Author: ondbookshelf

Title: Rooville
Author: Julie Long
Published: September 8, 2015 by SparkPress
Pages: 396
Source: Publisher via BookSparks
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads

Even after thirteen years in Southern California, Owen Martin can feel the corners of his squareness still sharply evident. He’s a TV weatherman bored by the beautiful climate. He wants to coach basketball but all the kids play soccer. And he seems to be the only person who thinks a fruit smoothie is a poor substitute for a vanilla shake. When he’s fired from his job, Owen is relieved to head home to Iowa, to the town his ancestors founded and the simple life he knew before his father died. He can’t predict the atmospheric pressure he's about to encounter, which, as any meteorologist knows, is the key catalyst for change. . . .In his absence, Martinville has become the center of the Transcendental Meditation movement and host to all things alternative. There are golden domes for mass meditations, a vegan café where the burger joint stood, and all the shop doors around Town Square now face east. But far worse than anything is the danger to the Martin family farm. In a town divided between “Regulars” and “Roos” (gurus), Owen is clear where he stands until he falls for a levitator instead of the down-to-earth girl he had in mind. With old customs and open-mindedness clashing like warm and cold fronts, Owen gets caught in a veritable tornado. Can he save the farm, get the girl, and reunite the town? Maybe . . . if he’s willing to embrace a change in the weather.

My review:

Sweet story about whether or not you can truly go home again, and what happens when the home you know is vastly different than it was when you left. It's a tale of the "regulars" vs. the "roos (gurus)", and if there can be a peaceful co-existence. I loved the character of Owen, a lovable guy who just wants to settle down in his old home, in his old hometown, in a place where life should be simpler (and has four seasons). We follow him along his path to achieve his goals, but what a set of adventures he must go through along his way. Well written, well paced, and partly factual (the author grew up in the actual town in Iowa where many of the Roo events actually took place). The tornado section was a bit tedious, but necessary to set up the end. While I was happy with the ending, I'm not sure that I actually believe that Owen's relationship would work out long term, but in the world of this story, I can hope that it does 🙂

Refreshing story about going back to your roots. A great protagonist, with a wonderful collection of community characters, this is one that is worth a read.

This book is part of the BookSparks fall reading challenge. To find out about this program, click the link.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year"........at least for reading! I just love holiday books, and will be participating again this year in the Ho Ho Ho Read-a-thon. This event is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Bookshelfery.

How adorable is this year's graphic? I can't wait to get in the holiday spirit with my reading choices!

And here are my books! Shown in no particular order, it's quite a stack! I don't know how many I'll get through, I'm not setting any goal, we'll just see how it goes. I will be updating my progress in this post, and will give a final tally once the read-a-thon is complete. SO excited to get in the holiday book spirit!!

A Christmas to Remember by Jenny Hale......PROGRESS as of 11/17/15 60 pages

I Heart Christmas by Lindsey Kelk
A Very Nantucket Christmas by Nancy Thayer......COMPLETED 11/16/15 209 pages

Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand----COMPLETED 11/13/15 272 pages

The Christmas Pearl by Dorothea Benton Frank.......COMPLETED 11/16/15 176 pages

The Christmas Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini
Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lanb......COMPLETED 11/15/15 286 pages

Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews---COMPLETED 11/13/15 194 pages

The Gift by Cecelia Ahern.....COMPLETED 11/14/15 302 pages
TOTAL BOOKS READ: 6 1/4
TOTAL PAGES: 1499

Love this event! Happy holidays everyone! Until next year's event..........

Title: The Admissions
Author: Meg Mitchell Moore
Published: August 18, 2015 by Doubleday
Pages: 320
Source: Publisher via BookSparks
Rating: 5/5
Goodreads

