Skip to content

About ondbookshelf

Blogging my way through my extensive to be read pile of books.

6

Saint Mazie

 

Meet Mazie Phillips: big-hearted and bawdy, she's the truth-telling proprietress of The Venice, the famed New York City movie theater. It's the Jazz Age, with romance and booze SaintMazieaplenty--even when Prohibition kicks in--and Mazie never turns down a night on the town. But her high spirits mask a childhood rooted in poverty, and her diary, always close at hand, holds her dearest secrets.

 When the Great Depression hits, Mazie's life is on the brink of transformation. Addicts and bums roam the Bowery; homelessness is rampant. If Mazie won't help them, then who? When she opens the doors of The Venice to those in need, this ticket-taking, fun-time girl becomes the beating heart of the Lower East Side, and in defining one neighborhood helps define the city.

Then, more than ninety years after Mazie began her diary, it's discovered by a documentarian in search of a good story. Who was Mazie Phillips, really? A chorus of voices from the past and present fill in some of the mysterious blanks of her adventurous life.

Inspired by the life of a woman who was profiled in Joseph Mitchell's classic Up in the Old Hotel, Saint Mazie is infused with Jami Attenberg's signature wit, bravery, and heart. Mazie's rise to "sainthood"--and her irrepressible spirit--is unforgettable.

~ Goodreads

 

My review..........3.5 stars

 

I read The Middlesteins by this author and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to get to read this new novel. First let's look at the beautiful cover! I think it's perfect for this book, it really evokes the time period and where our main character spends her days. This is a fictionalized account of the real life of Mazie Phillips Gordon, movie theater ticket taker by day, helpful "saint" to the homeless of New York City by night. It is a wonderful commentary on NYC at and around the time of the jazz age, prohibition, and the great depression. It's written from the perspective of a documentarian who comes across Mazie's diary, begun when she is ten years old. We have the diary entries, interspersed with pieces by people who either knew her, or heard stories relating to her. This does make the book a little hard to follow, but the vignettes are woven in amongst the diary entries in somewhat of a chronological fashion, so it's not too bad. Mazie is such an amazing character, complete with a troubled life, a fervent love of her city, and a huge need to help those less fortunate than her. I loved her, and only wish the novel could have been longer so we could learn more about her life!

Pick this one up if you enjoy books about this era, or about New York City, or about a bawdy, vivacious, loveable, and persevering woman.

Many thanks to Tiffany at Grand Central Publishing/Hachette who sent me a copy of this for review. My opinions are always my own.


 

2

The Canterbury Sisters

Che Milan’s life is falling apart. Not only has her longtime lover abruptly dumped her, but her eccentric, demanding mother has recently died. When an urn of ashes arrives, TheCanterburySistersalong with a note reminding Che of a half-forgotten promise to take her mother to Canterbury, Che finds herself reluctantly undertaking a pilgrimage.

Within days she joins a group of women who are walking the sixty miles from London to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, reputed to be the site of miracles. In the best Chaucer tradition, the women swap stories as they walk, each vying to see who can best describe true love. Che, who is a perfectionist and workaholic, loses her cell phone at the first stop and is forced to slow down and really notice the world around her, perhaps for the first time in years.

Through her adventures along the trail, Che finds herself opening up to new possibilities in life and discovers that the miracles of Canterbury can take surprising forms.

~ Goodreads

My review...........3.5 stars

I had a hard time putting a rating on this one. The book started a little slow for me, but then it was simply a delight once it got going. I did like the main character, especially for the fact that this author uses middle age women for her protagonists. It doesn't happen a lot, so I am always interested when one comes along. It really started to get interesting once all the women started on their trek to Canterbury and they started the story telling (in the tradition of Chaucer I'm told, although I've never read The Canterbury Tales). All of the women started really developing through their stories. It was a bit hard to keep track of who was who, but as you continue to read it doesn't become an issue. There were a couple of stories that were not that interesting to me, but they are not very long, and the majority I found to be very well done. It was also fascinating that a lot of the women told their own stories disguised as a third person narrative. Very well thought out on the part of the author. While I loved the cover of the book, I have to admit that other than the fact that they drink tea in England, it didn't really showcase the plot of the book. I'm very drawn to this cover though, so I'm not taking anything away from its power to draw me in to the story.

