The Chaperone

I am so pleased to let you know that Riverhead Books is graciously offering one of my lucky readers in the United States or Canada a personalized, signed copy of The Chaperone. I am loving this book and I know you will, too! If my recommendation isn’t enough (and please don’t tell me if it isn’t – Ha!) here is what Paula McLain and Sena Jeter Naslund have to say about the book:

It’s impossible not to be completely drawn in by The Chaperone. Laura Moriarty has delivered the richest and realest possible heroine in Cora Carlisle, a Wichitahousewife who has her mind and heart blown wide open, and steps–with uncommon courage–into the fullness of her life. What a beautiful book. I loved every page.
~ Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

What a charming, mesmerizing, transporting novel! The characters are so fully realized that I felt I was right there alongside them. A beautiful clarity marks both the style and structure of The Chaperone.
~ Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab’s Wifeand Adam & Eve

You can also find more information on Laura Moriarty’s Facebook fanpage.

The Giveaway

For an opportunity to win a personalized, signed copy of The Chaperone, please fill out the following form. This contest will be open until 11:59 PM EST on Monday, May 28, 2012. I will notify the winner on Tuesday the 29th. Good luck to everyone who enters!

Please note that all information provided on this form will be deleted at the end of the contest.

I Couldn’t Love You More by Jillian Medoff

Published by: five spot

Published on: May 15, 2012

Page Count: 399

Genre: Women’s Fiction

My Reading Format: Review copy sent to me by the publisher for consideration.

Available Formats: Paperback and eBook

Coming Soon: I will be interviewing Jillian Medoff next week. I hope you’ll come back and get to know the author a little better.

In the meantime, you can connect with Jillian on Facebook and Twitter as well as on her website.

My Review

We read to know we are not alone. ~ C.S. Lewis

Eliot Gordon has a full if unconventional life. She lives with her partner Grant, his two daughters by his first marriage and their daughter Hailey. Although the two aren’t married, they are in love and have created a home for the entire family. Despite standard issues with being a stepmother, life is good. Then, Eliot’s younger sister, Sylvia, tells her that Finn, her college sweetheart, is back in Atlanta. Eliot has unresolved issues with Finn and the way in which he left her life. Seeing Finn again is exhilarating at first, but soon begins to spin out of control. Eliot needs to decide what she really wants in this life. Unfortunately, it may be too late.

I opened my review of I Couldn’t Love You More with a quote from C.S. Lewis because it kept popping into my head as I read the first half of this book. While there are certainly differences between Eliot and me, I could identify myself at her very essence. There were sections of the novel where I felt as if Jillian Medoff must certainly have found a way to steal the inner workings of my mind or, at the very least, stalked me while I was in college. I make those accusations in the most positive light. As I read Eliot’s story, I was right there with her. I had my pen out and was underlining passages like crazy. With each new section, I felt closer to Eliot. Especially as I read Chapters Ten and Eleven, I never set my pen down. This section about Eliot and Finn’s friendship before dating is absolutely perfect (emphasis mine):

But I savored these moments, holding them tight in my hand, each one a rare treasure to unlock later and study. He had  to know I had a crush on him–how could he not? But I pretended I didn’t, and he pretended I didn’t, and all that pretending helped to sustain us. Everywhere we looked, boys and girls were becoming friends, sleeping together, then fighting and breaking up. But Finn and I endured, and it was because the deepest part of our relationship–the most gripping–was inside our silences, coded among the words left unsaid. Or maybe I just told myself this because I loved him and was desperate for him to love me back.  (page 119)

Eliot wasn’t just like me before things went horribly wrong. We had the same thought patterns after, too:

Yes, I was insane. It’s insane, isn’t it, to love a ghost? To obsess about a man who treated you badly, then left you behind without so much as a backward glance? It’s insane to wait for him to reappear, even though you saw him vanish with your own two eyes. It’s insane to tell yourself that everything would be different if only, if only. The whole thing was insane, even the idea that he–that they–truly loved me in the first place.

And yet. (page137)

As the novel progresses and Eliot and Finn are reintroduced to each other, I follow Eliot through her confusing emotions. Although I’ve not experienced that myself and truly hope not to, I continued to see myself in Eliot’s guilt, anxiety, and utter giddiness. I can imagine finding a resolution to an incomplete relationship would feel so good that you would lose track of the lives you’re playing with. In your desire to see those “if onlys” realized, you forget the good that came into your life because that first relationship ended poorly.

