Show Us Your Life ~ What are you reading?

I'm linking up with Kelly and joining in on this week's Show Us Your Life ~ What are you reading?

What I'm reading........along with the latest edition of Real Simple magazine, I've almost finished reading Thursdays at Eight by Debbie Macomber. This is the first book that I've read by her, but it will not be the last! Great book!!! Amazon.com Review Four residents of Willow Creek, California--the youngest in her twenties, the oldest in her late fifties--become acquainted during a journaling class and decide to continue their connection by meeting each Thursday morning for coffee and conversation. They come from very different backgrounds, but their need for friends and support draw them together and bind them in their struggles with life and love. Clare is angry and bitter after a devastating divorce; Elizabeth, a widow, is determined not to waste a moment of the rest of her life; twentysomething Karen is set on becoming an actress despite her family's disapproval; and Julia is approaching her fortieth birthday when an unplanned pregnancy turns her perfect life upside down. As each of the four women cope with cataclysmic upheavals in their lives, they rely more and more on the support of the members of the Thursday morning breakfast club. And as they are faced with difficult choices, each chooses the option dictated by their conscience and their personal moral compass rather than the easy way out.

Books I've read so far this year: I love the movie Julie & Julia, so of course, I had to read the story behind the movie.

Amazon.com Review Julie & Julia is the story of Julie Powell's attempt to revitalize her marriage, restore her ambition, and save her soul by cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I, in a period of 365 days. When we first meet Julie, she's a frustrated temp-to-perm secretary who slaves away at a thankless job, only to return to an equally demoralizing apartment in the outer boroughs of Manhattan each evening. At the urging of Eric, her devoted and slightly geeky husband, she decides to start a blog that will chronicle what she dubs the "Julie/Julia Project." What follows is a year of butter-drenched meals that will both necessitate the wearing of an unbearably uncomfortable girdle on the hottest night of the year, as well as the realization that life is what you make of it and joy is not as impossible a quest as it may seem.

The first book I read by Elin Hilderbrand was The Castaways. I couldn't put it down! The Beach Club was the next book that I chose and it is equally good, although I started it before the holidays last fall and just finished it last month. I love to read but don't always find the time to do it. From Publishers Weekly Inspired by her home island, Nantucket resident and first-time novelist Hilderbrand maps out a sprightly summer saga at the exclusive Nantucket Beach Club and Hotel, from the season's May opening through the October finale. Transplanted Iowa farmboy Mack Petersen begins his 12th summer as hotel manager, wondering if the time has come to ask for a share in the ownership of his beloved adopted home; meanwhile, his gorgeous girlfriend, Maribel Cox, is dropping strong hints about getting married. Aging owner Bill Elliott returns from winter in Aspen with several conundrums: he begins to receive mysterious, anonymous letters from someone insistently offering to buy the property; his rebellious 18-year-old daughter, Cecily, refuses to learn about managing the family business; he fears growing old and broods on the uncertain future of his hotel. Besides the usual duties of housekeeping and keeping wealthy guests happy, Mack also contends with the subtle hostility of Vance Robbins, the African-American bellman who envies Mack's position and his girl; a hurricane that threatens to destroy the hotel; and tempting job offers that promise a new life away from Nantucket. Newcomer Love O'Donnell has been hired to work the hotel's reception desk, but her real mission is to find a man to father the child she desperately wants before her biological clock runs out, while callow college graduate Jem Crandall develops a hopeless crush on Maribel. Faithful to the easy rhythm of a real-life summer resort, the novel is lively with guests new and old who bring fresh problems to the plot. Though somewhat predictable, these summer escapades have a strong emotional pull, and readers will remain absorbed until the surprising denouement. Agent, Michael Carlisle. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.