"In Need of a Good Wife" by Kelly O'Connor McNees

Light and Entertaining

In Need of a Good Wife by Kelly O'Connor McNees is a post-civil war historical fiction novel about mail-order brides seeking a new start. When Clara sees an ad for wives needed in Nebraska, she sees it as a business opportunity and becomes matchmaker for women in Manhattan who want a new start and are willing to go to Nebraska. She contacts the mayor of the Nebraska town, Destination, and when the gentlemen seeking wives write, she tells the women about them and they correspond for months before their trip. The story focuses on Clara, Elsa, an older lady who was a laundress most of her life who never married and Rowena, the prettiest in town who is a broke widow with a father in an asylum in need of money to take care of him.

I loved this book because it is unpredictable and filled with interesting characters. Some of the marriages panned out nicely while others did not, but the plot thickens when Clara was unable to deliver what she promised and the gentlemen without brides want their money back and charge her with fraud! My favorite character was Elsa. This one has discussion questions in the back and would make for a good book club selection.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Francona--The Red Sox Years - A Must Read For Sox Fans!

A must read for all Red Sox Fans!

Francona--The Red Sox Years by Terry Francona and Dan Shaughnessy is a really really good book about the years Francona managed the Red Sox.  It was so much fun going back over the two years that they won the world championships!  There is interesting inside stuff too on ownership, players and the things that go on that the average fan knows nothing about.  I have yelled a lot at Francona while watching the Red Sox games when he was manager; but after reading this book, I've gained respect for him.  I wish him luck with Cleveland this year except when they play the Sox.  This one is a must read for all Red Sox fans!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Brain On Fire--My Month of Madness" by Susannah Cahalan GIVEAWAY (Updated)

Here's a non-fiction Must Read!

UPDATED 2/20/13:
Brain On Fire--My Month Of Madness by Susannah Cahalan is her true story about how a rare, mysterious disease almost took her life.  It is a contemporary medical thriller and very scary because it really happened!  It was only because her parents and boyfriend persevered at getting her the help she needed that she survived.  I felt sorry for her and her family as I read her account.  It's really scary that one of the best neurologists in the country just thought she was a drunk having withdrawal symptoms and never even heard of anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis which is what she was finally diagnosed with and treated for. 

This is a fascinating read and I was glad that this journalist recovered enough to write this book about her experience.  The key lesson is to get a second opinion!  I found it interesting for the most part but she lost me when she tried explaining the medical details of how the immune system actually attacks the brain.
(Karen's review, rating 4 stars)

Brain On Fire--My Month Of Madness by Susannah Cahalan is the true story of Susannah who started to have medical problems.  She was misdiagnosed so often that one day she woke up in a hospital and didn't know how she got there.  Wow, what a great read!  

This is a page turner for sure with lots of "wow" factors for me.  The biggest wow is that I got this one to review for free--it's a must read!  I highly recommend it.  I'm so glad you are all better now, Susannah.  Thanks for telling your story and God bless!

(Gerard's review, rating 5++ stars)

We received this book free to review but that did not affect our reviews in any way.  


If you would like this book and live in the USA, just be the first to say so in a comment on this post including your email address so we can contact you for your mailing address.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Me Before You" by Jojo Moyes is a Must Read!

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes centers on two people: Will--an outgoing young man who had it all going on until an accident put him in a wheelchair; and Louisa--a young woman who does not have many skills becomes the caretaker of Will because she needs a job. The interaction between these two is just fantastic! When Louisa finds out about a death pact between Will and his parents, she has a short time to convince Will that life is worth living. How does she go about it and does she succeed? You will have to read the book to find out!

This book had me from page 1. You talk about a page turner, this is it.  You will keep turning pages quickly to see how it ends. The books I really remember are ones I cried over--this is one of them! I highly recommend this as a must read!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Tuesday Teasers: "Brain on Fire" and "Me Before You"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page (well, we cheat and choose specific ones)
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Gerard's

The last thing he sees is a leather glove, a face under a helmet the shock in the man's eyes mirroring his own. There is an explosion as everything fragments.

From page 15 of Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.

Karen's:

There's something wrong with me. This is how a crazy person acts.

From page 32 of Brain on Fire--My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan. (Non-fiction)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!