Saturday, May 10, 2014

THEN AND ALWAYS: A NOVEL (2014)


Then and Always: A NovelThen and Always: A Novel by Dani Atkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Can I just say that I loved this book? At first Kate Atkinson's "Life After Life" popped into my head followed by several others that have dealt with similar material, but Dani Atkins debut, "Then and Always: A Novel", is unique in its own way. Initially the fact that this book was recommended to people who loved "One Day" and the movie "Sliding Doors" was what attracted me.

After a devastating accident at the age of eighteen, Rachel Wiltshire's life alters forever or so she thinks. Five years later Rachel is apprehensively returning to her home town for the wedding of her good friend Sara and suddenly finds herself living a very different life surrounded by people, some of whom she had thought gone forever.

One might assume that because the story is about a very young woman, its appeal might be limited. Absolutely not. 'Literate chic lit' that tells a good story with implied life lessons should attract many readers.

The book will be available after May 20, 2014. Get a copy and take it to the beach with you this summer!

Bottom Line: A story that grabs you from the beginning and delivers the only ending that makes sense.

Title: Then and Always: A Novel
Author: Dani Atkins
Genre: Romance, fiction
Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Edition edition
ISBN: 0804178526
No. of Pages: 320 pages
Copyright: May 20, 2014
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: NetGalley

DISCLOSURE: Invited by NetGalley to request and receive this title for an honest review.

Dani Atkins lives in rural Hertfordshire, England, with her husband and two children. This is her first novel. (Source: Amazon)


View all my reviews

Emma Straub's New Book Out May 29, 2014



Emma Straub made her debut with Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures in 2012. Apparently I liked the book but not too much since I only gave it 2/5 stars. That doesn't sound right to me now.

On May 29th her new novel The Vacationers is available and I'm adding it to my list of summer reads especially since the following sites have mentioned it on their lists of May Reads:


Saturday, May 3, 2014

Like My Mother Always Said (2014)



My daughter and I were both honored to have quotes selected by author Erin McHugh for this charming collection of momisms out in time to make a perfect gift for Mothers' Day.

It's been getting a lot of press including the May issue of Better Homes and Gardens.

Quotes are from all kinds of folks - some famous, most not. Quotes are of all types - some helpful and some just plain funny. ("You like what you're wearing?")

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Friday, May 2, 2014

Greg Iles at Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor


Monday, May 19th at 7:00 pm Meet New York Times Bestselling Author Greg Iles for a Discussion and Signing of His New Novel, Natchez Burning 
NYT bestselling author, Greg Iles will be at Nicola's Books for a signing and discussion of his novel, "Natchez Burning", the first installment in an epic trilogy that weaves crimes, lies, and secrets past and present into a mesmerizing thriller featuring southern mayor and former prosecutor Penn Cage.  Greg Iles was born in Germany in 1960, where his father ran the US Embassy Medical Clinic during the height of the Cold War.  Iles spent his youth in Natchez.  While attending Ole Miss, Greg lived in the cabin where William Faulkner and his brothers listened to countless stories told by "Mammy Callie," their beloved nanny, who had been born a slave. Iles wrote his first novel in 1993, a thriller about Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess, which became the first of twelve New York Times bestsellers.  More information