Author: ondbookshelf

Title: The Truth According to Us
Author: Annie Barrows
Published: June 9, 2015 by Dial Press
Pages: 486
Source: Publisher at BEA
Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads

In the summer of 1938, Layla Beck’s father, a United States senator, cuts off her allowance and demands that she find employment on the Federal Writers’ Project, a New Deal jobs program. Within days, Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social whirl, assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia, West Virginia, and destined, in her opinion, to go completely mad with boredom. But once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family, she is drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty.

At the Romeyn house, twelve-year-old Willa is desperate to learn everything in her quest to acquire her favorite virtues of ferocity and devotion—a search that leads her into a thicket of mysteries, including the questionable business that occupies her charismatic father and the reason her adored aunt Jottie remains unmarried. Layla’s arrival strikes a match to the family veneer, bringing to light buried secrets that will tell a new tale about the Romeyns. As Willa peels back the layers of her family’s past, and Layla delves deeper into town legend, everyone involved is transformed—and their personal histories completely rewritten.

My review:

There were good points and bad points regarding this book. I think the good outweighed the bad, but some parts were a bit disappointing. Let's talk about the things I liked. The setting descriptions were lovely, I thought the main characters were well developed, and the plot was interesting. I liked that we got snippets of letters written to and from Layla, and there were excerpts of her history of Macedonia writing pieces. I enjoyed the mystery associated with Willa's father, and this kept me intrigued throughout the book. What I wasn't as enamored with was the length of the book. It took a long time to get into the meat of the story, and I think this may result in some readers giving up too soon. The writing was a little hard to follow as it switched between past and present, first person and third person.......all within the same chapter! As the novel progressed I got used to the format, but it was a bit of a mess in the beginning.

All in all I can say that I did enjoy this story, and I would recommend it to others with the stamina to continue past the kind of shaky start.

Title: All the Single Ladies
Author: Dorothea Benton Frank
Published: June 9, 2015 by William Morrow
Pages: 368
Source: Purchased
Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads

Few writers capture the complexities, pain, and joy of relationships—between friends, family members, husbands and wives, or lovers—as beloved New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank. In this charming, evocative, soul-touching novel, she once again takes us deep into the heart of the magical Lowcountry where three amazing middle-aged women are bonded by another amazing woman’s death.

Through their shared loss they forge a deep friendship, asking critical questions. Who was their friend and what did her life mean? Are they living the lives they imagined for themselves? Will they ever be able to afford to retire? How will they maximize their happiness? Security? Health? And ultimately, their own legacies?

A plan is conceived and unfurls with each turn of the tide during one sweltering summer on the Isle of Palms. Without ever fully realizing how close they were to the edge, they finally triumph amid laughter and maybe even newfound love.

My review:

This author is another of my go-to authors for summer reading pleasure. While this book had a few features that rankled a bit, for the most part I enjoyed it. Frank has a wonderful wit (I've seen her speak in person a few times and she is delightfully humorous), and I love the funny quips that are almost always evident in her books. I also love the southern references, now that I've lived here for almost two decades, they make me feel part of the action. The aspect of this particular novel that I enjoyed the most was that the three main protagonists were all middle aged women. I've said this before, but I sometimes like to read about women my own age 🙂 That does bring me to the part that I wasn't keen on, I don't understand why they all had to have a man "swoop in and save them"? The novel was progressing well, and then I could clearly see how it was going to end, and it wasn't necessarily the way I would have liked. Couldn't one of them have been happy on her own? Aside from that nugget of disappointment, there was also a bit of a mystery going on with regards to the landlady of the deceased friend. That was a fun piece to follow, albeit not terribly scary or dangerous (which is more my style of mystery anyway).

All in all this is a quick read with lots of Southern references, and a cast of "older women". It hit the spot for me, even with the kind of sappy ending.

Title: Inside the O'Briens
Author: Lisa Genova, narrated by Skipp Sudduth
Published: April 7, 2015 by Simon and Schuster Audio
Pages: Audio...11 hours 13 minutes
Source: Library (Overdrive)
Rating: 5/5
Goodreads

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 initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is 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?

As Joe’s symptoms worsen and he’s eventually stripped of his badge and more, Joe struggles to maintain hope and a sense of purpose, while Katie and her siblings must find the courage to either live a life “at risk” or learn their fate.

