The Godmother by Carrie Adams

As the cover of The Godmother by Carrie Adams says, "Tessa King has seven best friends, four godchildren, and one big wish -- to have a life of her own."   This is the September book for the Authors by the Alphabet Book Club.


From Amazon:

While 30-something Londoner Tessa King questions her no-strings-attached lifestyle, she also witnesses her friends' difficulties in marriage and parenthood while playing godmother to their broods. Nick and Francesca battle to keep their sullen teenager out of serious trouble; Billy, a single mom, can't break ties to her now remarried ex-; Helen and Neil, fairy tale parents to twin boys, are hiding something; successful Claudia and Al struggle to conceive; and Ben and Sasha have no plans to have children. But Ben also happens to be Tessa's best friend, and perhaps the love of her life. When tragedy eventually strikes the group, bonds are tested, and Tessa is forced to re-examine what she thinks will really make her happy. A painful look into the fears, doubts and desires that make and break marriages, this debut novel from Londoner Adams is notches up from the usual chick and mom lit fare.

I agree that The Godmother is more than a simple chick lit novel -- I don't usually go in for full-fledged chick lit -- shoe shopping and hair crises just don't speak to me.  My own life is in such a state of flux that the emotions and experiences Adams writes about resonated with me.  Tessa's melancholy and regret were realistic without turning whiny. 


It's been a while since I've read a book with so much blatant foreshadowing -- some of which I found a bit much, ("She felt she knew him better. Turned out she was right." p. 31)  but some that really added to the poignant tone that kept me reading ("I have gone over that moment in my mind a thousand times since and I swear I saw her laughing.  Now I realize that I was seeing only what I expected to see.  Even though I was distrustful of it at the time and would have loved to have seen something else, I couldn't.  I was programmed not to. And that is why, even now, knowing what I know, my memory can only recall her laughing as Neil pulled her back inside the house." p 51-52)

Read The Godmother for a good reminder that life is lived once and that, no matter how much you envy someone else's life, there is always something to be appreciated in your own.

Friday 56 -- September 24, 2010-- An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

A letter came back faster than I'd expected.   It occurred to me that Simon had somehow arranged to have it sent with dispatches. The post where I was presently stationed was notoriously slow.

An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd

This is the second in Todd's Bess Crawford series.  Charles Todd is actually the mother-son team that created the Ian Rutledge series as well as authoring a stand-alone novel, The Murder Stone.  It was the first Bess Crawford novel, A Duty to the Dead, that drew me to their writing and since that time, while waiting for the second Crawford installment, I've read all the Rutledge novels that have been published so far.  Both series are set in England during or soon after WWI.   I like them a fair bit.

Life changes

Image via Wikipedia

Tomorrow is my daughter's half-birthday -- she'll be six and a half.  This will be the first celebration that has happened since her dad and I have separated -- well, in addition to losing her first tooth.  :)  I feel sad that we aren't all three celebrating together and know this is just one of many sadnesses to come as we all continue to adjust to a very different life. 

My prayer is that my daughter will still feel surrounded by love all day tomorrow and know that she is treasured and that things will eventually feel more settled. 

I'm hoping to make pancakes for breakfast before she leaves for school and I'm sure she will have fun playing games with her dad tomorrow night.

W.W.W. Wednesdays -- September 22, 2010

Answer the following questions:


What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you'll read next?



Currently reading:

•  The Billionaire's Curse by Richard Newsome
• Noah's Castle by John Rowe Townsend

Recently finished:

• The Owl and Moon Cafe by Jo-Ann Mapson
• The Summer of the Great-Grandmother by Madeleine L'Engle
• Sway:  The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman 
•  The Gendarme by Mark T. Mustian

Up next:

• An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd

Teaser Tuesdays -- The Gendarme by Mark T. Mustian

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The smells of early-morning Aleppo rise, odors made sharper by my numbed, shaken state.  I slip past a flock of beating sheep, past men on camels who look like they've ridden all night, past corpses facedown in the street. 

~ p. 147, The Gendarme, by Mark Mustian

I had this in the library bag to go back without reading it, but took it back out after hearing that others have really liked it.  At this point, I'm still ambivalent about it.

The Owl and Moon Cafe by Jo-Ann Mapson

I read The Owl & Moon Cafe this book several years ago and re-read it this week for October's book club.  I was happy to re-read it and experience the four-generation, female-heavy cast of characters all over again. 

 The book opens with Mariah Moon, who has just lost her job as a college professor.  We soon meet Gammy, Mariah's grandmother, Allegra, Mariah's mother, and Lindsay, Mariah's twelve-year-old daughter.  The women own and run The Owl and Moon Cafe in the Monterey Bay area in California -- which means you will find yourself wishing for a personal chef whipping things up in your kitchen the whole time you are reading. 

This book contains hope of all different kinds and hope of all different kinds is exactly what I need in my life right now.  Besides, who doesn't love a man with a Scottish accent? 

More from my mom -- I know we've all heard it before, but it probably bears repeating

 Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry. Two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension. 

 

One of these days is yesterday with its mistakes and cares, Its faults and blunders, Its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone. 

 

The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow. With its possible adversities, Its burdens, Its large promise and poor performance. Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow’s Sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn. 

 

This just leaves only one day… Today. Any person can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternity’s – yesterday and tomorrow that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives people mad. It is the remorse of bitterness for something which happened yesterday and the dread of what tomorrow may bring. 

 

Let us therefore live but one day at a time. 

Written By: Anita Waid