WEEKLY UPDATES: IT LOOKS A LOT LIKE SPRING!

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Good morning!  Today’s post will link up to Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post,  and Book Journey, for  Weekly Updates.

**Mailbox Monday is now hosted at the home site:  Mailbox Monday.

Grab some coffee (or a pot of tea!), and let’s talk about our weeks.  I had a slower reading week, but savored each book.  And Saturday was a wonderful day of lunch and a movie.  I saw and loved Still Alice, with Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin, and when I left the theater, my eyes were filled with tears.

 

 

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Have any of you seen it?  Did you read the book?  I read Still Alice last May (click for my review).

I will be thinking about the gripping performances for a long time.  Meanwhile, here’s what last week looked like for me.

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOGS:

Blue Mondays Musings:  Reading & Dreaming

Tuesday Potpourri:  Intros/Teasers – “One Plus One”

From the Interior:  Books, Blogs, & Devices

Going out on a Limb with “Pretty Baby”

My Bookish (and Not So Bookish) Thoughts) – Reconnecting

Serendipitous Fridays:  Book Beginnings/Friday 56 – “Wife-in-Law”

A Woman’s Fears:  Excerpt from “Interior Designs”

Saturday Sparks: Birthday Girls

Bookish Saturday:  My Bookish Changes

Review:  The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes (e-book), by Diane Chamberlain

Review:  One Plus One (e-book), by JoJo Moyes

Review:  Nell (e-book), by Nancy Thayer

 

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INCOMING BOOKS (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)

Three books came in my mailbox from Amazon Vine!  And I downloaded two books for Sparky….

You Can Trust Me, by Sophie McKenzie

 

 

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On a quiet, gray, Saturday morning, Livy arrives at her best friend Julia’s flat for a lunch date only to find her dead. Though all the evidence supports it, Livy cannot accept the official ruling of suicide; the Julia she remembers was loud, inappropriate, joyful, outrageous and loving, not depressed. The suspicious circumstances cause Livy to dig further, and she is suddenly forced to confront a horrifying possibility: that Julia was murdered, by the same man who killed Livy’s sister, Kara, eighteen years ago….

 

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The Day We Met, by Rowan Coleman

 

 

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A gorgeous husband, two beautiful children, a job she loves—Claire’s got it all. And then some. But lately, her mother hovers more than a helicopter, her husband, Greg, seems like a stranger, and her kids are like characters in a movie. Three-year-old Esther’s growing up in the blink of an eye, and twenty-year-old Caitlin, with her jet-black hair and clothes to match, looks like she’s about to join a punk band—and seems to be hiding something. Most concerning, however, is the fact that Claire is losing her memory, including that of the day she met Greg….

 

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Second Life, by S. J. Watson

 

 

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Julia’s life is comfortable, if unremarkable, until her sister’s brutal murder opens old wounds. She finds solace in her sister’s best friend, Sophie, but when Sophie reveals the extent of her sister’s online life, Julia becomes convinced that the truth about her death lies deep in the dark, sordid world of online chatrooms and internet sex….

 

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DOWNLOADS:

Crazy Love You (e-book), by Lisa Unger

 

 

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Love hurts. Sometimes it even kills.

Darkness has a way of creeping up when Ian is with Priss. Even when they were kids, playing in the woods of their small Upstate New York town, he could feel it. Still, Priss was his best friend, his salvation from the bullies who called him “loser” and “fatboy”…and from his family’s deadly secrets.

Now that they’ve both escaped to New York City, Ian no longer inhabits the tortured shell of his childhood. He is a talented and successful graphic novelist, and Priss…Priss is still trouble. The booze, the drugs, the sex–Ian is growing tired of late nights together trying to keep the past at bay. Especially now that he’s met sweet, beautiful Megan, whose love makes him want to change for the better. But Priss doesn’t like change. Change makes her angry. And when Priss is angry, terrible things begin to happen…

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The First Wife (e-book), by Erica Spindler

 

 

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As a child, Bailey Browne dreamed of a knight in shining armor swooping in to rescue her and her mother. As she grows older, those dreams transform, becoming ones of a mysterious stranger who will sweep her off her feet and whisk her away from her ordinary existence. Then, suddenly, there he is. Despite the ten year difference in their ages, her working class upbringing and his of privilege, Logan Abbott and Bailey fall deeply in love. Marriage quickly follows.

But when Logan brings her home to his horse farm in Louisiana, a magnificent estate on ninety wooded acres, her dreams of happily-ever-after begin to unravel. A tragic family history she knew nothing about surfaces, plus whisperings about the disappearance of his first wife, True, and rumors about the women from the area who have gone missing—and when another woman disappears, all signs point to her husband’s involvement.

 

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WHAT’S UP NEXT? (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)

 

Currently Reading:  Three Days to Forever, by Lauren Carr

 

 

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You Can Trust Me, by Sophie McKenzie

 

 

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After the Party (e-book), by Lisa Jewell

 

 

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And that was my week…and what the new week might look like.  Enjoy yours!

