Friday, March 27, 2015

Friday Memes

Happy Friday everyone! 

I think I have neglected my comments section a bit since coming back from Florence. I am getting to them bit by bit. Thank goodness I had a few blog posts scheduled this week because I have been in a bit of a blogging slump. I have several reviews to write, but absolutely no desire to do it.


Meanwhile, I just finished an amazing book, Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova. Man, this book just blew me away. I will be posting a full review next week. In the meantime, I thought I would use this week's Friday memes to give you a few teasers.

Here is the synopsis:


Joe O’Brien is a forty-four-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their twenties, and respected officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He is then handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family’s lives forever: Huntington’s Disease. Huntington’s is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. Each of Joe’s four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father’s disease, and a simple blood test can reveal their genetic fate. While watching her potential future in her father’s escalating symptoms, twenty-one-year-old daughter Katie struggles with the questions this test imposes on her young adult life. Does she want to know? What if she’s gene positive? Can she live with the constant anxiety of not knowing?


Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader where we share the first sentence (or so) of a book we are reading.

"Damn woman is always moving his things. He can't kick off his boots in the living room or set his sunglasses down on the coffee table without her relocating them to 'where they belong.' Who made her God in this house? If he wants to leave a stinking pile of his own shit right in the middle of the kitchen table, then that's where it should stay until he moves it.
Where the fuck is my gun?"




Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice. Here are the rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)
*Post it.


"Joe puffs on his stogie, hating the bitter taste but loving the sweet experience, soaking in this magnificent moment in JJ's life. The birth of his first child. A son. Joe's grandson. And then it hits him. This is a pretty fuckin' magnificent moment in Joe's life, too. Right here on this bench with his son on a cold December morning in Boston. Proof that even a life cursed with Huntington's can be magnificent."

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

18 comments :

  1. Sounds sad. Food for thought. I wonder if I would want to know. Luckily, there is nothing like that in my family. I guess you just have to make the best of what you have.

    sherry @ fundinmentalFriday Memes

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    1. Thanks Sherry, I agree with that. And this book really makes you think about what you would do in this situation. It's sad, but so good.

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  2. I can't wait to get this one! Great excerpts...I love Joe's voice in the first one. I can feel his frustration.

    Here's mine: “THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY”

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    1. Thanks Laurel! This author did an awesome job with the character of Joe. It is such a great read.

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  3. I know a little about Huntington's, enough to realize that you're probably right and this IS a great book. I'll have to read it myself - thanks for sharing it with us :) Have a good weekend!

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    1. Thanks Ramona! You have a great weekend too. :)

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  4. You're not alone! I tend to fall into those blogging slumps too :/ I'm not sure if Inside the O'Briens is something I would read for myself; but I hope you are enjoying it! :)

    Have a lovely weekend!

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    1. Thanks Claudia! It is a heavy book, but really it was so, so good.

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    2. Weighty books tend to be ones that are MUST reads! It's hard to convince a friend or someone to read them :P

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    3. You are so right Claudia. I have had this one on my Kindle for weeks actually. Even though I heard great things, it still took a while. I really have to be "in the mood" for something that heavy.

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  5. That's a dynamite opening! The 56 excerpt grabbed me too. I love family dramas.
    My Friday post features GRACIANNA.

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  6. Sounds like a sad read, but it looks like Joe is seeing beyond his disease to the good things in his life, so that's good.
    My F56: http://onceuntold.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-friday-56-dead-of-winter.html
    New follower.

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    1. Yes, exactly! The book is so powerful and there are some very sad moments. But Joe also tries to have a lot of hope. It such an emotional book, but so good.

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  7. Sounds like a wicked book. I like the real talk.
    Happy weekend!

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  8. I don't think I'd read this. I'd have to be in the right mood as it hits on a hard topic.
    My 56 - http://fuonlyknew.com/2015/03/27/the-friday-56-55-retaliation-by-imogen-rose/

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    1. You are so right Laura. I had received the ARC for this weeks ago, but it took a while to get in the right headspace to read it. But it was so worth it.

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