose.blogspot.com
http://libraryqueue.blogspot.com
http://allisonsatticblog.blogspot.com
http://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/
http://luanne-abookwormsworld.blogspot.com/
http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/
http://enroutetolife.blogspot.com/
http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/
http://www.marjoleinbookblog.blogspot.com
http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/
http://cafeofdreams.blogspot.com/
http://jennsbookshelf.blogspot.com/
http://thebookczar.blogspot.com
http://www.writeforareader.edublogs.org
http://linussblanket.com
http://www.caribousmom.com
http://hiddenplace.wordpress.com/
http://www.chikune.com/blog
http://librarygirlreads.blogspot.com
http://diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com
http://savvyverseandwit.blogspot.com
http://www.kayespenguinposts.blogspot.com
http://writebyfaith.blogspot.com
http://www.frommipov.blogspot.com
http://booksiesblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.bookbargainsandpreviews.com/reviews/history/galwaybay.htm
http://wendisbookcorner.blogspot.com
http://www.thisbookforfree.com
http://abookbloggersdiary.blogspot.com/

Live St. Patrick's Day Interview with Mary Pat Kelly author of GALWAY BAY

Time: March 17, 2009 from 11am to 12pm

Live St Patricks Day Interview with Mary Pat Kelly author of GALWAY BAY...here

Waving "Hello" to the Blogging world

I am sure that most of you must have thought that I dropped off the face of the world but I have been hiding....just a little. I have been experiencing a huge wave of grief on my journey, through my life without Nick, and it has not only dried up my writing but for awhile it even dried up my reading....and that never happens. That is not supposed to happen and I will not STAND for it. LOL
I have also started a brand new full-time job at a different school and I think that the "growing pains" have calmed down a bit.
I hereby pledge that I will never let another week go by without an update at least on my life, job or the books that I am reading and I will try to post at least twice during the week.
Nice to see you all again and I am blowing you all a kiss. Mwuahhhhh

Isolation by Travis Thatcher

With masterful storytelling, Travis Thrasher draws readers into a novel so gripping it cannot be put down.
James Miller is a burned-out missionary whose time on the mission field in Papua New Guinea left him exhausted and disillusioned. His wife, Stephanie, feels like she's losing her mind. After moving to North Carolina, Stephanie begins seeing strange and frightening things: blood dripping down the walls, one of her children suffocating. Premonitions, she's sure, of what's to come. As the visions and haunting images intensify, Stephanie asks her brother to come for a much-needed visit--but he's hiding secrets of his own that will prove more destructive than Stephanie can imagine.
Nine-year-old Zachary sees his family's move as an adventure, and as he explores the new house, he discovers every young boy's dream: secret passageways and hidden rooms. But what seems exciting at first quickly becomes altogether frightening. When a snowstorm traps the Millers, the supernatural dangers of their new home will test everything they thought they knew about each other, and about their faith.

My Thoughts



Thanks to Hachette Books for my copy of Isolation by Travis Thatcher. This arrived in a special win at Hallowe'en from another blog's contest.
This....was a creepy story and I enjoyed it. While not a difficult read it deals with difficult ideas. Unfortunately it glosses over the details of the Miller's past brush with evil and it seems that details are left out to add atmosphere as if the less said about the past creates tension and stirs up unease.
Some parts of it felt too slick though and the age of the son, Zachary, made me feel that his actions were not believable for his age. Despite all of this and the fact that I had guessed the climax...I still quite enjoyed it and it 'creeped' me out.

6 Things I Love & Addiction

Tagged from Serena over at Savvy Verse & Wit
The rules for the tag are simple.

Link to the person who has tagged you.
Write down six things that make you happy.
Post the rules, tag six others and let them know you did it.
Then tell the person when your entry is complete.

Six Things That Make Me Happy...


1. My Husband and my daughter...the loves of my life.

2. My 4 cats...Calli, Lucy, Willow and Annie Fae

3. Books.....Books....Books.......every shape, colour, genre

4. Making things....I knit, paint, make jewelery,sew. refinish furniture

5. Chocolate...good or bad..

6. Re-Use it stores...Salvation Army, Goodwill.
bargain hunting is the best!

I Tag.....

Shelley of Knit One, Read Two ( a real life friend in town)
Rebecca of The Book Lady's Blog
Melissa of Shhh I'm Reading
Jessica of Living Between the Pages
Deirdre of Unravellings
Lorin of Arch Thinking