I picked this up for about 50 cents from the sale cart at the library, because I've always been a sucker for sister stories (possibly b/c I'm one of three girls and I myself have three daughters). I was pleasantly surprised - it was an engaging read that was pleasantly light with some surprising twists and characters that were multi-dimensional.

I bailed about 2/3 through due to nausea re: its central thesis i.e. Things go badly because you are not manifesting hard enough or are not "vibrating" at a high enough level. So...are children with terminal cancer not vibrating "high" enough or manifesting hard enough? The dark underbelly of Jen's philosophy (shared by many writers, especially those who write for Hay House) = When bad things happen to people they are ultimately to blame.

My bestselling My Grape Escape is 99 cents on Amazon today. That's pretty darn inexpensive for a trip to the vineyards of Burgundy, France! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GR32VCO

My latest #getindie #bookhaul from Munros in #yyj . Anyone read any of these?

I almost can't believe I'm rating a GH book "so-so" as I worship so many of her stories. Still, her Regency romances are where my heart lies and I find I can't get as invested in the heros in her books set in an earlier time period with their powdered wigs and high heels.

#getindie Munros - My favourite Indie bookstore in #yyj . Basically heaven on earth. I fantasize about getting locked in overnight and can never go in without coming out with a stack of books.

I can't remember where I picked up this book but I generally enjoy Jane Feather's Historical Romances. This one had me galloping on a Cossack stallion across the Russian steppes to rendezvous with my gray-eyed Polish lover. I adored the setting and became attached to the characters - good read. This will be going in my free library tomorrow so someone else can travel to Kiev.

How can you not love this book??? I mean...look at that face on the cover...I rest my case. I had never heard of Una Lamarche before but she is predictably (going by the cover photo) hilarious and willing to make fun of herself for our benefit. I chortled all the way through. As delightful as that epic Unibrow.

IMHO Hillenbrand is one of the best non-fiction writers out there these days. Like the equally riveting "Seabiscuit" (and I don't even like horses that much) Unbroken is a meticulously researched page-turner that provides huge insight into human nature. Also, the stuck in a raft section of this book...holy cr@p.

Check out this pile 'o books I bought second hand from my local library for the princely sum of $2.50 (total). Even Stella is amazed! Best deal in town.

Deco mags = boring.The photos have all been shot in the same, soulless house inhabited by people w/ interior lives that howl with emptiness like the Arctic wasteland.Don't get me started on those pillows styled w/ "rabbit ears" by a person that has her / his butt cheeks so firmly clenched that if you shoved a piece of coal up there in a few days you'd get a diamond.Becker's book is full of quirkiness, patina, and a refreshing dose of disorder. :)

Pursuant to my review a few posts down, I clearly spent my $27 on the wrong book. It is the one on the right that was written with me in mind. Running out to get my copy tomorrow.

This book, written by my friend and Serious Poet (she's won so many prestigious literary prizes I'm not even going to try to list them here) Suzanne Buffam, made me think poetry has been missing in my life. I read it every night before falling asleep (it is a pillow book, after all). Suzanne's sly humour and intriguing lists followed me into my dreams. I could completely relate to the surrealism of trying to combine a writing life and motherhood.

The cannibalism section is...ahem...detailed. It actually made me feel quite gaggy (I was eating ham at the time which in retrospect was not a wise choice). Of course, I couldn't tear myself away because CANNIBALISM. My morbid curiosity sucked up every detail like the castaways sucked the marrow out of their friends' bones. I wonder if the movie includes bone-suckage as I think a cannibalistic hero would be a very tricky thing to pull off indeed.

My brave comrades in #24in48 - may I suggest my latest tome if your eyes are going blurry? It's a fast read at only 53,000 words and the Ebook is available for only $2.99 on Amazon.

Someone left this in our free library...cannot imagine it will interest a huge % of my neighbours but the books left in my library so far (I.e. Illustrated compilation of Indian erotica) make me think that maybe my neighbours have a great capacity to surprise me.

Another month, another iron infusion. I'm reading this book since I finished 'The Martian' and I'm learning a ton about the whaling trade in 19C Nantucket. Not something I ever thought I was interested in but actually super riveting. I'll let you know if it ends as well as it began...I know there will be shipwreck and cannibalism involved so how can it NOT be good?!?

This seems to be the Summer of Space Books for me. I think I'm drawn to the theme right now because like Mark Watney's fight for survival on Mars I will hopefully be waging my own fight for survival soon via a life-saving liver transplant. I loved Watney's twisted humour and sheer tenacity. Like the Hermes space-ship with its ion engines this story gained constant velocity as I flipped the pages. No wonder it's a bestseller.

Contrary to expectations this was a WAY better retelling of one of Austen's stories than Trollope's S&S.Lizzy is a scholarship student at a snotty East Coast prep school (Longbourne-natch).It's like P&P mated with Gossip Girl. Total guilty pleasure. I bought it for my 14 yr old but got to it first.

I wanted to love this book but really all I wanted to do was smack all (and I mean ALL) the characters.Trollope completely misses the fact that women in the Regency era were helpless because marriage was their only option.Such apathy in 20 C women is not only unbelievable,but fist-gnawingly boring.

