Novelas Romanticas Gratis

Wow!  It's the last week of 2016, and time to reflect on what I've read and pick  the books that impacted me the most this year.  I always like to look at my reading choices and try to see a pattern over the year.  What I noticed the most this year is my lack of historical fiction.  It's my favorite genre, and I'm quite surprised to see I didn't read much at all.  I did, however, read a lot of nonfiction, which is a switch from previous years.  Mainly this was due to listening to audio books on my daily commute to work, and reading nonfiction books to present at my hospital book talks.  I also didn't read much science fiction, which is another of my favorite genres.  This was all a surprise to me.  I also was a bit disappointed in my inability to get more reading accomplished.  Just so darn much going on this year it was hard to carve out dedicated reading time.   I also worked hard on posting what I was going to read each month so I could have some discipline a

I read Mary Simses' first novel The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Cafe  last year, and while I enjoyed it, wasn't wowed by it.  In her second novel, Mary Simses does a much better job keeping my interest, but I still have some issues with characters and plot.   Grace Hammond is a 33 year old New Yorker who comes home to Dorset, Connecticut one summer to stay with her parents while the ceiling in her apartment is repaired after a water leak in the apartment above hers.  She's also just broken up with her boyfriend, and lost her job.  A whole lot of misfortune all at once.  Fleeing to her parent's house gives her time to lick her wounds and figure out what she's going to do when she returns to New York.   That summer, director Peter Brooks is in Dorset filming a movie that is semi-autobiographical.  He's a son of Dorset, and people are very excited to have a famous director and his stars descend on the town.  Grace and Peter were friends as teens, and were t

The news that Carrie Fisher died early this morning just broke my heart, the capper in a year that has seen so many of my childhood and teenage movie and music icons leave us.    I had just finished listening to the audio version of The Princess Diarist  last week, and was shocked at my timing.  It was my first Carrie Fisher book experience, and I am so glad I listened to the audio, narrated by Carrie and her daughter, Billie Lourd. I never would have been able to appreciate Carrie's humor if I hadn't listened to her tell her stories. The biggest news from this memoir is, of course, her affair with Harrison Ford during the first Star Wars movie.  She was 19, he was 35 and married.  Carrie talks about her previous relationship with a young man who was also attending drama school with Carrie in London; he was really her first relationship with a man.  She was pretty innocent at 19, and Harrison Ford thought she was much more experienced than she was, and didn't realize it unt

I like Anna Kendrick.  I first became aware of her watching Twilight, as Bella's friend at her new high school.  Didn't think much of it; it was a small part. Next thing I know, she's appearing alongside George Clooney in Up in the Air; that garners her an Oscar nomination.  What?!  Then I see she can sing and upon further investigation, was on Broadway at age twelve and nominated for a Tony.  Holy crap.  And she's barely thirty years old. May I also mention her twitter comments are hilarious?  Anna's memoir, Scrappy Little Nobody , is funny, self-deprecating, and full of all the angst and guessing we all go through when we're just starting out in life and have no clue who we are and what we want.  She was always a tiny person and looked years younger than she actually was; this proved to be both an advantage when it came to casting, and a disadvantage when it came to casting.  She loves being on stage, and theater is her first love; acting in Hollywood was the

Once again, I read the sequel and missed the original novel.  Hot Flash Holidays is the follow-up to The Hot Flash Club , but I didn't feel too left out by not reading it first.   Hot Flash Holidays actually takes place over a year, beginning at Christmas, and ending the next year at Christmas.  Five friends, all in their 50's and 60's, begin Christmas with high hopes for happy times with family and friends. Marilyn, Polly, Shirley, Faye, and Alice are all at crossroads in their lives, but none of them are prepared for the ups and downs that life throws at them as their Christmas celebrations fall short of their hoped for good times.  It's an indication of what's to come in the new year, as each woman struggles to find what makes them happy, and balance what they want with the demands of boyfriends, grown children, and for Marilyn, an aging mother who comes to stay with her for an extended visit.  As the year rolls on, and all of the holidays come and go, will eac

I discovered Anita Hughes' novels last year, and I've enjoyed the few that I've read.  I've still got at least two more sitting on my bookshelves.  But I spied this somewhere on the web, and decided it was a perfect read for Christmas.   I'll say right off the bat that I was not enchanted with this novel.  I had to keep reminding myself to suspend my sense of reality and just go with the flow.  Seriously, there's no way this could ever really happen to anyone! Isabel Lawson calls off her wedding three days before the big event.  She realizes her perfect fiance just wasn't a perfect fit.  They both decide it would be a great idea for her to fly to Paris and stay in the ritzy hotel suite they had reserved for their Christmas honeymoon in Paris.  Isabel is a beautiful analyst who works for JP Morgan, and loves numbers.  This is her second broken engagement, and she's a bit puzzled as to why she can't fall in love with the right man.   Isabel meets Alec,

I'm ashamed to say it's taken me years to finally read this book, and I read it because I picked it for a book talk at work.  In light of today's climate regarding immigration, it's even more relevant today than when it was first published in 1997.   At its core, t his book is about the struggle to understand cultures other than our own.  Not understanding or even trying to understand; believing that our culture is the "best" culture and our medicine is infallible can lead to tragedy, as it did in the case of Lia Lee.    Lia's parents and older sibling s came to Calif ornia f rom a re fugee camp after fleeing Laos after the Vietnam War, whe re ma n y Hmong were recruited by the CIA to fight for the American side both on th e ground and as trained pilots.  They believed they would be taken care of by the American s after the war; coming to America was an obvious choice for them. Lia's parents, Foua Yang and Nao Kao Lee didn't speak , write, or r

Where did the year go?  How is it already December?  What?!   My December reading usually consists of fun reads that involve Christmas.  This reading tradition of mine really began in earnest when I was working retail during the holiday season.  Exhausted when I would get home, all I wanted to do was read something fun and escapist, and a little bit of romance was always welcome in the mix.  This Christmas season I've got two out of town weddings to attend, a couple of fun painting sessions, a family Christmas party,  and a chance to see the Nutcracker with friends.  A very busy December. I'm still needing those quiet reading moments to keep me in a festive mood and to recharge my batteries.   I've got a few books that I didn't finish last month that I'll be reviewing this month.  And there may be a few surprises in the mix, too.  The last week of December, I'll be revealing my top ten favorite reads of 2016.   Do you have a special book tradition for the holida