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Literary Friday 7/26/13

Friday, July 26, 2013

Dear Readers:

This week has been far busier than normal.  I know that you understand how life sometimes gets in the way of blogging.  This week I've had to:

1.  Return a clothes dryer and find a new one that works
2.  Help two friends who are ill (one with cancer).  I cooked for them and delivered food.
3.  Take Shelley to and from equestrian boot camp.
4.  Have three hours' worth of allergy testing
5.  Attend two impromptu meetings (certainly not expecting them)

I have been home very little, and when I've been home I've been cooking.

I am beyond thrilled that thirteen peeps linked-up to My Happy List!  I promise I will visit you before the end of the day.  Y'all have made me so happy!

This is the first week in a very long time I haven't completed a book, so I'm recycling a post from two years ago.

Please note that I need to take a blog break and focus on our home and family.  Plus next week I'm helping Shanley Belle move into her new apartment in Tuscaloosa.  I will be back next Friday, August 2, for Literary Friday.  There will not be  Happy List Link Party next week.  Hopefully by next Friday I will have completed a book!





July, 2011 I read The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted by Bridget Asher.

I want to warn you that if you have been grieving lately, the first 124 pages of the book might be a bit too intense because Heidi, the main character, is grieving over the death of her husband who died two years previously.  They truly had a great marriage and loved each other very much. Some of the details about the marriage I find heartbreaking.  I literally cried during a couple of passages because Heidi's memories of her late husband and her grief was too much for me. Making life even more difficult for Heidi is that her sister, Elysius, is about to be married, and Heidi is a bridesmaid.  She is also worried for her seven-year-old son, Abbot.  Abbot has been exhibiting signs of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder:  He is obsessed with germs, washing his hands, and hand sanitizer.  Heidi has also allowed her grief to hinder her creativity as she has not created a single cake at her business, the Cake Shop.  Heidi and her husband Henry started the Cake Shop together.  They both shared a love for cooking and pastries, and they even met in a kitchen.

After Elysius's wedding, Heidi's French mother decides that Heidi should visit the family home in Puyloubier, Provence.  The house needs work especially in the recently fire-damaged kitchen. Heidi decides that it will not hurt her to have a "lost summer" like her mother did when Heidi was thirteen. So she packs her bags and takes Abbot and her niece, Charlotte, to France.  While there, Heidi regains her senses and feels alive again.  She becomes interested in her creative outlet (baking), and throws lots of energy into renovating the neglected family home.  She reconnects with the neighbors she knew as a child,  and family secrets are revealed as Heidi and Abbot both heal.

I love the setting for this book.  Heidi's family home has a history, and most of the stories tend to be romantic ones.  Marriages have been proposed, babies conceived, and love has flourished under its roof.  It seems that the house likes attention, and it fosters romantic feelings and desires in its inhabitants.  I adore books where the family homes are really characters rather than mere settings.   I also enjoy books with a homecoming theme, so the whole idea of "returning to the home of one's heart can truly heal heartbreak" appeals to me.

A glorious setting in Provence, struggling characters the reader roots for, a house that comes with its own set of lore, and a budding love story kept me reading late into the night.  What more could I possibly ask for in a summer reading book?  The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted will definitely cure your Summer Reading List blues.

Until next time...

Happy reading!
Ricki Jill

24 comments

  1. you have been busy! Such a sweet heart you are , a real giver.I have been reading, get ready for it, The Hobbitt, I have been trying to get into this book for months and always end up putting it down, so, I tried it again.I'm almost finished,

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  2. Busy busy!

    I can relate. Things are ramping up for back to school and I'm taking a crash course in PTA BUDGETS. There is a very good reason that I'm a stay at home mom and not an accountant. :)

    Have a great week!

    P.S. I finally finished Eleanor and Park. When will you be available to discuss?

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  3. I hope you have a good weekend my friend...and week ahead! I'm reading the BEST book so I couldn't wait to link up today! Sweet hugs!

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  4. I've read a couple review on this book and it looks good. Thanks for sharing your review:) Have a nice weekend! xxleslie

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  5. Yes, I know all to well how life can get you busy and it does look like you had one this week. The book sounds interesting. I really need to start reading again. That is one of the ways I relax.

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  6. I will look for the book because it sounds wonderful. I think spending time in Provence would be good for anything that ails you.

    My daughter says I must read The Age of Miracles. She, all her friends, and the friend's moms all read it quickly. I have a tall pile by my bed I am trying to shrink first.

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  7. Ricki Jill- I am sorry that you have been so overwhelmingly busy. You are a good soul and will be rewarded someday for your caring and giving heart. Blessings- enjoy your time away-xo Diana

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  8. Have fun and good luck with the busy!
    I don't think I can read tearjerkers anymore. They depress me for days. :(

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  9. Blogging will always be here, family and friends we hope will too but they always come first. See you next week!

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  10. Busy is good we all have busy weeks it is part of life...........if we are not busy then maybe we should be worried........

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  11. I hope you can find quiet time for reading and relaxing soon. Have a nice weekend! =)

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  12. A very productive week for you Ricki! All the more I admire you as a great person. I hope you find time to relax. Enjoy the weekend :)

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  13. Boy I hear you on that busy schedule ~ juggling teaching, work, house hunting, and my youngest going off to college is just too hectic... and yet somehow we always manage to get it all done. ;) I "get" that blog break too ~ it's tough to walk away but "oh so necessary" sometimes. That makes your continued visits and comments all the more meaningful ~ thank you so much!
    ♥Sharon

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  14. Hope you are able to knock some stuff out of the way this week. Enjoy focusing on you :o)

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  15. Oh this sounds like such an enduring book.

    May you be blessed in all that you do for others.

    Have a wonderfully lovely day!

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  16. I feel like such a slug seeing all that you have going on!

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  17. Busy is fun though too C: What a great friend you are.

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  18. You're sweet updates will be missed. Enjoy your much needed break!

    You're a blessing to your friends! <3

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  19. Have a productive break! We will miss you.

    I have this book on my nook and have wanted to start it several times. Your review makes me think it is as good as I hoped. :)

    ~Liz

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  20. Hi Ricki Jill, I am so pleased to be calling by and actually having time to comment again. Thanks for saying you missed my reviews. Enjoy your break and I look forward to keeping in touch. You may have even been thinking of me when you wrote this post and although the book sounds like something I would have picked up at one time, you are right not for me at the moment!

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  21. I hope you are enjoying your blog break...even though you sound like you'll be busy it's a "fun" busy! The book you reviewed looks lovely. The cover is reason enough for me to want to buy it! Take care and see you when you get back ~ Ann

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  22. Thanks for the reading suggestion, it sounds great!
    Enjoy your little break!
    Big hugs,
    Patti

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  23. Ricki Jill, have fun with those girls. Thinking about you! ~ sarah

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Hello!

I'm Ricki Jill. Welcome! I'm honored that you're reading my blog. I enjoy sharing my creative lifestyle @ The Bookish Dilettante. For more information about my blog, please read the Start Here page. Thank-you for stopping by, and I hope you'll consider following me via email.

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