Novelas Romanticas Gratis

One positive about winter is that I don't have any yard work to do for months. Now that Spring has sprung, my yard is looking pretty ragged, and is going to require some time to fertilize, pull weeds, plant bulbs, and add grass in spots that used to be garden spaces. The days of spending all afternoon outside puttering in my yard are, sadly, gone. Now it's all about cultivating a few lovely spaces that don't take an enormous amount of time for upkeep. And most importantly, spaces I can view from my deck.  And the deck, well, that's my summer reading spot. I can't wait to pull out my pillows, umbrella, comfy chairs, and put some tropical foliage around to create my perfect place of peaceful reading.  My April reads were slightly better than my March choices, and I know May will be even better. I'm way behind in my reading goal, and that's all down to what I'm reading, and how much time I have to read. Too many nights I've come home from work and just

Ruth Reichl saved me this month. She got me out of a reading funk. When my life is a bit hectic, and I'm feeling stressed and just blah, I like to read something light and fun. If it includes food, even better.  Ruth's memoir centers on her time as Editor in Chief of Gourmet magazine for ten years, up until the day it suddenly folded. Known as the New York Times food critic, she ate out 14 times a week, was rarely home at night, and conscious that her son was growing up and she wasn't spending time at home with her family. Approached to take the job at Gourmet, she was a bit flabbergasted. She had no experience with magazines; she'd been a journalist, writer, and food critic for years-but no magazine experience. Gourmet magazine held a special place in Ruth's heart. She had begun reading the magazine as a young girl and yes, even tried some of the recipes for her family. Now she had the chance to be the editor of the magazine! Still uncertain, she finally listened t

I read this novel a week ago and discussed it with my book group last Tuesday. Even time away from it, and our group discussion, doesn't help my "meh" opinion about this thriller.  Some readers absolutely do not like to read novels where they can't find a character likable, and that certainly was the case for a few of my fellow book group members. I prefer to like characters; but I've also found that disliking one or more (or in this case, all) of the characters can make for an interesting read. Or not. I was really hoping this would be a good thriller, but it was full of holes, characters that didn't learn a darn thing from previous screw ups, and left a very unsatisfying ending.  Four women are brought together after many years apart when a body is unearthed on a beach near the English seaside village of Salten. Seventeen years before, the women, then young teens, had become fast friends while attending boarding school. Kate, Thea, Fatima, and Freya had a ga

I've never read a Kurt Vonnegut novel before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I bought Galapagos on the recommendation of my brother. Uh...I bought it a few years ago, and it's been sitting on my bookcase. But once again, a book group spurred me on to pick it up and finally dive into a truly odd tale. Published in 1985, Galapagos is told from the viewpoint of a ghost. Yes, a ghost. He's connected to the story through a ship that becomes, in a weird way, a modern Noah's Ark. Oh, and the story is told from a million years in the future. It's A.D. 1986, and an apocalypse is brewing all over the world. A group of guests have gathered at the El Dorado Hotel in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. These guests are all bound for a trip to the Galapagos Islands for a spectacular cruise aboard the Bahia de Darwin. Little do they all know that in the space of a few short hours, two will be dead, one will be dying, and a new human race will come down to one man, a high school

I'm always interested in reading about Lizzie Borden, her life, and of course the infamous murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts on August 4, 1892. Not only was she found not guilty of their murders, but Lizzie and her sister Emma inherited their father's modest fortune, and she never left Fall River. Instead, she bought a large house, named it Maplecroft, and lived the life of a shunned citizen until her death in 1927.   The Trial of Lizzie Borden is an examination of the murder, inquest, and trial that took place in 1892-93. What I like about Cara Robertson's approach is that she doesn't try to solve the mystery--did Lizzie do it? If not who did? Instead, she presents all the evidence, the trial transcripts, and all of the newspaper headlines and articles of the day. You decide, at the end, whether you believe she committed the murders-and if she did, if she acted alone, or was in cahoots with her sister.  What I find fascinating about this

I was pretty excited to get my hands on this novel. I'm always geared up to read about libraries, bookstores...anything to do with books. This was a gentle novel that I'm glad I read before I dip into The Trial of Lizzie Borden. I needed a little light before I hit the heavy.  Martha is a middle-aged librarian in a small English town near the sea. She lives alone after caring for her aging parents for years. In caring for them, she lost her chance at marriage and having a family of her own. She's always saying yes to people who ask her for favors. So much so that her home is filled with all sorts of projects she's taken on  and never seems to complete: hemming pants, fixing a paper mache dragon; and yes, even doing someone's laundry. Add to that all the boxes of her parent's belongings that she still needs to sort through. All that clutter has cluttered her mind. The man who runs her library (from an office in a neighboring town) has turned her down multiple tim