Tuesday Intro: Downton Abbey style

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 Tuesday Intro pick is Wendy Wax's newest release, While We Were Watching Downton Abbey. Having loved her previous books and acknowledging my addiction to all things Downton, I knew that I had to read this one!! Hope it's great!!

cover image courtesy of www.authorwendywax.com

As a child Samantha jackson Davis loved fairy tales as much as the next girl. She just hadn't expected to end up in one. Every morning when her eyes fluttered open and every night before she closed them to go to sleep, Samantha marveled at her good fortune. 

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.

March Host is: Caitlin @ chaotic compendiums

A few years ago I tried listening to The Whistling Season on audio and made a note that I would rather read it. When it was offered for .99 cents on Amazon I couldn't resist buying it! Sam @ Sam's Book Blog wrote such a fantastic review of A Conspiracy of Alchemists that I had to get it immediately from NetGalley. I'm a happy camper right now!!

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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 talked about last week:

Divergent- loved it and can't wait to read Insurgent!

Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts- this one got to my heart!!

Bookish Thoughts this week:

Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins

Walking Back to Happiness by Lucy Dillon

March Book (Kindle) Box:

Just finished, The Best Man and now I'm reading The Guardian.

Saturday Snapshot- Humor in the workplace

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!)

I work in the library at my middle school but I also work in the front office too. After coming back to my desk the other day from lunch I found this awesome homemade screensaver on my computer!! My co-worker has a great sense of humor and I laughed so hard that tears were streaming down my face. I liked this so much that I have left it on my computer. I just flip it over the back when I have to use the screen and when I'm done for the day flip it back to her pictures!!! Without her that job would really be no fun.

Posted with Blogsy

Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts- Six Sentence Bookish Thoughts #84

What Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts is about:
Thirty-nine year old Rachel is having a really bad year. After losing her job and breaking up with her boyfriend, Rachel has inherited her late aunt's house, her beloved border collie, and a crowded rescue kennel, despite the fact that she knows almost nothing about dogs. Still, considering her limited options, she gamely takes up the challenge of running the kennel. And as Rachel starts finding new homes for the abandoned strays, it turns out that it might not just be the dogs that need rescuing.

Dogs and broken hearts go together like chocolate and peanut butter! This story was such a heartfelt read and I really adored the premise of how the unconditional love from a dog can help heal a wounded human. You all know that I love stories that take place in England and once again I was not disappointed by the quaint town and lovely people that the author created. Of course as I was reading this story, I could picture myself volunteering at the rescue kennel and being friends with everyone I met within the pages.

Recommend? If you enjoy reading British "Chick" Lit that revolves around dogs, broken hearts, and new beginnings, then I think you should give Lucy Dillon's book a try!

Six Sentence Bookish Thoughts #84
© 2013, 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.

Divergent- Six Sentence Bookish Thoughts #83

What Divergent is about:
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

Divergent, Divergent, Divergent! I couldn't escape this title and all of my book friends who read it loved it, recommending it left and right. I didn't want to get caught up in the hype, so I put off reading it for over a year!  Let it show for the record that it LIVED up to all of the HYPE and then some! This book was fascinating and I loved, absolutely loved, the world and the characters that Roth created. Tris and Four have captured my heart and had me rooting for them throughout the entire story.

Recommend? READ IT!! Roth included a playlist for Divergent in the back of the book. Do yourself a favor and listen to it BEFORE you read it, because it certainly helps set the tone of the whole story. I could feel the emotion, the darkness, and the hope in those songs. I already have Insurgent on hold from my library to be the first book I read in April!!!

Source: Public Library

Book Friends who influenced me to read this:
Samantha@Booked On a Feeling
Sheree@The Eclectic Reader
Ti@Book Chatter
Jill@Rhapsody in Books

Six Sentence Bookish Thoughts #83
© 2013, 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.

Tuesday Intros: The Best Man

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 Tuesday Intro pick is The Best Man by Kristan Higgins. I have really enjoyed the three books that I've read by Kristan and couldn't resist getting this title from NetGalley. Can't wait to read this one!

Prologue
On a beautiful day in June, in front of literally half the town, wearing a wedding dress that made her look like Cinderella and holding a bouquet of perfect pink roses, Faith Elizabeth Holland was left at the alter.
  We sure didn't see that one coming.

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.

March Host is: Caitlin @ chaotic compendiums

Cover images courtesy of NetGalley

Once again, NetGalley got the best of me! I need to step away from that site for a while and honestly concentrate on reading some of the books that I've downloaded from them! One Step Too Far sounded too good to pass up and The House At the End of Hope Street really spoke to me. I'm going to try my best to refrain from NetGalley for the month of March. Wish me luck!

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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 talked about last week:

Not a thing. My body succumbed to the flu/head cold/crapola that has been going around at school where I work. I'm honestly surprised that I was able to stay healthy for this long!!! I'm feeling a lot better but still have a little bit of a raspy voice and a strange hankering for DayQuil.  Not really! 

* If I haven't visited your blog lately please forgive me as I try to catch up with my book friends!!!

Bookish Thoughts this week:

Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts

Divergent

March Book Box: These books are titles from NetGalley that I want to read and clear off my dashboard. Anyone else reading any of these?