Another great book by Kim Wright. If you have not read her book The Unexpected Waltz, I would highly recommend that one as well! This one may take a few pages to get into, but it's well worth the read once the journey takes off.

I received this book from the publisher for a discussion with the author on Goodreads. As always, my opinions are my own.

 

2

Beach Town


 

Greer Hennessy needs palm trees.

As a movie location scout, picture-perfect is the name of the game. But her last project literally went up in flames, and her career is on the verge of flaming out. Greer has been BeachTowngiven one more chance, if she can find the perfect undiscovered beach hideaway for a big-budget movie. She zeroes in on a sleepy Florida panhandle town called Cypress Key. There's one motel, a marina, a long stretch of pristine beach and an old fishing pier with a community casino-which will be perfect for the film's explosive climax.

There's just one problem. Eben Thibadeaux, the town mayor, completely objects to Greer's plan. A lifelong resident of Cypress Key, Eben wants the town to be revitalized, not commercialized. After a toxic paper plant closed, the bay has only recently been reborn, and Eb has no intention of letting anybody screw with his town again. But Greer has a way of making things happen, regardless of obstacles. And Greer and Eb are way too attracted to each other for either of them to see reason.

Between an ambitious director and his entourage-including a spoiled "It Boy" lead actor-who parachute into town, a conniving local ex-socialite, and a cast of local fangirls and opportunists who catch the movie bug, nothing is going to be the same in Cypress Key. Now Greer is forced to make some hard choices: about the people and the town she's come to care about, and about her own life. True love is only for the movies, right? Can Greer find a way to be the heroine in her own life story? Told with inimitable heart and humor, Mary Kay Andrews' Beach Town is the perfect summer destination.

~ Goodreads

My review..........4 stars


 

It's just not summer without a Mary Kay Andrews book! This one has all the bells and whistles that you've come to expect (if you've read her previous books). You can always count on a fun storyline (in this case the movie making business), lots of characters (some likeable, some not), a cutesy romance, and a few chuckles along the way. You are not going to find any deep thought provoking themes, you probably won't encounter beautiful prose, but what you will find is a great story that will keep you eagerly flipping pages . I like the easy breezy flow to books by this author, and while some storylines are more interesting to me than others, I still gobble these books up. They're fun, flirty, and you can always count on a happy ending. Just what a summer beach read should be 🙂


 

Grab your favorite beverage and sit outside (whether it be poolside or just on your back deck) and enjoy this one this summer!


 

Entanglement

Awkward, 21-year-old Greta Donovan, the fiercely intelligent daughter of a philandering physics professor, doesn’t relate to people nearly as well as she relates to facts and figures. While Greta gets Entaglementquarks and string theory, she hasn’t a clue where men are concerned.

Which is exactly why she doesn’t see it coming when someone tries to kill her.

Newly transplanted in L.A. after being kicked out of her father's house, Greta moves in with her best friend Daphne Saito, a troubled girl with an abusive past. The charismatic Daphne teaches Greta how to wear stilettos, apply lip gloss, and navigate 1990s Hollywood nightlife. Daphne is determined to succeed, and she drags an unwilling Greta into the limelight with her.

When Greta walks out on her, Daphne tries to win her back. But Daphne’s desperate tactics just push Greta further away. Reeling, Daphne betrays her friend. Can Greta survive? Can she forgive?

~  Goodreads

My review............4 stars

This is one of those books where you read the first chapter and you are completely sucked in to figure out all the facts leading up to what has occurred. It begins after Greta has been attacked, and then we slowly find out the backstory leading up to whodunnit. While I didn't find any of the characters in the book particularly likeable, there was something about the way they were written that drew me in, and I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen with them. This is the first book in a while that deals with twenty something characters that I enjoyed, in spite of not relating to them, so big props to the author for that. The friendship between Greta and Daphne was not your typical one, and I loved the exploration of how two people with flawed families can come together, and how their past lives can impact their relationships, not just with each other, but with those around them.

