Book Booty #5

I figured it was about time to sneak a photo of one of my cats in these posts, so here is Howard, my lovable yet oh-so-annoying boy. And yes, his one ear is deformed, but don’t mention it because he’s a little sensitive (actually, he suffered a hematoma a few years back and now we lovingly call it Howie’s bum ear).

I got a copy of Stone Creek from Book Club Girl (you don’t know about Book Club Girl? Tsk tsk)! Stop on by her very informative blog sometime. As described at the HarperCollins site:

In the small town of Stone Creek, a random encounter offers two lonely people a chance at happiness.

Danny, a young widower, still grieves for his late wife, but for the sake of his five-year-old son, Caleb, he knows he must move on. Alone in her summer house, Lily has left her workaholic husband, Paul, to his long hours and late nights back in the city. In Stone Creek, she can yearn in solitude for the treasure she’s been denied: a child.

What occurs when Lily and Danny meet is immediate and undeniable—despite Lily being ten years older and married. But ultimately it is little Caleb’s sadness and need that will tip the scales, upsetting a precarious balance between joy and despair, between what cannot happen. . and what must.

An unforgettable novel of tremendous emotional heft, Stone Creek brilliantly illuminates how the powers of love and loss transform the human heart.

Now, for something a little lighter, I got The Next Thing on My List, again from the very nice people at Three Rivers Press.  

From the Amazon.com website:

June Parker’s life is meandering along until a freak car accident leaves Marissa, her 24-year-old passenger, dead and June wracked with guilt. June discovers a list Marissa had been keeping of 25 things she wanted to do by the time she turned 25. After a run-in with Marissa’s brother, June resolves to complete the list. Kissing a total stranger and throwing away her scale prove far easier than pitching an idea at work or changing someone’s life. But June approaches the list with aplomb, daring to speak up about being passed over for a manager position, and becoming a Big Sister to a quiet, studious Latina teen named DeeDee. But when June uncovers a secret of DeeDee’s, she realizes changing someone else’s life might involve changing her own as well. Clever and winning, Smolinski’s novel will have readers rooting for June as they eagerly turn the pages to keep up with her progress on the list. 

According the the author’s site, the movie rights to for The Next Thing on My List have been picked up by New Line Cinema. I just love reading books that are going to be turned into movies!