      The Hawthorne family has it all. Great jobs, a beautiful house in one of the most affluent areas of northern California, and three charming kids with perfectly straight teeth. And then comes their eldest daughter's senior year of high school . . .
     Firstborn Angela Hawthorne is a straight-A student and star athlete, with extracurricular activities coming out of her ears and a college application that's not going to write itself. She's set her sights on Harvard, her father's alma mater, and like a dog with a chew toy, Angela won't let up until she's basking in crimson-colored glory. Except her class rank as valedictorian is under attack, she's suddenly losing her edge at cross-country, and she can't help but daydream about the cute baseball player in English class. Of course Angela knows the time put into her schoolgirl crush would be better spent coming up with a subject for her term paper—which, along with her college essay and community service hours has a rapidly approaching deadline. 
     Angela's mother, Nora, is similarly stretched to the limit, juggling parent-teacher meetings, carpool, and a real-estate career where she caters to the mega rich and super-picky buyers and sellers of the Bay Area. The youngest daughter, Maya, still can't read at the age of eight; the middle-child, Cecily, is no longer the happy-go-lucky kid she once was; and the dad, Gabe, seems oblivious to the mounting pressures at home because a devastating secret of his own might be exposed. A few ill-advised moves put the Hawthorne family on a heedless collision course that's equal parts achingly real and delightfully screwball.
     Sharp and topical, The Admissions shows that if you pull at a loose thread, even the sturdiest of lives start to unravel at the seams of high achievement.

My review:

This book could not have come at a better time. My daughter was doing her final submission of her college applications, and I fully embraced the make believe world of The Hawthorne family! The author completely nailed the personalities and voices of the three girls in the family. Having had daughters who have gone through all of these stages, I was in love with her characterizations! There is a lot going on in this book that is not just about getting into college, although that part is written really well. We have the two younger girls with their own issues, the Dad who is obsessed with Harvard, and the Mom who is being stretched way too thin. I found this book to have some humorous parts, mostly poking fun of the Bay Area elite (the section about the yoga class and juice bar had me laughing out loud). There were some serious issues also interspersed to make a well rounded and enjoyable read. It got a little far fetched with Angela at the end, but I was too immersed at that point to care, and the ending was very satisfying.

You don't have to have experience with college admissions to enjoy this novel, it's a darn good family tale that will have you craving more from this author!

This book is part of the BookSparks fall reading challenge, click the link to be directed to their page for more information.

Title: After You
Author: Jojo Moyes
Published: September 29, 2015 by Penguin
Pages: 352
Source: Purchased
Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads

How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?

Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.

Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. . . .

For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.

My review:

My most anticipated novel of the year! A sequel to one of my all time favorite books Me Before You! Unfortunately, sometimes a buildup to an event can lead to inevitable disappointment, which happened in this case 🙁 I was so interested in finding out what happened to Lou, and I wasn't all that happy with the direction her life took. She spent too much time wallowing in grief (exactly what Will did not want her to do), and I felt that didn't really fit her personality. Sometimes the old Lou would come through, but it was almost as if without the Will dynamic, she just wasn't the same. I wasn't crazy about the parallel story regarding Will's past (no spoilers here), or the kind of off-the-wall antics of Lou's mum. I couldn't connect to Lily at all, it got somewhat better as we find out some key facts about her, but by then it was kind of too late. So.......what did I like? Honestly, if this had been a stand alone novel, I probably would have given it 4 stars. It was well written, had good characterizations, definite plot points, yes.....Jojo Moyes is a great storyteller. I thought the author did an exceptional job with the grief of Will's parents. I was completely drawn in by their parts in the book, I wish we had seen more of a storyline about them. To her credit, Moyes was never planning a sequel to Will and Lou's story until her fans begged for one. Sometimes you don't always like what you asked for 🙂

Bottom line....if you read this as a standalone novel, it is enjoyable. If you have read Me Before You, and were completely moved by the story (seriously the most I've cried over a book, EVER), you may not want to find out what happens.

Title: The Great Christmas Knit-Off
Author: Alexandra Brown
Published: October 13, 2015 by William Morrow Paperbacks
Pages: 400
Source: Edelweiss
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads

Heartbroken after being jilted at the altar, Sybil has been saved from despair by her knitting obsession and now her home is filled to bursting with tea cosies, bobble hats, and jumpers. But, after discovering that she may have perpetrated the cock-up of the century at work, Sybil decides to make a hasty exit and, just weeks before Christmas, runs away to the picturesque village of Tindledale.

There, Sybil discovers Hettie’s House of Haberdashery, an emporium dedicated to the world of knitting and needle craft. But Hettie, the outspoken octogenarian owner, is struggling and now the shop is due for closure. And when Hettie decides that Sybil’s wonderfully wacky Christmas jumpers are just the thing to add a bit of excitement to her window display, something miraculous starts to happen.