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87 thoughts on “WEEKLY UPDATES: IT LOOKS A LOT LIKE SPRING!

    1. Thanks, Katherine, and crying in a theater is definitely a little embarrassing when the lights come up, but then everyone else is doing the same…LOL. I enjoy Lauren Carr’s books…can’t wait to read this next one.

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  1. Lunch and a movie- a great way to spend a day. Glad you liked the movie- I like Moore and Baldwin. I have not seen a movie in ages, overdue I guess. 🙂

    I liked your shelf pictures, and One Plus On e looks like it was good. Have a fabulous week!

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    1. Oh, I haven’t yet started Unger’s trilogy….and I loved the movie. Thanks for stopping by, Nise…sorry about the bitter cold you are experiencing. We take our mild winters for granted, but complain a lot about the hot, hot summers…LOL.

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    1. I actually see fewer movies in the theater these days….I used to go every weekend, and do the full experience, popcorn and all. Now when I go, I eat lunch first….thanks for stopping by, Sherry, and have a great week.

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    1. I read it last May, and it was later than a lot of people did…I hesitated, as Alzheimer’s is such a frightening disease. Every time I hear about someone’s symptoms, I think I have them…LOL. If I forget a word, or can’t remember something trivial…but seeing the movie helped me feel better about my occasional forgetfulness. Thanks for stopping by, Susan.

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    1. Thanks, Sharon…I do enjoy collecting my books, especially the ones on Sparky. The ARCs don’t end up on my shelves, as they aren’t the finished books, so they get tossed. My shelves don’t grow from them.

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  2. I’ve read a few on your list today – though I often don’t recognise the different covers!

    I read Still Alice when it first came out (my dad had dementia) but am a bit murky on the details now. I want to see the movie but think I will be VERY messy!

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  3. Teddyree

    I loved Still Alice, exceptionally moving read and I can’t wait to see the movie. You Can Trust Me and Second Life look good. Have a great week and happy reading 🙂

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  4. Hi Lorraine,

    I haven’t read the book of ‘Still Alice’ yet, as I don’t want it to colour my judgement about the film, which I want to savour for itself! I am certain that I too shall leave the cinema with more than a tear in my eye (perhaps no eye make-up will be the way to go!). My father-in-law has recently been undergoing tests for dementia, so that will make this one even more poignant right now.

    You have some great thrillers in your stack this week, so I shall be spending some time checking them out in more detail and I’m sure that more than one of them will find their way onto my ‘Want To Read’ pile.

    Having said that, I have read and enjoyed one or two Lisa Jewell books, so I hope that ‘After The Party’ is one that you will like.

    Have a good week,

    Yvonne

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    1. I am looking forward to another great book from Lisa Jewell….she is a newly discovered (to me) author. And thrillers are the greatest, aren’t they? And I always enjoy Julianne Moore’s performances, no matter what movie she is in.

      Thanks for stopping by, Yvonne, and have lots of tissues handy!

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  5. I really like Julianne Moore as an actress, she’s been on tv a lot this week talking about that movie, but I might wait for the dvd so I can sit and have a good cry in private as it looks really emotional.

    Second Life is definitely one for my TBR list even though I haven’t read Before I go to Sleep yet (!). I saw the movie and thought it was really good, which made me want to read the book even more.

    Have a great week!

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    1. Oh, I loved Before I Go to Sleep, too, and I’m trying not to have expectations about Second Life, but to enjoy it on its own merits.

      Thanks for stopping by, Pages and Tea….and I am a big Julianne Moore fan. I even see her smaller movies….Have a great week!

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    1. Oh, I know, Shelleyrae….and that’s what happens sometimes with books that follow a huge hit of a book. How can one top that?

      And yes, I loved the Still Alice movie…I’ll be getting the DVD, too. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your week.

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    1. This was the first weekend the movie showed here…I was impatiently waiting, but thought that there wouldn’t be a lot of people in the audience, as 50 Shades also opened here this weekend…but the theater was full, and it was the second day performances. Thanks for stopping by, Kathy, and I hope you get to see it soon.

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  6. Brandie

    Still Alice is such an incredible book. I hope to see the movie at some point. I’m glad you enjoyed it. You have SO many good books on deck! I can’t wait to read The First Wife – hope it’s good! Happy Monday and have a great week!

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  7. I read Still Alice a few years ago. It hit close to home as my father-in-law had it. I like Julianne Moore but am not a fan of Baldwin. I’ll probably see it at some point.
    I finished Lisa Genova’s newest book this morning. It had me in tears a few times but was a very good book.

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  8. Pingback: Books That Caught Our Eye | Mailbox Monday

  9. Ooooh I didn’t know S. J. Watson had a new book coming! This is so exciting!
    I LOVED Still Alice as a book, it’s a favorite, but I have yet to see the movie. I want too though.
    Happy reading!

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