This is a fast read, really well written, and did I mention that I couldn't wait to figure it all out? Check this out if you want a mystery with some flawed and quirky characters. I don't think you will regret it.

Thanks to the author for providing me a copy of this for review.

5

The Summer Girls (Lowcountry Summer #1)

Three granddaughters. Three months. One summer house.

TheSummerGirlsIn this enchanting trilogy set on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe captures the complex relationships between Dora, Carson, and Harper, three half-sisters scattered across the country—and a grandmother determined to help them rediscover their family bonds.

For years, Carson Muir has drifted, never really settling, certain only that a life without the ocean is a life half lived. Adrift and penniless in California, Carson is the first to return to Sea Breeze, wondering where things went wrong…until the sea she loves brings her a minor miracle. Her astonishing bond with a dolphin helps Carson renew her relationships with her sisters and face the haunting memories of her ill-fated father. As the rhythms of the island open her heart, Carson begins to imagine the next steps toward her future.

In this heartwarming novel, three sisters discover the true treasures Sea Breeze offers as surprising truths are revealed, mistakes forgiven, and precious connections made that will endure long beyond one summer.

~ Goodreads

My review.........3 stars

This was a good beach read kind of book, however for me it has the potential to become forgettable within a few months. The writing was fine, but felt a little formulaic. Each book (in the trilogy) will focus on one of the half sisters, and the one chosen for this book was my least favorite (at least from the descriptions we gleaned about the other sisters in this first book). I could not relate to Carson, even though we were given facts that supposedly contributed to her not having a clue about her life in her mid thirties. I felt that she was always looking for a bail out for her life mistakes. I did love the grandmother, who I'm sure will be a focus in each of the books in the series, so I'm looking forward to more interactions with her. I liked the beach setting, but could have enjoyed even more by way of making me feel like I was enmeshed in the beach culture.

Overall this book was a good, not great read. I am anxious to read the other two parts in the trilogy, and if I enjoy those characters more, I will feel that this first book was necessary to set up the others.

1

EightHundredGrapes(2)Eight Hundred Grapes: A Novel

 

There are secrets you share, and secrets you hide…

Growing up on her family’s Sonoma vineyard, Georgia Ford learned some important secrets. The secret number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine: eight hundred. The secret ingredient in her EightHundredGrapesmother’s lasagna: chocolate. The secret behind ending a fight: hold hands.

But just a week before her wedding, thirty-year-old Georgia discovers her beloved fiancé has been keeping a secret so explosive, it will change their lives forever.

Georgia does what she’s always done: she returns to the family vineyard, expecting the comfort of her long-married parents, and her brothers, and everything familiar. But it turns out her fiancé is not the only one who’s been keeping secrets…

Bestselling author Laura Dave has been dubbed “a wry observer of modern love” (USA TODAY), a “decadent storyteller” (Marie Claire), and “compulsively readable” (Woman’s Day). Set in the lush backdrop of Sonoma’s wine country, Eight Hundred Grapes is a heartbreaking, funny, and deeply evocative novel about love, marriage, family, wine, and the treacherous terrain in which they all intersect.

~ Goodreads

 

My review............4 stars

 

This book piqued my interest when I found out it takes place at a wine vineyard, a subject I know next to nothing about. Just the fact that the title refers to the number of grapes it takes to make a good bottle of wine, and the clever cover drew me in. While I admit that the information about the way the grapes are grown, the year long process to get the grapes ready for harvest, the things that need to be added to the soil as well as the fermenting process was fascinating, this was also a darn good family story! You just never know what is going on behind the surface until you start poking around. As much as this family love each other, there were several very tense and tenuous moments throughout. While I wasn't entirely happy with the resolution to all of the issues, this was a thoroughly satisfying read. Great writing throughout, made me want to keep flipping pages to find out how everything would work out for this family.

 

Pour yourself a glass of wine and curl up with this very interesting and inviting story!

 

This book is part of the BookSparks summer reading challenge. Follow the link for more information, and a list of this summer's books.

