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Refreshed from a road trip | Weekly Snapshot

I'm getting an extremely late start to this post. After the long drive yesterday back home and then a late evening meetup with our neighbors, I was out of juice very fast and needed to crash. And what does Sunday morning mean after a busy week? Tis a day full of chores. Ugh.  Life We spent this past week in Boston with my brother-in-law and his wife. We all got the break we needed - we did some shopping, watched lots of TV, and enjoyed lots of family time. I started writing this post on our drive back but didn't get to schedule in advance. We opted to drive the 13-hour route so although it made for some very long days, it felt good to get out of the house and enjoy a road trip. The weather cooperated all the days in all the places we were in those days so that was a plus.  As always after a long vacation, we have come back to a lot to do. I have so much to catch up with and need to do some of that today as there's just as much to do on the work front from tomorrow.  Renovat

Friday Finds -- Jan 22, 2010

Friday Finds

This meme is hosted by MizB at Should be reading. What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

My finds

I added a LOT of books this past week. But I'll post just a few.



Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Five months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets.
Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life
.





The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
It starts with a question, a simple favor asked of a husband by his wife on an afternoon chilled by the Baltic wind while both are painting in their studio. Her portrait model has canceled, and would he mind slipping into women's shoes and stockings for a few moments so that she can finish the painting on time? "Of course," he answers, "Anything at all." With that, one of the most passionate and unusual love stories of the twentieth century begins." "Inspired by the true story of Danish painter Einar Wegener and his California-born wife; this tender portrait of a marriage asks: What do you do when someone you love wants to change? Einar dresses more and more as Lili - the name given to her by Greta - and what started off as a game becomes a way of life for Greta and Einar. With Lili as her muse, Greta's paintings begin to flourish. A French art dealer spots her work and the couple moves to Paris for the sake of Greta's career. In the permissive air of Paris between the wars, Lili is liberated and increasingly becomes Greta's companion on public outings. As Einar fades into memory they realize that a choice must be made: Lili or Einar. Greta finds a surgeon-psychologist at the Dresden Municipal Women's Clinic, and Einar travels to Germany to become, once and for all, Lili Elbe.





Banished by Sophie Littlefield
Sixteen-year-old Hailey Tarbell can’t wait for the day she’ll leave Gypsum, Missouri, far behind, taking only four-year-old Chub, the developmentally-delayed little boy her cruel drug-dealing grandmother fosters for the state money. But when a freak accident in gym class leaves a girl in critical condition, Hailey feels drawn to lay her hands on the injured girl and an astonishing healing takes place. Before Hailey can understand her new powers, a beautiful stranger shows up…just in time to save her and Chub from hired killers. A desperate race begins, with Hailey as the ultimate prize: there are those who will stop at nothing to harness her gifts to create an undefeatable army of the undead. Now it is up to Hailey and a small but determined family of healers to stand up to the unbelievable and face the unthinkable.





The Timer Game by Susan Arnout Smith
Grace Descanso was going to be a pediatric heart surgeon---she was a brilliant up-and-comer with a bright future in a heartbreaking, innovative field. Then she took two months off to work in a clinic in Guatemala, and something happened there that nearly destroyed her. She won’t talk about why, but she quit medicine and nearly killed herself with drink. Finally, inch by inch, she pulled it all together for her new baby girl. Now, five years later, though she’s sworn off practicing as a doctor, Grace is using her science background as a crime scene tech in San Diego and going to AA meetings, scraping by and living to be a mom to five-year-old Katie.
Everything falls apart again when in the middle of processing a crime scene Grace shoots a madman after he’s killed two of her colleagues and after he’s called her by name, in a bizarre kind of warning, about someone he called “the Spikeman.” A day later, her daughter is kidnapped right out from under her, and instead of a ransom note, the kidnapper sends her on a harrowing twenty-four-hour scavenger hunt, laying out clues and giving out deadlines, leading her carefully, terrifyingly closer to Katie---and to him.


Comments

wow, you discovered a bunch of books this week! i've been a bit idle with my blog--trying to get midterm exams graded so i can take a mini-break--so i haven't seen much to read. a few YAs did catch my eye--an abundance of katherines comes to mind. enjoy the weekend!
Alayne said…
These all look nice and intriguing! My find is at The Crowded Leaf.
bermudaonion said…
Those are all good finds! Everyone seems to love Hate List, but I'm not sure I could handle it.
Tales of Whimsy said…
O the last one sounds intriguing.
Marce said…
I can't wait to read Hate List either and The Timer Game sounds good also.
Alyce said…
I don't know how I missed Hate List, but I have to put that one on my TBR list.
Cat said…
Some great sounding books on your list.
Athira said…
nat, I understand that feeling. I had grading to do in my first graduate semester and I was glad to be done with it. Not that it was crazy, but mixing grading with thesis work is a definite no-no!

Alayne, Cat, thanks! :)

bermudaonion, I've been hearing about the book a lot lately too!

Juju, I agree!

MarceJ, I'm with you on that!

Alyce, that books sounds interesting, doesn't it?
Kristen said…
The Danish Girl sounds really intriguing.
I'm a little behind, but I love the cover for Banished! Hate List and The Timer Game sound intense.

I have an award for you at my blog!
Athira said…
Kristen, it definitely sounds good. His "The 19th Wife" was also making the news lately.

Jennifer, I agree Hate List and The Timer Game definitely sounds like one of those intense topics!
The Hate List is on my wish list! Some good finds here :)
Alena said…
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Alena

http://ovarianpain.net
Athira said…
Thanks Alena! Glad that you drop by! :)
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