The Double Bind- Chris Bohjalian

The Double Bind- Chris Bohjalian


When college sophomore Laurel Estabrook is attacked while riding her bicycle through Vermont’s back roads, her life is forever changed. Formerly outgoing, Laurel withdraws into her photography and begins to work at a homeless shelter. There she meets Bobbie Crocker, a man with a history of mental illness and a box of photographs that he won’t let anyone see. When Bobbie dies suddenly, Laurel discovers that he was telling the truth: before he was homeless, Bobbie Crocker was a successful photographer who had indeed worked with such legends as Chuck Berry, Robert Frost, and Eartha Kitt.

As Laurel’s fascination with Bobbie’s former life begins to merge into obsession, she becomes convinced that some of his photographs reveal a deeply hidden, dark family secret. Her search for the truth will lead her further from her old life—and into a cat-and-mouse game with pursuers who claim they want to save her.

In this spellbinding literary thriller, rich with complex and compelling characters—including Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan—Chris Bohjalian takes readers on his most intriguing, most haunting, and most unforgettable journey yet.


As well known of an author Chris Bohjalian is I've never read one of his books. I have a couple of them on my shelves that are waiting to be read though, and that puts a smile on my face. Why? Well, because I absolutely loved The Double Bind. For some reason I wasn't surprised by how well the story was. There had to be a reason why he has written so many books.
There are a couple of reasons why this book is now a favorite of mine. I really enjoyed how he incorporated one of my favorite books The Great Gatsby in the story. In fact, he made it almost the center of the story....well a huge part of it at least. Bringing in this element, he was able to move the plot along smoothly and timely. I'm not one that likes a book filled with fillers, and the writing was great in that I found there wasn't any. Everything written in the book served a purpose. The mystery aspect was a page turner, and the ending brilliant. The characters were also solid, and believable.
I won't go into what the story was about because the synopsis above tells all you need to know, and I don't think I can dive into the story without giving away to much information.
Looking forward to reading more of his work. I would definitely recommend this book. Enjoy it!




PRODUCT DETAILS
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books; 1ST edition (February 13, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400047463
ISBN-13: 978-1400047468

TBR Update

Updating the progress on my TBR challenge. Out of the 5 books I had last week to read I only managed to read 3. I will be moving up the 2 left to this week and will add 3 more books to complete the 5 books. Let's hope I can complete all 5 this week.



This weeks books:



Prairie Tales- Melissa Gilbert

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You- Ally Carter

The Lace Reader- Brunonia Barry

Notes From The Backseat- Jody Gehrman

Restless Virgins- Abigail Jones, Marissa Miley

Ever Rising TBR Count

Right now I have 350+ books in my TBR and it's rising. I just went to my local bookstore today and bought 5 more books. Why? Honestly, why do I need more books? Obviously I'm not going to run out. I have a WL of 153 books right now on PBS (paperbackswap.com), and I've decided i'm only going to order those and that's it. No more buying books period. I've said this numerous times before, but never actually did it. This time I'm keeping my word. I've already closed my bookmooch account so that's a good start.

Every week on Sunday I'll list a total of 5 books that I must try to finish. I will mark off as I go, and if any books are left from that week I will move them up to the following week. Let's see if I can get that TBR down...for good.

Book list for this week.

1. The Double Bind- Chris Bohjalian
2. Case Histories- Kate Atkinson
3. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You- Ally Carter
4. Prairie Tale- Melissa Gilbert
5. Almost Single- Advaita Kala

Jen Lancaster

I just read back to back Jen Lancaster. Started with Bitter is the New Black, then jumped to Pretty in Plaid. I feel like I'm one of the last women to read a Jen Lancaster book. I have been hearing alot of good stuff about her, and I couldn't understand what I was waiting for. All four books have been sitting in my TBR just calling me everytime I went looking for a new book to grab, but I would always decide not to grab it, I think because of all the hype I didn't want to be disappointed.

Welllll......I loved them. The two I've read so far were really good. I totally get Mrs. Lancaster. Bitter is the New Black was funny, witty, and I agreed with a lot of what Jen Lancaster said. Does that make me a egomanical, self-centered smart-ass?
BUT my favorite out of the two was Pretty in Plaid. Only because I can relate, I also remember important dates by what I was wearing at the time. Like for instance first date with husband, short black dress with a zipper that went all the way down to the end in the front with black knee high boots (circa 1996). If someone would have pulled down the zipper I would have exposed my matching tiger print Joe Boxer underwear and bra. Pretty in Plaid was a riot, I loved the story about the sorioty girl who had a lewie(LOL!), with the initials LV all over it, and those werent even her initials.

