Blackberry Winter- Review

What Blackberry Winter is about:
  Seattle, 1933. Vera Ray kisses her three-year-old son, Daniel, goodnight and reluctantly leaves for work. She hates the night-shift, but it’s the only way she can earn enough to keep destitution at bay. In the morning—even though it’s the second of May—a heavy snow is falling. Vera rushes to wake Daniel, but his bed is empty. His teddy bear lies outside in the snow. 

  Seattle, present day. On the second of May, Seattle Times reporter, Claire Aldridge, awakens to another late-season snowstorm. Assigned to cover this “blackberry winter” and its predecessor decades earlier, Claire learns of Daniel’s unsolved abduction and vows to unearth the truth—only to discover that she and Vera are linked in unexpected ways.

Opening up a Sarah Jio novel is much like visiting with a beloved family member for a few hours. I was captivated at once with Vera and Claire's stories and loved how Sarah was able to weave them together even though they were separated by seventy years. I am love with Seattle, even though I've never been there. Jio's writing makes it come alive vividly within my imagination and I felt as if I was walking beside Vera and Claire as they both tried to come to terms with the tragedies in their lives. I've never heard of a Blackberry Winter, but can certainly imagine that happening, especially here in Michigan when the weather can turn on a dime. And even though I knew exactly where the story was heading, I loved every minute of it. When I closed the book it was with a few tears and a satisfied smile!

Recommend? Absolutely. If you haven't read any of Sarah's books, I highly recommend starting with Violets of March. This was the book that made me fall in love with Sarah's writing.

Source: Review copy was possible because of the generosity of Sarah Jio and her publisher.

Review Book #35
© 2012, Staci of Life in the Thumb. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Life in the Thumb or Staci's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Six Sentence Movie Thoughts

Welcome to Six Sentence Movie Thoughts.

Where I try to express my thoughts on recent movies

using only 6 sentences!!!!.
At the end of each review I will post a
rating scale of 1-5 .
Rating scale will be as follows:

5 Stars- You must watch this movie NOW!!
4 Stars- A great movie, put it on your TBW list.
3 Stars- Happy that I watched it...a good way to spend a few hours. 
2 Stars- Just O.K but nothing to write home about.

One Day
~Reason for watching it: I have the book but just haven't made the time to get to it. Saw this at the library for $1.50 and figured why not.

I loved the concept of getting together every year on the same day and also the emotional turmoil Emma and Dexter experienced as their relationship changed and evolved. Even though much of it played out quite predictably, I still enjoyed the movie. I really want to read the book because I'm sure it will add a bit more depth to the story.

Rating: 3 Stars

One For the Money
~ Reason for watching it: I have been reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series forever. I had to see how it translated to film.

After watching this I can say that I accept Katherine Heigl as Stephanie and heck, I even liked who they picked for Joe Morelli. But, I totally can not accept who they cast as Ranger! Ranger needed to be larger than life, not a few inches taller than Stephanie. Other than that, I thought the movie was cute and not a terrible way to spend a couple of hours.

Rating: 3 Stars

The Vow
~ Reason for watching it: I thought it looked incredibly romantic and Channing Tatum is a hottie.

Who in the world wrote this piece of garbage??? OMG! I hated Paige after the accident...she was a cold-hearted person and treated Leo terribly. Yet, poor Leo kept hanging on and believing with time that she would love him again. I think the producers would have done better to stick with the true story instead of trying to put a modern (current time instead of the 1990's) twist on this stupid story. But I guess a couple with strong faith and values doesn't sell in Hollywood.
Rating: 0 Stars

The Hunger Games
~ Reason for watching it: I loved the book and missed the movie when it was in the theater!

Wow!! My husband and I watched this one together and I was pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoyed it. Have to tell you that it really stirred up a great conversation between us and we were talking about this one well after it finished. The costumes were amazing and I thought it stayed fairly true to the book. This one was worth the $3.00 I spent on all four of the movies!

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Six Sentence Movie Thoughts
© 2012, Staci of Life in the Thumb. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Life in the Thumb or Staci's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Mailbox Monday and It's Monday...What Are You Reading?

Mailbox Monday 

is a gathering place for readers to share the books that

came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. 

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

November Host is: Kathy @ BermudaOnion

City of Women- after reading so many wonderful and intriguing blogger reviews, I had to grab this up when it was $2.99 @ Amazon.com

The Summer of France- this book was written by fellow blogger, Paulita Kincer @ An Accidental Blog. I met her through Alyce's Saturday Snapshot meme and she always takes the time to stop by my blog. I love that she's published this book and that as a book lover I was able to support her and feed my addiction of reading!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hosted by

 Sheila @ One Person's Journey Through a World of Books

We discuss the books that we've read 

and what we're planning to read for the week.

Read and reviewed last week:

Not a thing. I was too busy being in the moment of Thanksgiving and enjoying my family. It felt nice to step away from the computer. I will be unplugging more often. 

Bookish Thoughts this week:

Six Sentence Movie Thoughts-  One Day, One for the Money, Hunger Games, and The Vow.

Blackberry Winter

In My BookBox:

Saturday Snapshot- One quick moment

Saturday Snapshot

is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books

It's easy to participate- just post a picture that was taken by

you, a friend, or a family member, and add your link

on Alyce's site. (no pictures from the internet!)

no photo editing was done, only frame added @picmonkey.com

The weather has been beautiful here in Michigan the past couple of days, but last night the wind shifted and sky darkened, heralding rain and or snow to come. I took this picture as the sun was setting and loved the dark sky below it. I had to move quick because the shadows change in a matter of seconds!! Nature never fails to amaze me with its beauty!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends and family.

Posted with Blogsy

Mailbox Monday and It's Monday...What Are You Reading?

Mailbox Monday 

is a gathering place for readers to share the books that

came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. 

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

November Host is: Kathy @ BermudaOnion

The Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen- I enjoyed an earlier book of hers, so I thought I would give this one a shot! Courtesy of Washington Square Press and NetGalley.

The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen- I adored her book, The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte, how could I resist this one?? Courtesy of Penguin Group and NetGalley.

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Hosted by

 Sheila @ One Person's Journey Through a World of Books

We discuss the books that we've read 

and what we're planning to read for the week.

Read and reviewed last week:

The Light Between Oceans- loved this one..beautiful and haunting

Bloom: Finding beauty in the unexpected- could barely finish this one due to BIG HEAD syndrome of author.

Bookish Thoughts this week:

Six Sentence Movie Thoughts- One Day, One for the Money, Hunger Games, and The Vow

In My Book Box:

I'm still working on the same books, currently reading In the Woods and then hope to go all fun and fluff over the holiday weekend!!

Saturday Snapshot- Early Morning

Saturday Snapshot

is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books

It's easy to participate- just post a picture that was taken by

you, a friend, or a family member, and add your link

on Alyce's site. (no pictures from the internet!)

no photo editing was done, only added frame from PicMonkey

When I got up this morning to let the dogs out, I was amazed to see the air saturated with moisture that helped create the fog and frost that lay upon everything. I love mornings like this and seeing how Mother Nature can change up the appearance of the sky and everything else. Soon I am sure I will wake up to snow on the ground!