Deep Down True- Bookish Thoughts #25

What Deep Down True is about:
Newly divorced Dana Stellgarten has always been unfailingly nice- even to telemarketers-but now her temper is wearing thin. Money is tight, her kids are reeling from their dad's departure, and her Goth teenage niece has just landed on her doorstep. As she enters the slipstream of post-divorce romance and is befriended by the town queen bee, Dana finds that the tension between being true to yourself and being liked doesn't end in middle school... and that sometimes it takes a real friend to help you embrace adulthood in all its flawed complexity.


Why I wanted to read it: I read Juliette's debut novel, Shelter Me (my review here), and really enjoyed it. I noticed that she had a new book out and wanted to read it.


Source: Public Library

• The book started out slowly for me and I wasn't too sure that I was going to keep reading it. It could have been my mood at the time but for whatever reason I had a hard time connecting to the story. About 60 pages in though, something changed and I was a bit more invest into the main protagonist's story. 
• Dana was a character that I liked and sometimes wanted to throttle. I understood how uncertain she was of her own strength having relied on her ex-husband for so long to provide for her and their family. I really liked her more when she realizes that she may be divorce, she may be over forty, but she's still desirable and worth loving!
• The way the author wrote the kids in the story felt pretty authentic and I thought she got the teen angst, the adolescent fears, and the way divorce impacts the children spot on.

Even though the story ends a bit predictably, it was still a good read. I didn't like it near as much as Shelter Me, but I was satisfied.  This book would make a great beach read, easy summer reading pick, or even a book club choice as there is plenty to talk about: divorce, infidelity, eating disorders, financial problems, insecurities, and finding love again.

Bookish Thoughts #25

© 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. 

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros

Every Tuesday, Diane @ Bibliophile by the Sea

 posts the opening paragraph (maybe two) of a book

 she decided to read based on the opening paragraph (s).

 Feel free to grab the banner and play along!

My selection this week is Stillmeadow Daybook by Gladys Taber. I've been following Nan's (Letters From a Hill Farm) monthly posts about this book and the author's life. I was so inspired by them that I had to get my hands on a copy (Thank you public library!) and read it for myself!!

Foreword
I sat on the old stone steps this morning, paring potatoes. It was one of those mild sweet days in early spring, with a sense of beginnings in the damp sunny air. Whenever I lifted my eyes to look at the blue Connecticut sky, and the soft line of hills that roll away toward Litchfield, Hollyberry Red, the young Irish, thrust her velvet muzzle in the pan and neatly removed a potato. Then she flew around the yard, tossing it in the air, and catching it.

Would you continue reading this one

 based on the opening paragraph?

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.

The May Host is:

Martha of Review's by Martha's Bookshelf

The Age of Miracles- TLC Tour review copy. Courtesy of TLC, the author, and Random House.

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

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.

Last Week's Bookish Thoughts:

Phantoms in the Snow- excellent YA/Middle School book.

Deep Dish (audio)- fun story but the narrator was lacking.

Books I will be talking about this week:

Deep Down True- Wednesday

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Thursday

Fitness Friday- bringing back this weekly feature thanks to Nan! and also to my fat behind!

In My Book Box:

Currently reading- True Sisters (I started this last week but had to put it aside because I got totally wrapped up in Fifty Shades of Grey. Yes, you read that correctly!)

The Lifeboat

The Wolf Who Loved me

Saturday Snapshot

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.

With the weather being extremely strange this year, my Flowering Plum Bush exploded with flowers a few weeks ago. We had about a week of lovely temps and then several nights with freeze warnings. Not the greatest picture....I apologize for my lack of photography skills!!

Deep Dish (audio)- Bookish Thoughts #24

What Deep Dish is about:
Chef extraordinaire Gina Foxton doesn't expect anything to be handed to her on a platter. After years of hard work, the former runner-up Miss Teen Vidalia Onion is now the host of her own local Georgia public television show called Fresh Start, and she's dating the show's producer.
But when her show gets canceled, and she catches her boyfriend in flagrante delicto with the boss's wife, Gina realizes that she's meant for bigger and better things. The Cooking Channel is looking for its next star, and Gina is certain that she fits the bill. Trouble is, the execs also have their eye on Mr. "Kill It and Grill It" Tate Moody, the star of a hunting, fishing, and cooking show called Vittles. Tate is the ultimate man's man, with a dog named Moonpie and a penchant for flannel shirts. Little does Gina know, though, that she and Tate are soon to embark on the cook-off of their lives.

