Ain't life grand!

Well once again I am house/pet sitting for my friends out at the lake.  I have to say this is just (cough cough) so hard to do.  Enjoying 80 degree weather on beautiful sun filled days as I laze in the hot tub.  I do not know if life could get any harder?

There are challenges I have to face.  Things like do I add ice to my white wine and orange juice cocktail?  Should I cook me a meal of steak, baked tators and shrimp chowder that I enjoyed last night with Dear Hubby.  Just how loud do I turn up the volume as I listen to a book on CD.  There has to be decisions to be made.

Yeah, to put it lightly this is a wonderful break from real life.  I wish my dear online bloggy friend Tammy of Love My 2 Dogs was here with me instead of being cooped up in a hospital room right now.  I am sure she could take over the other half of the hot tub with me.  I know she would love listening to Nicola Barber as she reads to us Barbara Taylor Bradford's newest novel, "Letter From A Stranger".  Barbara Taylor Bradford was born and brought up in England and started her writing career as a journalist. She was written twenty-six international bestsellers. This is her twenty-seventh novel. In 2007, Queen Elizabeth awarded her the OBE (Order of the British Empire) for her literary achievements. She lives in New York with her husband, TV and film producer Robert Bradford.

I started reading books by Barbara when I was a teen.  They always provided me the great escape from real life but not from reality.  Today to have her words literally float in the air around me is a wonderful experience.  When you read to yourself you hear this lil built in audio of the story.  But when you actually listen to a book being read to you then you have the extra ability to climb into the story and let it wash all over you.  I had forgotten this great experience that we have as young children with bedtime stories.  There is not peeking ahead to see what is going to happen.  There is not a way of putting it into your own words but to really experience what the author wanted you to hear.  Pretty amazing reminder.

Here is what "Letter From A Stranger" is all about. Justine Nolan is a documentary filmmaker who lost her beloved grandmother a decade ago – the person who was the only source of love and comfort in her life. Her own mother, Deborah, has always been distant and uninvolved, following her own agenda in pursuit of her career as an interior designer.
But when Justine inadvertently opens a letter addressed to her mother, she discovers that not only is her grandmother, Gabriele, alive, but that Deborah has deliberately estranged the family from her for all these years. Justine’s search for her grandmother takes her to Istanbul, where she begins to uncover the family’s secrets, which stretch all the way back to World War II. As the layers of deception peel away, Justine begs to understand a woman she never really knew… and she begins to ask questions about the true desires of her own heart.
Read by the very talented Nicola Barber and including a bonus interview with the author, this audiobook program is as juicy as it is thrilling!  Thanks so to MacMillan Audio for sending me this to listen too.  It is a great way to enjoy my day today.  So folks I have to get back to my duties of house/pet sitting.  Time to refresh my drink, scratch a dog belly and hop back into the hot tub.  Ain't life grand!
 

1 comment:

  1. I would love to be there with you instead of being here cooped up in this darned hospital for the 5th night in a row. I wish I would have thought to have Jr bring my CD player and a book on CD for me for when the lady in the bed beside me has visitors. It's hard for me to read when her daughter visits because she is so loud and I can't hear the TV either.

    This book sounds like another good book from here. She sure has written some great novels that's for sure!!

    I sure do appreciate you thinking about me while I am here!! Thanks!

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