I Couldn’t Love You More isn’t only about coming to terms with an unfinished relationship. It has much to say about sisters, surviving selfish parents, what it means to nurture and parent, letting go of the past, and forgiving those who have hurt you the most deeply. This novel has its poignant moments, but it is also full of humor. The opening birthday party, scenes with Grant’s first wife, and Sylvia’s self-serving hypochondria gave this novel the balance it needed to keep it from feeling heavy.

I drank in I Couldn’t Love You Morel from the beginning. I lingered over the passages like those above because it felt as though they were spoken to me directly. Then, when Eliot’s flirtation with Finn goes a little too far, this novel became impossible to put down. By the end, not only was I connected to Eliot, I was proud of her. I appreciated how she owned up to her mistakes and refused to let guilt destroy her life, whatever might be left of it. Eliot Gordon is a character after my own heart. I understood her and I know that because she existed within the pages of this book, someone understands me, too. In this book, Jillian Medoff made me fully aware that I love to read because in doing so I know I’m not alone. That is the power of the best women’s fiction.

I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits

Published by: Hogarth Books

Published on: May 8, 2012

Page Count: 320

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: Review copy sent to me by the publisher in order to participate in the author’s TLC Book Tour.

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook

Giveaway: As part of this tour, I get to give away a copy of I Am Forbidden. One lucky reader living in either the US or Canada who comments on this post by 5/22 will have a chance to win. Good luck!

Today it is my great pleasure to be Anouk Markovits’ host on her TLC Book Tour.  This tour is to celebrate her novel, I Am Forbidden.

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours.  They always have great books and authors on tour.  Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

My Review

When a woman is born into a Hasidic Jewish family, there is truly but one acceptable fate open to her. She must marry as well as she can within her community and raise as many children as God sees fit to bestow upon her. She is responsible for keeping her house, food, and, sexually speaking, her husband clean. While this can lead to a beautiful life if a woman is so inclined, anything outside of this box, which can feel as tiny as a phylacteries to some daughters and wives, is unacceptable. Giving into the temptation to want more will make you forbidden. It doesn’t end there. Being from the lineage of a forbidden person makes you forbidden as well. It is within these strict traditions held by the Satmar community that Atara Stern and Mila Heller are born. Although not biologically related, they were raised as sisters after Mila’s parents are killed during World War II. Atara wants to be a good daughter, but she is also excited about learning and longs to explore all that the world offers while Mila longs to be a good Jewish wife and mother. When Mila marries, these best friends and forever sisters are parted in every way.

Until reading I Am Forbidden, I knew little about Hasidic Judaism. What little I did know I learned from television. Although Anouk Markovits left the Hasidic community in which she was raised at a young age, her novel is full of the love she has for her community. There is a beauty in living ones life for one’s faith. Unfortunately, the truth isn’t as black and white as ultra conservative religious sects would like for it to be. It is difficult to live a pure life without doubts or questions. The scenes at the very beginning of the book with Zalman Stern illustrate the seemingly ridiculous lengths people will go to keep from sin. What one has to do in order to remain permitted in this community, however, becomes oppressive when one dares to question to unquestionable and challenge the infallible.

While both men and women can be forbidden, women are in the most precarious position. Not only do they have little say in their futures, but even when women willingly and lovingly enter into a marriage, their position it tenuous. A young woman can scrupulously abide by the stringent and uncomfortably intimate laws of family purity, but if she fails to produce offspring, she can be cast aside with the blessings of the community. After 10 years of infertility, a man is nearly compelled to divorce his wife and remarry in order to live out the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. As an outsider reading this book, there appear to be so many stumbling blocks in the way that it is a wonder that any woman, no matter how dedicated, can shoulder the incredible responsibility of family life and purity in an environment within which she has absolutely no control.

I Am Forbidden is an incredible and addictive read. It took me a short time to adjust to the author’s narrative style, which lays out the story in pieces of varying sizes along the way. Once I caught the rhythm, I couldn’t set the book down for long. As someone unfamiliar with the language and traditions of the Satmar community, I did find the glossary at the back of the book very helpful, especially in the beginning. Markovits also incorporated translations along the way. Regardless of how different my life is from those characters who came urgently alive within the pages of this book, getting caught up in their world felt natural. Had I had the opportunity, I could have read the entire novel in one sitting without a single restless moment or wandering thought. In choosing I Am Forbidden as its premier novel, the newly formed imprint Hogarth has set the bar extremely high. I very highly recommend this novel.

