Mailbox Monday: Bad Apples by Dr. Lisa Hartwell

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event. Mailbox Monday has now returned to its permanent home where you can link to your MM post.

I got one book last week -- one that I have been looking forward to read ever since I met the author at a conference last fall:

Bad Apples: How To Feel Good Even When Rotten Things Happen by Dr. Lisa L. Hartwell.

I met Dr. Hartwell at a National Center for Victims of Crime conference because of her work involving sexual abuse prevention and treatment for abuse survivors. But in her career as a speaker and clinical psychologist, she works with people in all areas of their personal and professional lives.

I'm looking forward to reading the book she describes as "A Practical Guide to Dealing with Anxiety, Stress, Tough Relationships, Abuse, Sexuality, & More."

Review: Skios

Every year, the Fred Toppler Foundation on the Greek isle of Skios hosts the Great European House Party where guests come to study European culture for a long weekend culminating in a keynote address by a noted expert in something or another.

Until this year, when things go haywire. Oliver Fox, landing on Skios for a naughty weekend with a woman he’s known for five minutes, grabs Dr. Norman Wilfrid’s suitcase by mistake and identity on a whim. This leaves Dr. Wilfrid in a taxi to a villa on the other side of the island with nothing but his lecture notes for the Fred Toppler Keynote Address.

From there on, it’s nothing but mistaken identity, near misses, in-one-door-out-the-other, in-one-bed-out-the-other, prat falls, and laugh lines. The Toppler Foundation guests adore the younger, charming version of Dr. Wilfrid. The real Dr. Wilfrid falls into a herd of goats. Of course Fox’s weekend companion shows up, as does his long-suffering girlfriend. The Greeks can’t understand the Anglophones; the Anglophones can’t understand the Greeks. Hilarity ensues.

Michael Frayn wrote the side-splitting and perpetually-running play, Noises Off, so it is no surprise that he could take a similar formula for intricate farce, set it on a Greek Island, and come up with a winner. Skios is non-stop funny.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this or any other Michael Frayn book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

Skios counts as one of my books for my 2015 Mt. TBR Challenge.

Book Beginnings: Life After Life

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

A fug of tobacco smoke and damp clammy air hit her as she entered the café. She had come in from the rain and drops of water still trembled like delicate dew on the fur coats of some of the women inside.

-- Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.  I love Kate Atkinson's books, but the premise of this one didn't appeal to me. The main character dies over and over and keeps living her life over and over, living a little longer each time. It's not Groundhog Day -- the story jumps ahead quite a lot each time without redoing every singe bit.  But it is definitely one I am going to have to just let flow.  I am listening to the audio book, which helps.

2014 European Reading Challenge Winner! FINALLY

THIS IS THE WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT POST FOR 2014

(horribly late -- my apologies!)

TO FIND THE 2014 REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO FIND THE 2014 WRAP UP POSTS, GO TO THIS PAGE

THE 2015 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE IS LIVE NOW -- GO TO THIS PAGE TO SIGN UP OR READ MORE

2014 was the third year for this challenge, which involves reading books set in different European countries or written by authors from different European countries.

Big thanks to all the participants who joined me for the Grand Tour!

JET SETTER GRAND PRIZE WINNER

Maphead was the big winner of the Jet Setter Grand Prize. Maphead posted reviews for books from 20 different countries! I have to say that I am personally pleased that Maphead won because we are both PORTLANDERS! He won a $25 gift card to Powell's Books.

Honorary Mention (but no prizes) go to the seven other participants who read 10 or more qualifying books (meaning books set in different countries, by different authors):

• Jean at Howling Frog Books (15)
• Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit (14)
• Shonna at Canadian Bookworm (14)
• Bev at My Reader's Block (11)
• Jen at Notes from the Officer's Club (10)
• A Hot Cup of Pleasure (10)
• Miguel at St. Oberose (10)

Congratulations to all the readers who completed the challenge! Fourteen people posted wrap-up posts, but many others completed the challenge. For those who finished the challenge but didn't post a wrap-up, feel free to do so now and link it on this page here.

JOIN THE 2015 CHALLENGE! SIGN UP HERE.

The gist: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour.

Review: Portrait of a Woman in White by Susan Winkler

Young lovers are torn apart when Lili Rosenswig flees Paris with her family as the Nazis invade and her husband-to-be stays to defend his country. When the Nazis loot the family’s gallery, including a beloved portrait of Lili's mother, art, love, and war are entwined in an enthralling new historical novel, Portrait of a Woman in White by Susan Winkler.

Susan was captivated by French art and culture as a young child. Her appreciation deepened through a grad school degree in French literature and a career writing non-fiction guidebooks to Paris. Historical accounts of how the Nazis appropriated French art collections – primarily artwork owned by Jewish families – during World War II fired her imagination, inspiring a story of one fictional family’s loss and struggle to rebuild the family identity and fortune in a new country.

The book works all the way through. The story is compelling and well-told, with a lot of plot packed between the covers. The characters are believable people who change in believable ways as the story unfolds. Lili in particular becomes more interesting as she matures from a sassy pre-war teen ager to a responsible adult with difficult choices to face.

With war-torn lovers, a family saga plot, and a stolen Matisse, Portrait of a Woman in White is a terrific novel. Each copy should come with a "Perfect for Book Club" sticker on the cover!

OTHER REVIEWS

• American Girls Art Club In Paris

If you would like your review of this book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

Read my interview of Susan Winkler here.

Also recommended: "French Impressions: Susan Winkler’s Portrait of a Woman in White on love, loss, and the human ability to reinvent oneself" on A Woman's Paris.