Friday, June 22, 2018

BOOK BIRTHDAY BLITZ: Tilting by Nicole Harkin

Tilting

BOOK INFORMATION
Genre: Memoir
  • Paperback: 204 pages
  • Publisher: Black Rose Writing 
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1612968929
  • ISBN-13: 978-1612968926
  • ASIN: B073GLC47F

small_tilting

Synopsis: We only learned about our father's girlfriend after he became deathly ill and lay in a coma 120 miles from our home.

Overhearing the nurse tell Linda--since I was nine I had called my mom by her first name--about the girlfriend who came in almost every day to visit him when we weren't there confirmed that the last moment of normal had passed us by without our realizing it. Up to then our family had unhappily coexisted with Dad flying jumbo jets to Asia while we lived in Montana. We finally came together to see Dad through his illness, but he was once again absent from a major family event--unable to join us from his comatose state. This is the moment when our normal existence tilted.

Dad recovered, but the marriage ailed, as did Linda, with cancer. Our family began to move down an entirely different path with silver linings we wouldn't see for many years.

In this candid and compassionate memoir which recently won a Gold Award in The Wishing Shelf Book Award, Nicole Harkin describes with an Impressionist's fine eye the evolution of a family that is quirky, independent, uniquely supportive, peculiarly loving and, most of all, marvelously human.
Purchase Links


Review: This is a very touching, compelling portrait of a unique family. It is a quick read that you'll want to finish in one sitting. The author doesn't sugarcoat her life, nor does she try to make us feel sorry for her. She presents the facts in a realist manner, allowing the reader to find their own reaction to each part of the story. Throughout the book, we go back and forth between Nicole's childhood and her adult life, learning that discovering her father's girlfriend, as described in the blurb, is hardly the beginning of the unusual in her life. I laughed, I cried, and I cringed at some of the situations in this family.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book from Rachel's Random Resources.

Rating: Four stars

About the author
7037433Nicole Harkin currently resides in Washington, DC with her husband and two small children. She works as a writer and family photographer. As a Fulbright Scholar during law school, Nicole lived in Berlin, Germany where she studied German environmentalism. Her work can be found in Thought Collection and you are here: The Journal of Creative Geography. She is currently working on a mystery set in Berlin. Her photography can be seen at www.nicoleharkin.com.
Social Media Links –


Friday, June 1, 2018

2018 Alphabet Soup Challenge--May Update

alphabet 2018
(Titles in parentheses are still to be read)

A--Ambushed In Paradise, Deborah Brown

B--Beginnings, Helen Christmas

C-- (The)Celebration, Wanda E. Brunstetter

D--Devil In Ohio, Daria Polatin

E--Everything Happens For A Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved, Kate Bowler

F--Fifth Night, Kathi Daley

G--Ginger Snapped, Gail Oust

H--Happiness For Humans, P.Z. Reizen

I--I Like Church But, Dan Lupton

J--Jerusalem Rising, Barbara Britton

K--((The) Kennedy Wives: Triumph and Tragedy In America's Most Public Family, Amber Hunt)

  

L--Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng

M--(Miranda Warning, Heather Day Gilbert)

N--No One Ever Asked, Katie Ganshert

O--(The) Orphan Daughter,  Cari Noga

P--(A) Passionate Hope, Jill Eileen Smith

Q--(Mrs. Queen Takes The Train, William Kuhn)

R--Rules Of Rain, Leah Scheier

S--Survival Of The Fritters, Ginger Bolton

T--This Is Where It Ends, Marieke Nijkamp

U--Unafraid, Adam Hamilton

V--Visions, Helen J. Christmas

W-- What She Left, Rosie Fiore

X--

Y--(The) Year Of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs

Z--

2018 Literary Escapes Challenge--May Update

2018 LITERARY ESCAPES CHALLENGE new
(Titles in parentheses are still to be read)


Alabama--This Is Where It Ends, Marieke Nijkamp
Alaska--  (Before I Let Go, Marieke Nijkamp)
Arizona-- (Wedding Cake Crumble, Jenn McKinlay)
Arkansas--(Shakespeare's Landlord, Charlaine Harris)
California--The Big Job, Libby Kirsch
Colorado--(Needled To Death, Maggie Sefton)
Connecticut--Autumn Of Fear, Glede Browne Kabongo
Delaware--(She'll Never Tell, Hunter Morgan)
District of Columbia--Unified, Trey Gowdy and Tim

Florida--Ambushed In Paradise, Deborah Brown
Georgia--Ginger Snapped, Gail Oust
Hawaii--(Blood Orchids,Toby Neal)
Idaho--(Blue Heaven, C.J. Box)
Illinois--The Good Liar, Catherine McKenzie
Indiana--Biscuits And Slashed Browns, Maddie Day
Iowa--(The Weight Of Silence, Heather Gudenkauf)
Kansas--Blood And Salt, Kim Liggett
Kentucky--(Cake And Punishment, Maymee Bell)
Louisiana--(The Gilda Stories, Jewelle Gomez)
Maine--(All The Blue-Eyed Angels, Jen Blood)
Maryland--(Baltimore Blues, Laura Lippman)
Massachusetts--The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry, Gabrielle Zevin
Michigan--The Orphan Daughter, Cari Noga
Minnesota--(Paws And Effect, Sofie Kelly)
Mississippi--(Mudbound, Hillary Jordan)
Missouri--No One Ever Asked, Katie Ganshert
Montana--Rules of Rain, Leah Scheier
Nebraska--(Thorns Of Rosewood, G.M. Barlean)
Nevada--Panty Raid, Diane Vallere
New Hampshire--(Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult)
New Jersey--Hummus And Homicide, Tina Kashian
New Mexico--(Deadly Gamble, Connie Shelton)
New York--The Hamilton Affair, Elizabeth Cobbs
North Carolina--To Be Where You Are, Jan Karon
North Dakota--(Badlands, C.J. Box)
Ohio--Devil In Ohio, Daria Polatin
Oklahoma--(Loved, P.C. Cast)
Oregon--Homecoming By The Sea, Kathi Daley
Pennsylvania--Pawprints and Predicaments, Bethany Blake
Rhode Island--(Spellcaster, Claudia Gray)
South Carolina--The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead 
South Dakota--By The Shores Of Silver Lake, Laura Ingalls Wilder
Tennessee--(Funeral Dress, Susan Gregg Gilmore)
Texas--The Pajama Frame, Diane Vallere
Utah--(The 19th Wife, David Ebershoff)
Vermont--(House Rules, Jodi Picoult)
Virginia--(Crazy, VA, Shannon Hill)
Washington--Farewell To Felines, Kathi Daley
West Virginia--(Miranda Warning, Heather Day Gilbert)
Wisconsin--Survival Of The Fritters, Ginger Bolton
Wyoming--(A Fresh Start, Trisha Grace)



International Settings
Israel--Jerusalem Rising, Barbara Britton
England--Beginnings, Helen Christmas
Turkey--Searching For Gertrude, D.E. Haggerty
The Netherlands--The Dinner, Herman Koch
Scotland--The Whisperer, A. Ireland King