Anouk Markovits’ TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

A Wedding in Haiti by Julia Alvarez

Published by: Algonquin Books

Published on: April 24, 2012

Page Count: 304

Genre: Memoir

My Reading Format: Review copy sent to me by the publisher for consideration

Available Formats: Hardcover and eBook

My Review

Julia Alvarez and her husband Bill own and operate an organic coffee plantation in the Dominican Republic. It hadn’t been in their plans, but when they saw a place where they could help a declining industry, they did. Well, Bill did and convinced Julia to agree. Through their endeavor, they met Piti, a young Haitian man who crossed the border to find work. They cannot remember exactly how old Piti was when they first met, but he soon became close to them and Julia makes a promise to attend his wedding someday. When that day comes, Julia and Bill plan a trip to Haiti.

Although used to life in the Dominican Republic, the travelers are not fully prepared for the realities of Haiti. They realize they are in for a bumpy ride the moment they attempt to cross the border with their truck. They quickly learn that there are rules and then there are the rules made on an individual basis and at a cost. That this cost is much to high for so many living in Haiti was not lost on Alvarez. Yet what frustrates them on a vacation does not seem to depress the Haitian people. Quite the contrary. In a land where nothing in more abundance than poverty, its people are full of seemingly never ending hope.

The wedding trip takes place before the earthquake. Julia and Bill then make a return trip to help Piti once again afterward. I was as eager and anxious for their return journey as they were. This memoir, which includes several candid snapshots from both trips, is without a doubt well written, engaging, and full of insight about marriage, family, and the poorest nation in our hemisphere. While always honest, it is not without its humor and joy. It would make an excellent addition to the reading list of anyone interested in social justice. I cannot recommend A Wedding in Haiti enough.

Published by: St. Martin’s Press

Published on: March 2011

Page Count: 368

Genre: Women’s Fiction

My Reading Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible.com using a monthly credit for Armchair Audiess

Audiobook Published by: Tantor Audio

Narrator: Dan John Miller and Cassandra Campbell

Audiobook Length: 10 hours and 54 minutes

Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, and Audiobook

My Review

In A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by Marley and three other ghosts in an attempt to change his heart before it is too late. Emily and Einstein is a twist on this classic tale. Sandy Portman is a man used to getting what he wants. He was born into affluence and he is as selfish and spoiled as an adult as he was as a child. He’s married to Emily, a vivacious, creative, up and coming book publicist who at one time sparked his interest. Her innate sense of joy and her unconditional love make him weary and, after just a few years of marriage, he is going to ask her for a divorce while she’s volunteering at a local animal shelter. That was the plan, anyway, until a dog dashes out into the busy New York street and causes the accident that takes Sandy’s life. Sandy feels robbed as he leaves his body. He feels entitled to more life. So, when an old man is actually able to communicate with him, he takes him up on his offer for a second chance. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that he’d have to earn his redemption while embodied in Einstein, the dog who caused his death. If Sandy was no better behaved as an adult, becoming a dog does not have an immediate impact on his worldview of even his own life. It takes the fear of fading away quickly to make him even attempt to help Emily.

Emily’s life after Sandy’s death is reminiscent of The Devil Wears Prada. Her job at the publisher has little room to allow her to grieve the loss of her husband. Coworkers try to sabotage the projects she’s put her heart and soul into. When she creates success despite their interference, they then reach in to take credit. Then a formidable woman steps in to lead the company in a new direction and pushes Emily to do more and to be more. This is all too much for her on top of losing the apartment at the Dakota because, although her husband had promised to change his will and leave her the apartment were anything to happen to him, he never did. His mother expects to get it back for the family trust. All Emily has going for her a neighbor she never noticed while her husband was alive and her new dog, Einstein – and he seems to work against her more than anything else. The universe is converging on Emily, forcing her to confront the truths she refused to believe about her marriage and herself.