My review:

This one had everything I love in a novel!! Family dynamics, funny parts, sad parts, things that made you question what would you do, along with some medical jargon and sports thrown in for good measure.  I absolutely fell in love with this family, and my heart ached for them. The interactions between the family members was so real to me, it was like I was there with them watching all the scenes play out. The majority of the book focuses on Joe and his daughter Katie, but all the secondary characters were so well done. I adored Rosie! The ending bothered me, but after reflecting back on the book, I feel that it ended in the best possible way under the circumstances.

I listened to this on audio, and the narrator was fabulous. He had the Boston accent, which I think added to my overall enjoyment even more than if I had read it.

While this book does deal with a very emotional and sad situation, Lisa Genova writes it in the best possible way. It will make you have hope for the future, whatever life hands to you, and take time to make the most of every day. You will fall in love with this family!

Title: The Summer Wind
Author: Mary Alice Monroe
Published: June 17, 2014 by Gallery books
Pages: 384
Source: Purchased
Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads

It’s midsummer and Eudora, nicknamed Dora, is staying at Sea Breeze, the family’s ancestral home on Sullivan’s Island. For years, Dora has played the role of the perfect wife and mother in a loveless marriage. Now her husband filed for divorce, her child is diagnosed with autism, and her house is on the market. Dora’s facade collapses under the weight of her grief and she suffers “broken heart syndrome.” Mamaw and the girls rally around Dora—but it’s up to Dora to heal herself as she spends the summer prowling the beach, discovering the secrets of the island and her heart. This is a summer of discovery for all the women of Sea Breeze. Carson returns from Florida to face life-changing decisions, Lucille confronts a health scare, and an unexpected visitor has Harper reconsidering her life’s direction.

When tropical storm winds batter the island, the women must band together and weather the tempest—both the one outside their windows and the raging sea of emotions within each of them. They must learn again what it means to be a sister. It is up to Mamaw to keep the light burning at Sea Breeze to guide the girls through the lies, the threats, and the rocky waters of indecision to home.

My review:

This book is the second in the Lowcountry summer trilogy, following The Summer Girls (which I reviewed here). While each book encompasses all three of the stepsisters, they each have their own book that is more heavily devoted to them. This book was Dora's, and I enjoyed it much more than the first book. I still don't care for the sister Carson (who was the main character in the first book), but while her story was still present, this one was more about Dora and her struggle to regain control over her life, and learn to love herself again. Of course we still had grandmother Meemaw, who is a delight, and sister Harper (who will be the focus of the third book). I really liked the character of Dora, and I thought the author did a good job of making you feel for her, but not invoking pity. Instead, you were rooting for her to recognize what a great person she is. I was a bit annoyed with the love interest, I don't know why these books always have to have one. I didn't have anything against the character, but I sometimes wish a character could just stand on her own without someone swooping in. I knocked off a star for this, for me it makes a great book into a bit of a cookie cutter mold.

A great middle book to a series that I am anxious to see how it all ends. A definite beach read with all the fabulous beach descriptions.

Title: Dietland
Author: Sarai Walker
Published: May 26, 2015 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 310
Source: Publisher at BEA
Rating: 3/5
Goodreads

Plum Kettle does her best not to be noticed, because when you’re fat, to be noticed is to be judged. Or mocked. Or worse. With her job answering fan mail for a popular teen girls’ magazine, she is biding her time until her weight-loss surgery. Only then can her true life as a thin person finally begin.

Then, when a mysterious woman starts following her, Plum finds herself falling down a rabbit hole and into an underground community of women who live life on their own terms. There Plum agrees to a series of challenges that force her to deal with her past, her doubts, and the real costs of becoming “beautiful.” At the same time, a dangerous guerrilla group called “Jennifer” begins to terrorize a world that mistreats women, and as Plum grapples with her personal struggles, she becomes entangled in a sinister plot. The consequences are explosive.

Dietland is a bold, original, and funny debut novel that takes on the beauty industry, gender inequality, and our weight loss obsession—from the inside out, and with fists flying.

My review:

I almost want to divide this book into two parts. The beginning of the book focuses on Plum, who is overweight, working a lackluster job as a teen advice columnist (that she's not even getting credit for), and certain that her real life will begin once she has weight loss surgery. It also delves into her past, with all of the stigmas associated with being "the fat girl", as well as her attempts to lose weight. She ends up meeting someone who takes her on a journey of challenges that are ultimately aimed at causing her to recognize that weight loss is not the end all to problems. I enjoyed this part of the book very much.

