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Moms Who Read To Escape Their Weary Lives


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You may lose a few brain cells when you become a mother, but you still love to read! Whether you're able to fit in one book per year or 100 between changing diapers and/or taxiing kids to...more »

Discussions: The discussion titles for July and August are...

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The discussion titles for July and August are...
Started by Julie, Sunday, May 25 2008. Last post Tuesday, July 22 2008.

July: An Inconvenient Wife by Megan Chance Nominated by ~*Kim*~

In this gripping historical, Chance (Susannah Morrow) exposes the horrors women faced in late 19th-century New York when they dared to show passion of any kind or repudiate society's norms. Highborn Lucy Carelton suffers from a common female disorder, "hysteria": its symptoms are headaches, excitable reactions and feelings of claustrophobia. Her cold-hearted, nouveau riche husband, William, determined to find her a cure, brings her to several specialists, who recommend everything from an ovariotomy to several months of confinement in a private asylum. At their wits' ends, the Careltons come to the renowned Dr. Victor Seth, a controversial specialist in the new field of neurology, who uses a combination of hypnosis and electrotherapy to cure his patients. Chance ratchets up the tension when Victor and Lucy's patient/doctor relationship crosses the line into something more intimate and intriguing, as Lucy's horrifying childhood and loveless marriage are brought to light in her therapy. The author showcases the class prejudices inherent in New York's high society in the 1880s and aptly depicts the stifling life a woman had to accept. It becomes clear that the healthier and more independent Lucy is, the more threatened and alienated her husband becomes, and the resulting fallout is catastrophic. The role of the unconscious mind and its impact on conscious behavior is explored in depth here, and Chance ends this lightning-paced narrative with a clever twist underscoring the risks one woman takes to be her own person.


August: Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos Nominated by Ladyslott

Cornelia is a single thirtysomething who lives her life like a series of movie moments. She's a manager of a cafe because she hasn't figured out anything better to do. Her ideal man is Cary Grant. And just when she thinks he'll never show up, he does, in the form of Martin Grace. What she doesn't know is that Martin, with his cool charm and debonair demeanor, has a daughter, Clare. And she never would have known that except that Martin, in a state of panic, shows up with the girl at the cafe after her mother had a breakdown and left Clare to fend for herself. Estranged from his daughter for years, Martin doesn't know what to do with her. Both women's stories are told in alternating chapters, Cornelia's in first person, Clare's in third. This is a first novel with some wonderful and heartbreaking moments scattered throughout, along with some moments that are purely contrived for the forward movement of the plot. Overall, it is a sweet story about knowing what you love and why.

Thanks to ~ *Kim* ~ and Ladyslott for suggesting our winning books!
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Colleen S - Tuesday, May 27 2008
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Looking forward to reading both of these titles!
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againstthetide - Friday, May 30 2008
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Oh I really want to read an Inconvenient Wife . . .but I'm so overwhelmed with my TBR list as it is. Sigh.
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Julie - Sunday, June 1 2008
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So read it...I've given in to the dark side of my TBR stacks and have faced the sad truth that I'll never read all the books I want to before I die, so I read the ones that I really want to before the rest of the piles that will likely be buried with me (if I'm lucky and my dh can afford a 15'x15' coffin). We'd love you to join in a book discussion!
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Shan - Tuesday, June 3 2008
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Anita, it's worth moving to the top of your pile!
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Ladyslott - Tuesday, July 22 2008
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I finished Love Walked In today and loved it. I hope others are reading it too!
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lfischer9201 - Tuesday, July 22 2008
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Love Walked in was very good. I read it for my book group a few months ago. The author has another one out that is like a sequel.
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Julie - Tuesday, July 22 2008
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I'm just about finished with it and loving it!
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Ladyslott - Tuesday, July 22 2008
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The sequel is Belong to Me and I just started it.
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