Emily and Einstein is narrated by Dan John Miller and Cassandra Campbell. Dan John Miller came across perfectly as the whiny, entitled Sandy/Einstein. Where Einstein’s character could very easily have been unlovable, Miller’s narration added just the right touch of irony and humor to keep the internal dialog from feeling overbearing. There are times when I’m frustrated and I want to shout, “Old man!” Likewise, Cassandra Campbell’s narration made Emily come alive. Just as with the characters in You Know When the Men are Gone (Campbell is also nominated for an Audie for this title in the Short Story Collections category), I couldn’t help but empathize with this woman who deserved so much more. Miller and Campbell fit together far better than their characters did. One note about the production of this audiobook. There were several places throughout the audiobook where it appears that sections weren’t inserted correctly. I would hear the narrator repeat the same few words twice. The first two times it happened, I went back to listen again to see if it was my phone, but in both instances, the same words were again duplicated. These repetitions didn’t keep me from enjoying the audiobook, but they were like hitting speed bumps along the way. I listened to the Audible version and it may not impact other versions.

Emily and Einstein is a sweet, creative story about love, loss, selfishness, and forgiveness. I enjoyed living in New York City with Emily and watching her grow as she faced the challenges that seemed to dump on her lap all at one time. I liked that the book felt familiar yet didn’t give in the most of the obvious plot twists. Given Sandy’s temperment and personality, I had no difficulty giving into the belief that he would become a dog after death. This book reminded me of the best parts of The Art of Racing in the Rain. If you enjoy stories of women facing difficult odds and making their own way, this is a book for you.

In One Person by John Irving

Published by: Simon & Schuster

Published on: May 8, 2012

Page Count: 425

Genre: Literary Fiction

My Reading Format: Review copy sent to me by the publisher for consideration

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook

My Review

Billy Dean, the son of an absent father and a mother still living with her own parents, may be young, but he recognizes that he has crushes on the wrong people. He may not always be able to identify his feelings by name, but he understands early on that he is bisexual. Not only does he have a crush on Richard Abbott, the man who will eventually become his stepfather and adopt him, but the tall local librarian with large hands, Miss Frost. It was through Richard’s encouragement and Miss Frost’s reading suggestions that Billy learned that literature can help navigate wrong crushes and bring sense to the human condition. It was there that he first expressed his desire to be a writer. Many decades later, Billy Abbott is a well-know author known for his novels exploring sexuality. It is this older, more secure Billy who is sharing his life. In One Person explores the confusion, fear, pain, wisdom, joy, and peace that comes from honoring instead of repressing one’s full person.

Unlike many others, I’ve read only two of John Irving’s thirteen novels, The Cider House Rules and now In One Person. Both novels are written from the perspective of young men without fathers who find even better father figures, men who teach them what they need to know to navigate their world and love every part of them. Both novels also address shame. There is the internal shame experienced when one does something wrong as well as the outward shame wielded by society to enforce societal norms. Through his storytelling, John Irving illustrates that the key to living as fulfilled life is to distinguish between the two.

There are so many things that impressed me with this book. Irving’s writing is gorgeous and his characters are so rich in personality. Grandpa Harry, the lumber man who loves to take on lead female roles in the town’s amateur theatrical society, is nothing short of a gem. He brings much needed levity and tenderness to Billy’s life. John Irving breaths both life and New England into all of his characters, from Billy and Ellen to the wrestling coach at Favorite River Academy. Just as with his characters, Irving’s themes are layered and intricate. I expected to encounter sexual themes when I picked up In One Person. The main character is, after all, a bisexual man who happens to be attracted to the most “passable transsexuals.” I was particularly touched by the sections where Billy recounts the AIDS crisis in the 80s and 90s. However, what stuck out to me even more was what Irving had to say about childhood and memory. When I read the following paragraphs, I stopped and considered not only how this applied to Billy’s life, but to my own as well:

In a later novel, I would aproach this idea a little differently—a little more carefully, maybe. “In increments both measurable and not, our childhood is stolen from us—not always in one momentous event but often in a series of small robberies, which add up to the same loss.” I suppose I could have written “betrayals” instead of “robberies”; in my own family’s case, I might have used the deceptions word—citing lies of both omission and commission. But I’ll stand by what I wrote; it suffices.

In another novel—very near the beginning of the book, in fact—I wrote: “Your memory is a monster; your forget—it doesn’t. If simply files things away; it keeps things for you, or hides things from you. Your memory summons things to your recall with a will of its own. You imagine you have a memory, but your memory has you!” (I’ll stand by that, too.)