Then we have the other part which takes place concurrently with Plum's challenges. There is a vigilante group going after all of those who victimize, sexualize, and mistreat women. While I totally agree that this is indeed happening in our society, and the beginning of the book was about trying to achieve beauty at all costs, it just didn't exactly seem to fit together for me. I found myself feeling rather uncomfortable in parts, and it was just a bit weird. I think I would give Plum's struggle a four, and the vigilante group part a two, so there you have my 3 star rating.

Do not be put off by this one. It was a bit quirky, but still an enjoyable read, especially the parts about Plum's weight loss struggles.

Title: Becoming Ellen
Author: Shari Shattuck
Published: August 11, 2015 by G.P. Putnam's Sons
Pages: 304
Source: Penguin First to Read
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads

Ellen Homes is done being invisible. Well, sort of.

Living with her closest friends, Temerity and Justice, has helped her step out of the shell of invisibility she once hid away in. She still seeks refuge in solitary time and observing from afar, but she has pushed herself to open up to others in ways that bring her unexpected happiness.

But when a terrible bus crash upends her normal routine, Ellen finds herself on a whirlwind crusade for the unseen and downtrodden. Only this time, helping others—including two young children with no one else to turn to—will mean facing a pain from her past that she’s long tucked away.

Picking up where Invisible Ellen left off, Becoming Ellen returns us to the touching, poignant, and compassionate world of Ellen Homes as she learns how to navigate the world she has decided to become a part of.

My review:

I did not realize until after I began this book that it was actually the second book in a series (the first being Invisible Ellen). While I think it would probably add to the beginning of the book to have more of a backstory, I did not feel that it was not properly handled (by way of flashback snippets) in case the reader jumped in to this book first. I really enjoyed the characters in this book. I thought they were well done, and even though they all had their quirks, I could see myself wanting to be friends with them.  Ellen still suffers from a lot of social anxiety, but in the end she gets the job done when it counts. My only criticism would probably be that I found it hard to believe that someone who was so obviously introverted would do some of the things (and take some of the chances) that she did, even if it was for the common good.  Putting that aside though, this was a well written book that kept me turning pages to find out how everything would turn out. I could really feel Ellen's tension and trepidation throughout the pages of the book, and my heart went out to her as I cheered for her success! I'm not sure if there will be another book in the series (seems like there could be), but I will be sure to pick it up if there is.

A good read about a painfully shy introvert and how she comes out of her shell, for the good of her friends and society.

Title: Summer Secrets
Author: Jane Green
Published: June 23, 2015 by St. Martin's Press
Pages: 308
Source: Purchased
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads

June, 1998: At twenty seven, Catherine Coombs, also known as Cat, is struggling. She lives in London, works as a journalist, and parties hard. Her lunchtimes consist of several glasses of wine at the bar downstairs in the office, her evenings much the same, swigging the free booze and eating the free food at a different launch or party every night. When she discovers the identity of the father she never knew she had, it sends her into a spiral. She makes mistakes that cost her the budding friendship of the only women who have ever welcomed her. And nothing is ever the same after that.

June, 2014: Cat has finally come to the end of herself. She no longer drinks. She wants to make amends to those she has hurt. Her quest takes her to Nantucket, to the gorgeous summer community where the women she once called family still live. Despite her sins, will they welcome her again? What Cat doesn’t realize is that these women, her real father’s daughters, have secrets of their own. As the past collides with the present, Cat must confront the darkest things in her own life and uncover the depths of someone’s need for revenge.

My review:

Another great story by Jane Green, this one takes on a heavy topic....alcoholism. Told in two different time frames, the story weaves back and forth between the summer Cat learns about her real father, and the summer she goes back to Nantucket to right her wrongs. Cat was a character that you may want to shake at times, but you can't help but root for. Green does a wonderful job tackling the subject of addiction, and its toll not just on the addict, but also on family and friends. Great setting of Nantucket, it made me feel like I was there. There were several secondary characters who maybe could have been a bit more developed, but this was a story about Cat and her struggles, so the story still flowed without it. As is the case with Green's novels, things work out in the end, perhaps a bit too well (and maybe a bit too rushed), but I like my endings to be tidy, so I was ok with it.

Overall a good summer read, although with a darker subject than normal summer fare. Another success for Jane Green!

I had the pleasure of attending a luncheon with Jane Green on the book's release date. What a lovely lady, and I could listen to her English accent all day!