My review:

What a wonderful little holiday treasure this one is! Cute storyline about a community coming together to help one of its aging citizens. Great characters, and wonderful descriptions of the little village of Tindledale (even the name evokes warm fuzzy feelings). A bit of a mysterious subplot, but the main focus is on the main character of Sybil, and her relationship with all the townspeople, particularly the lady who owns the knitting shop, and the town doctor (which of course leads exactly the way you know it's going to). My only niggling complaint would be the amount of times we had to dredge up Sybil's past, at the beginning would have sufficed for the million times it is mentioned 🙂 Loved the ending, this is just such a heartwarming holiday story, with a little bit of everything (angst, humor, family, love, crafting, cooking, mystery, friendship, history) thrown in. I hope there is a sequel as I would love to travel back to Tindledale!

I haven't knit for ages, but this book not only made me want to pick up some knitting needles, but travel to a village like Tindledale to spend the holidays.

Title: Did You Ever Have a Family
Author: Bill Clegg
Published: September 1, 2015 by Gallery/Scout Press
Pages: 304
Source: Purchased
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads

On the eve of her daughter’s wedding, June Reid’s life is completely devastated when a shocking disaster takes the lives of her daughter, her daughter’s fiancé, her ex-husband, and her boyfriend, Luke—her entire family, all gone in a moment. And June is the only survivor.

Alone and directionless, June drives across the country, away from her small Connecticut town. In her wake, a community emerges, weaving a beautiful and surprising web of connections through shared heartbreak.

From the couple running a motel on the Pacific Ocean where June eventually settles into a quiet half-life, to the wedding’s caterer whose bill has been forgotten, to Luke’s mother, the shattered outcast of the town—everyone touched by the tragedy is changed as truths about their near and far histories finally come to light.

Elegant and heartrending, and one of the most accomplished fiction debuts of the year, Did You Ever Have a Family is an absorbing, unforgettable tale that reveals humanity at its best through forgiveness and hope. At its core is a celebration of family—the ones we are born with and the ones we create.

My review:

Wow! This book packs in some of the most beautiful writing I've come across! Such an abundance of wonderful quotes it would not be possible to list them all, but here is one of my favorites:

Rough as life can be, I know in my bones we are supposed to stick around and play our part. Even if that part is coughing to death from cigarettes, or being blown up young in a house with your mother watching. And even if it's to be that mother. Someone down the line might need to know you got through it.

Such wonderful writing, and yet I had to give it 4 stars for the fact that there were so many characters introduced that I never felt connected to any of them. This was such a tragic story, and I'm a crier when it comes to books, yet I never cried during this book. We are introduced to a new character in each chapter for the first half of the book, and throughout the chapters we sometimes weave back and forth in time. I highly recommend writing down who is connected to who, I think it will help immensely once those characters are reintroduced down the line. Even though I didn't truly connect with any of the characters, I still felt completely drawn into their lives (once I got them straightened out), and was rooting for all to make their peace within themselves and the world.

This is a stunning work, and I would highly recommend it. Do not get frustrated with the amount of characters, it is so worth the read.

Title: The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs
Author: Matthew Dicks
Published: September 8, 2015 by St. Martin's Press
Pages: 224
Source: Purchased
Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads

Caroline Jacobs is a wimp, someone who specializes in the suffering of tiny indignities in silence. And the big ones, too. But when the twinset wearing president of the local Parent Teacher Organization steps out of line one too many times, Caroline musters the courage to assert herself. With a four-letter word, no less.

Caroline's outburst has awakened something in her. Not just gumption, but a realization that the roots of her tirade can be traced back to something that happened to her as a teenager, when her best friend very publicly betrayed her. So, with a little bit of bravery, Caroline decides to go back to her home town and tell off her childhood friend. She busts her daughter out of school, and the two set off to deliver the perfect comeback . . . some twenty-five years later. But nothing goes as planned. Long buried secrets rise to the surface, and Caroline finds she has to face much more than one old, bad best friend.

The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs is an enchanting novel about the ways in which our childhood experiences reverberate through our lives. It's the story of a woman looking to fix her life through an act of bravery, and of a mother and daughter learning to understand one another. Deceptively simple and highly engaging, this latest novel by Matthew Dicks is perfect for those of us who were last to be picked at sports, and for everyone who is thrilled not to be in high school any more.

My review:

I really liked the premise of this book. Who hasn't been wronged by someone in their past that they'd love to go back and even the score with? In this case though, Caroline Jacobs sets out with good intentions, but she gets cold feet, and her daughter has to come through for her. Great plot idea, good mother-daughter relationship mending, and a look into how something in our past can effect our entire life without our realizing it is happening. I was more impressed with the first part of the book, than when Caroline actually confronts her nemesis. While I could understand why things were unfolding as they did, I was not as engaged with the characters as I was at the beginning. Having said that, I did love the building comraderie between mother and daughter from beginning to end, although perhaps a bit far fetched in spots.