~ from page 260

In One Person was nothing short of a compulsive read for me. From the moment Billy mention Miss Frost’s name until he has finished telling his story, I wanted to be in his story. I loved his quirky family and I loved the honesty with which bared his soul. This novel read especially well for me after having read The Starboard Sea. I wondered how Billy and Jason would have gotten along. Challenging, authentic, gritty, and beautiful, I cannot recommend In One Person more.

Danny and I have the great honor of being Ethan’s godparents. It was a proud moment to watch both children at Mass on Sunday. Who do you think is more proud? Ethan or me?

While we all had a good time on our short trip, there was a touch of sadness as well. At 7am Sunday morning, my parents’ cell phone started to ring. I got up to answer it and it was my Uncle Rex. His wife, Debbie, had been suffering from cancer for two years now and was in hospice care. When I saw that he was calling, I knew what had happened. I never knew what a strong person she was until I saw her for the last time, when I went to Michigan for my grandpa’s memorial service. Knowing how sick she was, she was full of hope for the future. When she talked about her cancer, she was certain she could face it all. If, she had said to me once via Facebook, she were to die, she wasn’t worried. She knew where her true future was. I love you, Aunt Debbie, and I hope that you are full of pure peace and joy. I hope to see you one day in that great future you knew was waiting for you.

I am realizing today that I’ve grown up surrounded by strong women. I am truly blessed.

Life is soon going to go back to normal. The routine of work and school will return. I may have been mostly offline since Thursday, but I’ve not lost sight of my bookishness. In fact, I’ve made my first #RH300K purchases. Wouldn’t you know that the books I did purchase weren’t on my Pinterest board. Isn’t that life?

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Here are the pertinent details about the audiobook:

Audiobook Publisher: Iambik Audiobooks

Narrator: Xe Sands

Audiobook Length: 9 hours and 58 seconds

If you haven’t listened to this audiobook and would like to, you can purchase a digital download for just $6.99. Through the end of today (5/3), you can also download the Kindle version of this book for free (this offer is no longer available) I thank the eBook for helping me spell some of the words I needed for my questions below. Thank you, Wolfsword Press!

The Silence of Trees Discussion Questions

Please feel to answer any of the questions that you’d like. Do not feel obligated to answer them all. If there is something you’d like to discuss that isn’t found in these questions, please do ask in the comments.

• Let’s talk first about the story itself. What were your overall impressions? Did you have a favorite passage or section? Was there anything that didn’t work as well for you?
• Nadya is an interesting character. She is forced to make many life-altering decisions alone and at an early age. How did you feel about the decisions she made after visiting the vorozhka? Had she made other decisions, how do you think her life would be different? Would it have been better?
• The customs, stories, and superstitions from Nadya’s life in the Ukraine are very important throughout the novel. I particularly loved the section about painting the pysanka.  Did you have a favorite custom or story from the book? Why is it that Nadya places importance on these stories and spirits such as the domovyk into her old age?
• When Nadya and Pavlo’s granddaughter announces that she’s dating a German man they are enraged and hurt. They raised their children in the traditions of the Ukraine and don’t understand why any family of theirs would want to be linked to someone whose grandparents murdered their families. How much do children and grandchildren owe those who have gone before them? Is there something to be said for carrying on family traditions for their own sake?
• Xe Sands narrates The Silence of Trees. How was your experience with her as narrator? Did her style and accents work well for you?
• Did any of the novel’s theme or scenes stay with you after you finished?
• Would you be interested in another listen-a-long? If so, is there anything I could do differently to make it a better experience?

Thanks to everyone who listened to this book with me. I am looking forward to the discussion!