Why I wanted to listen to this one: I enjoyed a previous book by this author and thought it would be fun to have a lighthearted book to listen to while driving back and forth from work.

Source: Public Library

This will be my first NEGATIVE audio book for this year. I thought the story was fun and I think it would've played out wonderfully in print form, however the narrator's lack of inflection drove me bonkers and made me want to throw the CDs out the window! I found it extremely frustrating that she portrayed the main character with so little gumption and everything she said was flat and with no emotion. Normally I love southern accents but after listening to 12 discs of that monotone drawl, I was ready to have myself a few drinks!

Note to self: Make sure before you listen to another of Mary's books on audio that it isn't Isabel Keating reading the story.

Recommend? Read the book, skip the audio!

Bookish Thoughts #24

© 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. 

Ryan's Review- Phantoms in the Snow

Phantoms in the Snow by Kathleen Benner Duble

In this gripping journey, a fifteen-year-old pacifist must decide what he believes as he faces the reality of World War II.

The year is 1944, and fifteen-year-old Noah Garrett's parents have died from smallpox. Without any other family nearby, Noah is sent to live with his uncle, whom he has never met, in Camp Hale, Colorado. There is one small problem with this decision: Noah has been raised a pacifist, and Camp Hale is a U.S. military base for a little-known division of winter warfare soldiers called Phantoms. Can a boy who's never seen snow and doesn't believe in war survive among these soldiers?

Phantoms were soldiers that would wear white as camouflage and to also help them evade the enemy as they ski. Yes, soldiers that ski!! They were called Phantoms because they looked like ghosts.

In this book, fifteen-year-old Noah, a pacifist, lives a normal life until his mother dies of smallpox and a week later his father is also claimed by death. Noah is then left with no one because he has no other family or anyplace to live. So instead of being sent to an orphanage he is sent from a small town in Texas to Camp Hale, Colorado where he lives with his Uncle Shelley, a man he never knew existed. That's when his life went upside down and he became a phantom.

The year is 1944 and WWII is going on ferociously and the phantoms are needed on the front lines. Noah is scared and is just trying to survive. This is a great book about a boy that doesn't want to fight and can't legally fight, but finds himself at home in his new cold, dangerous, and completely foreign place.

Recommend? Ya, definitely! This book isn't really about WWII , but rather centered around the people and their feelings. Noah's gonna make it through to the next day, but it's not going to be easy to get there. It's a great book....believe me.

Rating: 8/10


Source: Middle School Library

Read and reviewed by Ryan B. Ryan is currently in the eighth grade and loves to read just about anything I throw at him! He stops into the library almost on a daily basis always  eager to find the next great book to read! Look for more reviews from Ryan in April, May and June!

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book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros

Every Tuesday, Diane @ Bibliophile by the Sea

 posts the opening paragraph (maybe two) of a book

 she decided to read based on the opening paragraph (s).

 Feel free to grab the banner and play along!

My selection this week comes from Sandra Dallas' newest release, True Sisters. I have loved pretty much everything that she has written. I think it will be a great read.

July 28, 1856

The two sisters leaned forward, their hands flat against the rear of the handcart, waiting, fidgeting, impatient. It was late in the day, and they had been ready for hours, had stood there behind the spindly cart that was piled with all their worldly goods, listening for the command or maybe the sound of the cornet that would send them on their way. Already, the horn ordered their lives, waking them at five in the morning, calling them to prayers twice a day, sounding again at ten at night for the fires and lights to be extinguished. For three weeks, their lives had been ordered by that clarion call, and the sisters thought it had grown a little tiresome. But now the young women strained their ears for the sound, hoping the notes would begin the procession.

Would you continue reading this one

 based on the opening paragraph?