I put this is my free library today.I paid $25 for it in a fit of what only could have been liver-damage induced confusion. In what world would I ever be able to NOT create a path of clutter behind me? In what world would I ever become a pathologically tidy minimalist? Not this one, that's for sure.

I was concerned that as I am currently fighting a life-threatening disease (PSC) the whole corpses / death thing would stoke my anxiety. Nah. Not only was this a riveting read but it actually calmed me down re:death. All those bodies were just...bodies - even the guy killed in the egg roll machine.

Just ordered the proof of the 4th book - My Grape Wedding - in my bestselling "Grape" series. Cannot wait to be holding a paperback copy in my hands. For this writer, that's the moment it finally becomes real.

I always have a romance on the go,and this pair from Nora Roberts were predictable,yes,but light and likeable and with some sex scenes that had me doffing my imaginary hat to the author.Well played Ms. Roberts...well played...These books were snapped up from my free library in about a nanosecond.

Our free library has been filled with some great new books - come by and check it out if you are in Victoria. Grab a book and head to the beach to enjoy the elusive sunshine.

I'm running a giveaway to celebrate the publication of the 4th book in my 'Grape' series. Enter to win by writing an Amazon review for my newest tome - My Grape Wedding. The winner gets this market basket that I convinced my husband to haul back from France & copies of the whole series in paperback.

Uh oh. Was let loose in Victoria's magnificent bookstore Munro's again this evening. I decided they need shopping carts like Whole Foods.

This was a fascinating story about WW II spies and a double agent from the Old Boy's Club who was a secret communist for decades before being caught. Ian Fleming appears, as do a multitude of other fascinating characters.

My Dad recommended this book and it was absorbing as he promised. Browder's story about how he transformed from a high flying financier into an accidental human rights activist in post-communist Russia made me turn the pages until well into the wee hours.

Irony=reading a book about a 30yr old's rehab stint for alcoholism while getting an iron infusion due to a rare, auto-immune liver disease (PSC) that means I haven't touched alcohol in the past 4+ years.Slow going at the start but actually ended up being quite engaging (and I learned about rehab!).

When you inadvertently colour-coordinate your current book with your wall, cushions, and youngest daughter's pants...#bookwormgoals

The perfect book to read while waiting to hear if you've been accepted as a liver transplant candidate? This one, as it turns out.Absorbing, educational (learned so much about Vermeer), and an absolute page turner.Also, nothing at all to do with health / livers / transplants. I was accepted BTW :) .

Triomphe! We finished our little library today. Clémentine helped me with the final touches and is super proud. As a reader and a writer (4th book My Grape Wedding coming soon) I have wanted to build one of these for a long while. I will occasionally pop some of my own books in there too.

Don't tell anyone, but sometimes when I read Georgette's books like Sylvester I find myself wondering if she is not even BETTER than Jane Austen. I know, I know...tantamount to heresy but the quirky, mutinous, novelist heroine and the wicked Uncle Sylvester may change even your mind.

If books could grow testicles, The Right Stuff would have a bull-sized pair. It is all sweaty, hairy, machismo but the story of the first group of test pilots turned astronauts is a breathless one that will keep you turning the pages well into the night. You might need a cigarette afterwards though.

This is what happens when I am fed sushi and left to browse at Munro's in Victoria.

If I could have an affair with a book, it would be The Grand Sophy. I adore this heroine beyond measure and whenever I am feeling timid or unsure I pick up this book and re-read it (I seriously read it about 10x / year). I find my inner badass and adventurer all over again. I 💗 Georgette Heyer.

I was geared up for a dishy book from the author of "Diana" but even though the story of Wallace & Edward doesn't lack in salacious details it gets mired up in the legalese of the plot of trying to cover up their affinity with the nazis. Give me sex! Give me family feuds! Give me ballsy broads!

I was on an astronaut reading kick (sparked by re-watching Apollo 13 - great flic BTW) so pounced on this book. The wives' stories were bizarre and fascinating, but the book tried to spread itself too thin. A tighter focus on fewer (the most interesting) women would have given the story more depth.

I found the first two books in this serious (or three...can't remember) pleasant reads enhanced by a compelling heroine. This one feels completely different - unrelentingly dark and blah. The story feels bogged down like a soaking pair of shoes. I gave up a little more than half way through.

A bible for me during this gruelling week of liver transplant assessment. Here's why: "The most terrible and beautiful and interesting things happen in a life. Whatever happens to you belongs to you. Feed it to yourself even if it feels impossible to swallow. Let it nurture you, because it will."

One of my main concerns as I packed to come to Edmonton for a week of assessment at the transplant clinic here for an eventual liver transplant was - which books do I pack?!? Turns out of all the ones I brought this was the one I devoured. Quirky. Insightful. Completely escapist yet utterly human.

I LOVED this book. I bought it at Value Village for $2.99 and devoured it in 24 hours. I saw her fantastic TED talk but the book gives so many more dimensions to her insights as a brain scientist experiencing a stroke. So many insights into reality, death, anxiety, peace...an extraordinary book.

Really enjoyed this latest from JB. I grew up reading her books do hearing her voice is like rediscovering an old friend. Her characters are quirky and human and the story events were eerie enough to keep me completely hooked. A unique but very Blume-ish book. Highly recommended!

On BC Ferries to Vancouver reading the last book in the great "Survivors" series by Mary Balogh (regency romance). Nice, gentle story so far.