Update: The comments will contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

The good news is that I enjoyed each and every one of the books and audiobooks I did finish in April. I had been growing weary of James Bond over the past few months and I’m happy to report that I found Thunderball to be rejuvinating in every way. Despite getting a work call close to 10pm on Shaken, Not Stirred night and having a faulty Blue Ray, the Thunderball edition of that challenge was my favorite of them all thus far. Here are the books I finished in April:

Emily and Einstein
The Gods of Gotham
The Last Romanov
Thunderball
Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale
In One Person
The Silence of Trees

Even more so than reading, April was a very slow review month. I won’t complain about only publishing five reviews because I spent a good deal of the month with other fun book bloggish things. I announced my first listen-a-long featuring The Silence of Trees, hosted a read-a-long featuring Accidents of Providence, posted an Armchair Audies progress report, and got the Listener’s List off to a roaring start by asking readers to vote for their favorite male and female narrators. I have big plans for the Listener’s List and the level of interest by both readers and narrators was thrilling. Here are the books I reviewed in April:

Angelina’s Bachelors
State of Wonder
The Underside of Joy
The Starboard Sea
No One in the World

From the books I read and reviewed in April, my favorites were:

My biggest news in April actually happened on the very last day. I entered Random House’s #RH300K content on Twitter. They were excited to reach 300,000 followers. Monday morning, I discovered that I was one of the three $300 gift certificate winners! I don’t think the reality set in until I received the gift certificate in my email last night. I stayed up way too late working on a Pinterest board for exploring my options. I’d love any suggestions you might have. I know that there is an amazing amount of excellent books out there waiting to be read.

Here’s to a fantastic May!

Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale by Lynda Rutledge

Published by: Amy Einhorn Books

Published on: April 26, 2012

Page Count: 304

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: ARC sent to me by the publisher for consideration

Available Formats: Hardcover and eBook

My Review

Faith is an elderly widow living by herself in Texas in her family’s mansion. Since the death of her son and her husband, Faith has rarely ventured from the home filled with precious and priceless antiques. Her daughter Claudia has long since left both town and her life. Soon it will be the year 2000. She hears the voice of God. He is telling her to sell everything she has. People say everything is big in Texas and Faith Bass Darling, who simply is clearing her house of absolutely everything, is having a whopper of a yard sale. Antiques, collectibles, furniture, and Tiffany lamps all being sold for whatever the buyer can afford. While many people are happy to take whatever gems they can find off of the old woman’s hands without looking back. There are those who care about Faith and her family who are determined to discover just why this is happening on New Year’s Eve.

My maternal grandmother and my mother both have had life long passions for going garage sale-ing. When my parents took us on family trips, my mom would frequently tell my dad to stop because she saw a garage sale. Whether he did or not was dependent upon a lot of things, but my mother was always on the look out. Up until recently, my grandma always gave us a Christmas present and a GS present. GS standing for garage sale, of course. Those were always the most fun packages to open. Although I don’t get as involved in garage sales as my grandma and my mom, you can say that it is in my blood. I absolutely had to read this book.

Lynda Rutledge wrote a novel set in Texas that made me feel so close to home in Michigan. No, I’m not the run away daughter of a wealthy heiress (God knows I daydreamed about running away and being the child of someone rich and famous many times), but I do know how it feels to be separated from my mother. The thought of her living far away from me, especially if she were to ever develop a disease like Alzheimer’s as Faith has is a real fear of mine. She raised me well and I know that things are not the most valuable possession. Things may be lost, stolen, unappreciated, or accidentally sold for little or nothing with something else. The love and forgiveness of your family is what is truly priceless. It is this aspect of Faith’s story that meant so much to me.

Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale, filled with the power of memory and the value of forgiveness, is a well-written and well-rounded novel. The way in which Faith’s Alzheimer’s disease was written into the narrative caught me off guard at first, but it served to alert the reader that something wasn’t right and provided insight into Faith’s thought processes. The way in which her disease manifested itself in her kitchen was heartbreaking. While what I took away most from the novel was sentimental, this does not mean that it wasn’t fun. Faith is quite a character and so are many of the neighbors and strangers who come to her garage sale. I also enjoyed each of the Provenance sections, which provided detailed descriptions of key items in Faith’s yard sales along with the item’s history. Those sections brought a touch of Antiques Roadshow, fitting perfectly into the story.

The best gift I can give my mom is a story about getting an honest good deal via a garage sale. Mom would know immediately that something wasn’t right in her yard that New Year’s Eve. Very much like Bobbie, the local antiques dealer, Mom would do all that she can to step in and take control of the situation. She would have to get to the bottom of why Faith was allowing her home and her legacy to be pillaged. Discovering all the secrets held in this Texas town and within Faith’s heart are worth the work. This is how I know that Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale will make the perfect Mother’s Day gift for my mom. I am looking forward to her reading this book so that we can talk garage sales.