Dear Cary

By Dyan Cannon

This book was OK, it was a little slow, but if you didn't think about who it was about then the story was good... If you are at all a Cary Grant fan, then I would STAY FAR AWAY from this book... There are two sides to every story, and this is only one of them, Dyan even waited until he was dead to write it... that says a lot... I liked it, but it killed the dream of the 'leading man'.

Would I recommend it? yes, to any one NOT in love with Cary Grant!

He was the most charming, handsome, romantic, and famous leading man in the world....what could possibly go wrong? With unparalleled honesty, Dyan Cannon shares the heartwarming and heartbreaking story of her magical romance and stormy marriage to screen legend Cary Grant. He was the ultimate star, defining Hollywood glamour as well as cinematic achievement. She was a bright new actress, beautiful and funny, who would one day prove her talent by being the first woman to receive Academy Award nominations for her work on-screen and behind the camera. When he asked to meet Dyan, she assumed it was for an acting part, but he had a different role in mind for her...and so began a storybook romance that brought her to dizzying heights. On his arm, she found herself traveling in the inner circles of power and glamour in which Cary Grant was king, with friends such as No l Coward, Jimmy Stewart, Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn, and so many others considered Hollywood royalty. Behind closed doors, she discovered a Cary no one knew. A thoughtful, caring, and private person, with dark family secrets that weighed heavily on him. He was a man contending with the swan song of an astonishing film career while her career was just beginning. Despite the age difference, they fell in love, got married, and had a beautiful daughter together. Happily Ever After still proved elusive, and their relationship was beset with tragic twists and turns. It took a tremendous toll on Dyan as she struggled to keep her heart and mind intact. With rare photos and never-before-seen letters and notes from Cary Grant, Dear Cary is told with poignancy and hard-won wisdom. For anyone who has ever loved and lost, Dyan Cannon's memoir is an exploration of what love means, and an inspirational story of surviving life's slings and arrows.

Books My Kids and I LOVE!!! (aka Books I Don't Mind Reading EVERY Night!)

Goodnight Moon
By Margaret Wise Brown

Ok, I know that some people don't like it,,, but I LOVE it! So have my kids! They Love to read it every night, and say goodnight to their own rooms! (My baby loves the 'little old lady whispering SHHHH!') I think that it is SO cute!





Go Away, Big Green Monster!
By Ed Emberley

(So I am NOT a bug fan of the words 'go away', but as long as my kids are saying it to monsters, not each other... then I guess it is ok!) This is a great book for learning colors, and shapes. And it has empowered one of my children to tell monsters that they can only be in his room when he invites them!!! I love how the pages build on each other!





Country Crossing
By Jim Aylesworth

I love that this book teaches that everything has a sound! How often have we driven down the road and not even noticed the sounds all around??? In this book you pay attention to the crickets, the owl, the Train, and even the train lights. It is a book to inspire all of your senses!

The Birds' Christmas Carol

By Kate Douglas Wiggin

I HAVE to read this book every year, it is NOT Christmas with out it!!! I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!! It is sad, but the meaning, and feeling of the book are AMAZING! I LOVE Carol! I LOVE this book!

GET INTO THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT! READ IT!!!

Born on Christmas Day, Carol is the Bird family's special Christmas baby. As her tenth birthday approaches, declining health threatens young Carol's life. Her only wish, however, is to plan an unforgettable Christmas celebration for the poor Ruggles children next door. Few characters have embodied the spirit of Christmas more fully than Carol Bird in this bittersweet holiday classic, which generations of readers have cherished for more than a hundred years.

The Apothecary's Daughter

By Julie Klassen

This book has great reviews, and I was SO excited to read it, (I had been on a waiting list for it since before it came out...) but, I was NOT a fan!!! It was SOOOO slow, I am NOT a fan of slow...! It is 400+ pages, but it could have been under 200, there was SO much BLAH BLAH BLAH in it! I liked the idea, and I liked some of the characters, I just feel like it took too long to go anywhere!!! And in the end, really nothing happened!

Would I recommend it? NOPE!

Lillian Haswell, brilliant daughter of the local apothecary, yearns for more adventure and experience than life in her father's shop and their small village provides. She also longs to know the truth behind her mother's disappearance, which villagers whisper about but her father refuses to discuss. Opportunity comes when a distant aunt offers to educate her as a lady in London. Exposed to fashionable society and romance--as well as clues about her mother--Lilly is torn when she is summoned back to her ailing father's bedside. Women are forbidden to work as apothecaries, so to save the family legacy, Lilly will have to make it appear as if her father is still making all the diagnoses and decisions. But the suspicious eyes of a scholarly physician and a competing apothecary are upon her. As they vie for village prominence, three men also vie for Lilly's heart.