This is a short read, and brings up questions from our own past. Who would you go back and confront, and could you do it? Are any of those past relationships having any impact on the person you are today?

Title: The Summer's End (Lowcountry Summer #3)
Author: Mary Alice Monroe
Published: May 19,2015 by Gallery Books
Pages: 432
Source: Purchased
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads

It is summer’s end and Sea Breeze, the family’s beloved estate on Sullivan’s Island, must be sold. It is an emotional time of transition as Mamaw and the three sisters each must face loss and find a new place in the world.

Harper, the youngest sister, arrived at Sea Breeze intending to stay only a weekend, but a rift with her wealthy, influential mother left her without direction or a home. During this remarkable summer, free from her mother’s tyranny and with the help of her half sisters, Harper discovered her talents and independent spirit.

But summer is ending, and the fate of Sea Breeze hinges on Harper’s courage to decide the course of her own life. To do so she must release her insecurities and recognize her newfound strengths. She must accept love fully into her life—the love of Mamaw, Carson, and Dora, the love of Sea Breeze and the lowcountry, and most of all, the love of a Wounded Warrior who has claimed her heart.

My review:

The final book in the Lowcountry trilogy, this one focuses mainly on my favorite of the three sisters, Harper. I really loved all the parts focusing on Harper, especially that she ends up being a writer. Her past catches up with her with the arrival of her other grandmother from England. This whole part of the book was so entertaining and kept me turning pages to find out the ending (even though it was fairly easy to see where the plot was going). Unfortunately there was still way too much Carson in this book, and it almost caused me to reduce my rating to a 3.5. I really disliked this sister, and her whiny jealous personality did not improve for me, even if we were supposed to buy into her transformation by the ending. Speaking of the ending, I thought the author did a great job tying up loose ends (as best she could since the characters obviously will live on), and created nice closure when you finished the book. Still a bit irked by why everyone had to be paired off, but I guess that's what you get when you read this type of romance novel 🙂

My favorite of the trilogy, and a nice ending to a good group of beach reads.

Title: Delicious
Author: Ruth Reichl, narrated by Julia Whelan
Published: May 6, 21014 by Random House Audio
Pages: 12 hours 58 min
Source: Library Overdrive
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads

Billie Breslin has traveled far from her California home to take a job at Delicious, the most iconic food magazine in New York and, thus, the world. When the publication is summarily shut down, the colorful staff, who have become an extended family for Billie, must pick up their lives and move on. Not Billie, though. She is offered a new job: staying behind in the magazine's deserted downtown mansion offices to uphold the "Delicious Guarantee"-a public relations hotline for complaints and recipe inquiries-until further notice. What she doesn't know is that this boring, lonely job will be the portal to a life-changing discovery.

Delicious! carries the reader to the colorful world of downtown New York restaurateurs and artisanal purveyors, and from the lively food shop in Little Italy where Billie works on weekends to a hidden room in the magazine's library where she discovers the letters of Lulu Swan, a plucky twelve-year-old, who wrote to the legendary chef James Beard during World War II. Lulu's letters lead Billie to a deeper understanding of history (and the history of food), but most important, Lulu's courage in the face of loss inspires Billie to come to terms with her own issues-the panic attacks that occur every time she even thinks about cooking, the truth about the big sister she adored, and her ability to open her heart to love.

My review:

Take a combination of New York City, an Italian deli, mouth watering descriptions of food, a series of mysterious clues leading to letters from WWII, and a colorful cast of characters, and what's not to love about this book? It was in a word.....well.......delicious! So many great characters to love, even down to the secondary ones like the husband and wife team who own the shop where Billie works on weekends, and of course Sam (the best friend and super sleuth). The store customer labeled "Mr. Complainer", fun to see how that plays out. The interwoven theme with the letters from fictionalized Lulu to the great chef James Beard added a nice parallel plot, and a bit of history. The food descriptions were superb, I wouldn't recommend reading this if you are hungry 🙂 The parts about Billie and her sister were not all that engaging to me, but while they have an effect on Billie's life, they don't take up a great deal of the story.

The narration on this was well done, especially the voices of the Italian shop owners and Sam.

A good book for someone who is not a "foodie", a great book for those who are.