If you haven't read them(which i'm pretty sure most have), go out and get a copy.

A Must Read

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks- E. Lockhart


Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:Debate Club.Her father’s “bunny rabbit.”
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:
A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.

Frankie Laundau-Banks.
No longer the kind of girl to take “no” for an answer.
Especially when “no” means she’s excluded from her boyfriend’s all-male secret society.
Not when her ex boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she’s smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew’s lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.

Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:
Possibly a criminal mastermind.

This is the story of how she got that way.


I absolutely loved this book. If you're looking for some light fun reading, pick this book up. Frankie is a feminist who wants nothing more than to be able to be part of a all male secret society. She is tired of being nothing but arm candy to her boyfriend who belongs to this secret society, and when she feels she isn't getting acknowledged as a equal by him and his buddies she takes matters to her own hands. Don't underestimate Frankie!

Product Details

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (March 25, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786838183

Got a must read? Tell me about it.

Coffee Filter Ideas

I read this interesting article on the internet on Real Simple, 10 New Uses for Coffee Filters. Wanted to share...





Use Coffee Filters to:

1. Diffuse the flash on a camera. When you’re taking a close-up, soften the brightness by placing a coffee filter over the flash.

2. Strain wine from a bottle with a broken cork. Place the filter over a pitcher or a carafe and slowly pour the wine into it.

3. Serve popcorn or other snacks. The filters act as disposable bowls, so there’s no dishwashing.

4. Make yogurt dip. Use a rubber band to secure a paper coffee filter over the mouth of a deep cup or jar. Slowly pour 8 ounces of plain yogurt onto the filter. Let drain for one hour. In a bowl, mix the thickened yogurt with 1 small minced garlic clove, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with crackers.

5. Heat up leftovers in the microwave. Use a filter as the protective covering over a bowl or a plate.

6. Prevent soil from draining out of flowerpots. When repotting, place a filter at the bottom, over the drainage hole, then add the soil.

7. Prevent scuffs and scratches on fine china. Use flattened coffee filters as spacers when you stack your dishes.

8. Protect hands from Popsicle drippage. Slide the wooden stick of an ice pop through a coffee filter so your hands stay mess-free.

9. Serve pita sandwiches. A circular filter is the perfect size for carrying a sandwich on the go.

10. Clean windows and glass when you’re out of paper towels. Coffee filters leave no lint or other residue.


Pretty cool, huh?

Heres the link to the article.

April's Book of the Month- Time of My Life- Allison Winn Scotch

Time of My Life- Allison Winn Scotch


Jillian Westfield has the perfect suburban life straight out of the upscale women's magazines that she obsessively reads. She’s got the modern-print rugs of Metropolitan Home, the elegant meals from Gourmet, the clutter-free closets out of Real Simple, and the elaborate Easter egg hunts seen in Parents. With her successful investment banker husband behind the wheel and her cherubic eighteen-month-old in the backseat, hers could be the family in the magazines’ glossy Range Rover ads.

Yet somehow all of the how-to magazine stories in the world can’t seem to fix her faltering marriage, banish the tedium of days spent changing diapers, or stop her from asking, “What if?”

Then one morning Jillian wakes up seven years in the past. Before her daughter was born. Before she married Henry. Suddenly she’s back in her post–grad school Ikea-furnished Manhattan apartment. She’s back in her fast-paced job with the advertising agency. And she’s still with Jackson, the ex-boyfriend and star of her what-if fantasies.

Armed with twenty-twenty hindsight, she’s free to choose all over again. She can use the zippy ad campaigns from her future to wow the clients and bosses in her present. She can reconnect with the mother who abandoned her so many years before. She can fix the fights at every juncture that doomed her relationship with Jackson. Or can she?

With each new choice setting off a trajectory of unforeseen consequences, Jillian soon realizes that getting to happily ever after is more complicated than changing the lines in her part of the script. Happiness, it turns out, isn’t an either-or proposition. As she closes in on all the things she thought she wanted, Jillian must confront the greatest what-if of all: What if the problem was never Henry or Jackson, but her?




What if I could go back and change the course of my life? What would I do different? Those are the kind of questions Jillian gets the opportunity to answer. She's bored with living the cookie cutter suburban life and not happy with where she is at in life and starts to look at her old life, ie. boyfriend, job, city life with rose colored glasses. Does a trip to the past change that? Read the book to find out.

Jillian did get on my nerves sometimes with the constant whining about her life, but I whine sometimes too, so she stayed true to what a SAHM sometimes feels.


PRODUCT DETAILS

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books; 1 edition (October 7, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307408574
ISBN-13: 978-0307408570