Title: The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street
Author: Susan Jane Gilman
Published: June 10, 2014 by Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 505
Source: Purchased
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads

In 1913, little Malka Treynovsky flees Russia with her family. Bedazzled by tales of gold and movie stardom, she tricks them into buying tickets for America. Yet no sooner do they land on the squalid Lower East Side of Manhattan, than Malka is crippled and abandoned in the street.

Taken in by a tough-loving Italian ices peddler, she manages to survive through cunning and inventiveness. As she learns the secrets of his trade, she begins to shape her own destiny. She falls in love with a gorgeous, illiterate radical named Albert, and they set off across America in an ice cream truck. Slowly, she transforms herself into Lillian Dunkle, "The Ice Cream Queen" -- doyenne of an empire of ice cream franchises and a celebrated television personality.

Lillian's rise to fame and fortune spans seventy years and is inextricably linked to the course of American history itself, from Prohibition to the disco days of Studio 54. Yet Lillian Dunkle is nothing like the whimsical motherly persona she crafts for herself in the media. Conniving, profane, and irreverent, she is a supremely complex woman who prefers a good stiff drink to an ice cream cone. And when her past begins to catch up with her, everything she has spent her life building is at stake.

My review:

Where to begin with Malka/Lillian? In one moment I would be in love with her personality, her drive, her passion for making it in the world, and the next I would think what a mean lady. Couple that with the horribleness of her childhood, and my emotions were all over the place. This is a story of one lady who is the quintessential "rags to riches" story, but not without a ton of ups and downs along the way. This is Malka/Lillians story (told in the first person), which takes place over about 70 years. There are brief sections in the present day, but for the most part we are taken back through her life from the time she is 5 years old. I loved the writing style of the author, I was interested in all the historical events that are touched upon, but mostly I was fascinated by Lillian (her good and her bad parts). What an amazing life this lady lived. Every time she was faced with adversity (and she was faced with a lot), she would get back up again and make lemonade from lemons!

Don't go into this expecting a sweet story about ice cream making, go into it expecting a heck of a story about a woman who like a boxer in the ring, is tough and gets back up again after every punch knocks her down.

Thanks to Tiffany at Grand Central Publishing, I have a paperback copy of The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street to giveaway! Follow the directions in the Rafflecopter below for you chance to win a copy. US residents only.

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Title: Maybe In Another Life
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Published: July 7, 2015 by Washington Square Press
Pages: 352
Source: BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads

At the age of twenty-nine, Hannah Martin still has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She has lived in six different cities and held countless meaningless jobs since graduating college. On the heels of leaving yet another city, Hannah moves back to her hometown of Los Angeles and takes up residence in her best friend Gabby’s guestroom. Shortly after getting back to town, Hannah goes out to a bar one night with Gabby and meets up with her high school boyfriend, Ethan.

Just after midnight, Gabby asks Hannah if she’s ready to go. A moment later, Ethan offers to give her a ride later if she wants to stay. Hannah hesitates. What happens if she leaves with Gabby? What happens if she leaves with Ethan?

In concurrent storylines, Hannah lives out the effects of each decision. Quickly, these parallel universes develop into radically different stories with large-scale consequences for Hannah, as well as the people around her. As the two alternate realities run their course, Maybe in Another Life raises questions about fate and true love: Is anything meant to be? How much in our life is determined by chance? And perhaps, most compellingly: Is there such a thing as a soul mate?

Hannah believes there is. And, in both worlds, she believes she’s found him.

My review:

I loved the concept of this novel. It's told in alternating chapters, based on one decision from one night in Hannah's life. The interesting aspect was that while Hannah's life was radically different, the author kept aspects in her friends and family's lives the same. The reader gets two versions of the same story, and while I did find one part of one of the endings a little implausible (the way that she met one of the guys at a later time was a bit of a stretch), it was really clever that both stories ended at the same event. Good writing kept this story interesting, even though we "relived" some of the same events in those around Hannah more than once. I honestly did not have a preference for which story I hoped was the one she ultimately would have picked.

A really engrossing read that gets the reader thinking about how a simple choice in our life can lead us down a completely different path. Do you believe in fate, or chance? Is there such a thing as a soul mate? Great questions that this book will have you pondering.

I received a copy of this book from BookSparks, as part of their Summer Reading Challenge. Click the link for info about all of the books selected.