Share Your Winter Reading

Harford County Public Library's Winter Reading Program has been up and running for a couple of weeks now. It's called, "Let Your Imagination Run Wild: Read!" All you have to do to participate is sign up. If you read 5 books by March 1, 2008, you receive a free gift! Just check with your local branch for details.

I have signed up, and for doing so I have received my free Winter Reading Pen. I love those pens because they have a nice heft to them! The pen is going to come in very useful as I fill in my five titles on my book log, which I will turn in to my branch for my free gift.

So far, I've only read one and three-quarter books, and some odd pages of two or three others; however, already branch librarians have been receiving completed book logs from swifter readers than me. With permission, librarians are sending me titles from these book logs so that I can make booklists of readers' recommendations. I thought it would be nice for people to share their favorites, and also for you to see what others have read and liked.

If you put a star on your book log by the book you most recommend, we will share that recommendation with other readers. You in your turn can get an idea of what other people have liked recently by checking out the Winter Reading Booklist on Readers Place. I will keep it updated throughout Winter Reading.

Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison

Hi
This is my new winter avatar, wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and a Great New Year. Before I go into the review of Shoe Addicts Anonymous, the Abingdon Book Group pick for December, I want to remind you of the fantastic Winter Reading Program for Adults and High School Teens that begins in all branches on January 2nd. Register to take part and you will receive a small gift, if you complete the reading you will receive another gift. Do what you already love to do and get a reward! "Let your Imagination Run Wild, Read". Details are available online or at your local branch.


Beth Harbison lives in Maryland with her husband and two children and 3 dogs.

Shoe Addicts came out as a summer beach read in 2007, but is more than just another chick lit book. Although it is light reading, it covers some serious ground as it deals with the loneliness, fears, and dissatisfactions of four very different women. It gets 4 out of 5 stars in Amazon.com and many 5 star ratings from readers.

Publishers Weekly had this to say:
Arriving just in time for beach-read season, the effervescent hardcover fiction debut of cookbook author and romance novelist Harbison features four D.C.-area women who meet weekly to swap and chat about... shoes. Trying to get a handle on her massive consumer debt, Lorna Rafferty posts an Internet ad looking to trade footwear with women who have good taste and wear size seven-and-a-half. A senator's trophy wife, Helene Zaharis, is dreaming of escaping her loveless marriage when she stumbles upon Lorna's post. Overweight phone sex operator Sandra Vanderslice struggles to overcome her agoraphobia long enough to attend the shoe meetings. After a few funny missteps, the threesome finds a fourth member, Joss Bowen, the nanny of a shrewish socialite's hellion boys. Joss couldn't care less about shoes, but uses the group as a reason to get out of the house. Harbison does a fine job of showcasing how each woman is trapped—Lorna by her debt, Helene by her marriage, Sandra by her self-image, Joss by her employment contract—and how the fresh eyes of the group allow them to see themselves in a new light. Harbison creates vivid, convincing characters and handles them well. Reading this novel is like eating a slice of cake. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The book group really enjoyed this book, and all said they would read other books by this author, so they will be pleased to note that Secrets of a Shoe Addict by Beth Harbison is due to be published Jun 10, 2008. They thought the characters were realistic and their problems a true reflection of the difficulties women face, from adulterous husbands to out of control finances. The book ends a little too neatly but very pleasantly with all ends nicely tied. For entertainment with feeling this is a humorous and endearing read.