Turn The Page ... Tuesday

An Irish Country Village

From Amazon: "Patrick Taylor first charmed readers with An Irish Country Doctor, a warm and enchanting novel in the tradition of James Herriot and Jan Karon. Now Taylor returns to the colorful Northern Ireland community of Ballybucklebo, where there's always something brewing beneath the village's deceptively sleepy surface.

Young Doctor Barry Laverty has only just begun his assistantship under his eccentric mentor, Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly, but he already feels right at home in Ballybucklebo. When the sudden death of a patient casts a cloud over Barry's reputation, his chances of establishing himself in the village are endangered, especially since the grieving widow is threatening a lawsuit. 

Not all their challenges are medical in nature. When a greedy developer sets his sights on the very heart of the community, the village pub, it's up to the doctors to save the Black Swan (affectionately known to the locals as the "Mucky Duck") from being turned into an overpriced tourist trap. After all, the good citizens of Ballybucklebo need some place to drink to each other's health….

Whether you've visited in the past, or are discovering Ballybucklebo for the first time, An Irish Country Village is an ideal location for anyone looking for wit, warmth, and just a touch of blarney.

Yo! Adrienne says: DOH!!! I meant to post this last month so you would have a St. Patrick's Day read. Oh well. Put this series on your list for next year (or anytime you want something fun). I actually listened to this one and loved the narrator's Irish (of course) accent. These books are light hearted and easy but I recommend reading them in order.

First Frost

From Amazon: "It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store.

Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley's Candies. Though her handcrafted confections-rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds-are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.

Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby- a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has.

Sydney's daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to...if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?

When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.

Lose yourself in Sarah Addison Allen's enchanting world and fall for her charmed characters in this captivating story that proves that a happily-ever-after is never the real ending to a story. It's where the real story begins."

Yo! Adrienne says: If you have been around here for awhile you know Sarah Addison Allen is one of my favorite authors. This book did not disappoint. Typical of her style - a little bit of magic and mayhem to keep things interesting. Maybe I like her books (this one included) because I was a fan of Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie back in the day. Definitely add this author to your list of reads.

To Kill A Mockingbird

From Amazon: "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel—a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unswerving honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina and quiet heroism of one man's struggle for justice—but the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

One of the best-loved classics of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has earned many dis-tinctions since its original publication in 1960.

It has won the Pulitzer Prize, been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, and been made into an enormously popular movie. It was also named the best novel of the twentieth century by librarians across the country (Library Journal).

Yo! Adrienne says: Wow. I literally had one chapter to go when I got the notification on my phone that Harper Lee had passed. I have so many things I like love about this book. Several places I marked sticky notes because I wanted to remember:

"Atticus, are we going to win it?"
"No, honey."
"Then, why - "
"Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win", Atticus said.

And

"Well, most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong ..."
"They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions," said Atticus, "but before I can live with other folks, I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."

If we could just as a society - as people - for all are created in His image - remember those wise words today.

(and no I am not going to read To Set A Watchman)

The Strength of His Hand

From Amazon: Chronicles of the Kings Book 3- God has rewarded Hezekiah's faithfulness with great wealth and power, but the king has much more to overcome. Will his faith sustain him against the ultimate enemy?"

Yo! Adrienne says: I think I said this after book 1 and 2 - I have really enjoyed this series. Austin does such a great job of bringing the Old Testament to life. They have really helped me dig in to the OT and understand a bit more. I highly recommend.