 

BookSparksSummerReadingChallenge

 

4

TheBalanceProject(2)The Balance Project

Katherine Whitney has it all. She’s married, has two daughters, is the COO of Green Goddess & Co., a TheBalanceProjectmulti-billion dollar health and wellness lifestyle company, and with the release of her book on work-life balance, she is not only a media darling but she is a hero to working moms everywhere. In reality, though, Katherine’s life is starting to fall apart, and her loyal assistant Lucy Cooper is the one holding most things together. But when Katherine does something unthinkable to Lucy, Lucy is faced with a difficult decision. Will she choose to change Katherine’s life forever or continue being her main champion. Her decision could change the trajectory of both of their lives. The Balance Project is a story of loyalty, choices, and most of all balance as it explores the hot-button issue that all women struggle with.
~ Goodreads

My review...........4 stars

Another solid book about attempting to "have it all". I found this to be a very enjoyable read. The writing flowed well, and the characters were well fleshed out, I particularly enjoyed Lucy. I could empathize with all the main characters even when they did something that I may not have liked or agreed with. The subject was one that will never get old (and probably never have a true solution), the concept of juggling career, motherhood, relationship, and me time. Even though it did seem like a book I've read before, I still really liked it, and would recommend it as a great light read. I read this while attending Book Expo America, where I could only manage to read a few pages at a time, and it was very easy to pick up right where I left off.

A cute, light, character driven story that should be pleasing to most of my readers, particularly good for summer vacation read.

This book is part of the BookSparks summer reading challenge. Visit the website to learn more about the books chosen, and join in!

BookSparksSummerReadingChallenge

2

Family Pictures

 

With Family Pictures, New York Times bestseller Jane Green delivers a riveting novel about two women whose lives intersect when a shocking secret is revealed

FamilyPicturesFrom the author of Another Piece of My Heart comes the gripping story of two women who live on opposite coasts but whose lives are connected in ways they never could have imagined.  Both women are wives and mothers to children who are about to leave the nest for school.  They're both in their forties and have husbands who travel more than either of them would like.  They are both feeling an emptiness neither had expected.  But when a shocking secret is exposed, their lives are blown apart.  As dark truths from the past reveal themselves, will these two women be able to learn to forgive, for the sake of their children, if not for themselves?

~ Goodreads

 

My review...........4 stars

 

I've read several novels by Jane Green and I always enjoy them, some more than others. This one is told by two women (with occasional chapters from their respective daughters), during roughly a two year time period. I definitely liked one of the women more, but the other one evolved more throughout the course of the book. There was also a concurrent storyline about anorexia happening to one of the daughters, adding even more strain to an already volatile situation. The story had a good flow to it and the characters were well done. I did find the transformation of one of the women a bit hard to believe, and the way the secret was revealed was pretty non-plausible, but it didn't affect my enjoyment of the story that much. In typical Jane Green fashion, the ending is all tidy and nice, but sometimes that is what I want from a book, and why I pick up books by this author.

 

I listened to this book on audio. It was narrated by Amy Quint. At first I wasn't sure if I liked her voice since the last two audios I've had were done by very soft spoken narrators. I got used to it fairly quickly, and ended up being fine with her narration.

 

A good saga of two families in crisis, and their way of coping and growing from it. Well worth a read.

 

2

The Tao of Martha: My Year of LIVING; Or, Why I'm Never Getting All That Glitter Off of the Dog

 

Jen’s still a little rough around the edges. Suffice it to say, she’s no Martha Stewart. And that is exactly why Jen is going to Martha up and live her life according to the advice of America’s overachieving older sister—the woman who turns lemons into lavender-infused lemonade.

By immersing herself in Martha’s media empire, Jen will embark on a yearlong quest to take herself, TheTaoOfMarthaher house, her husband (and maybe even her pets) to the next level—from closet organization to craft making, from party planning to kitchen prep.

Maybe Jen can go four days without giving herself food poisoning if she follows Martha’s dictates on proper storage....Maybe she can grow closer to her girlfriends by taking up their boring-ass hobbies like knitting and sewing.…Maybe she can finally rid her workout clothes of meatball stains by using Martha’s laundry tips.… Maybe she can create a more meaningful anniversary celebration than just getting drunk in the pool with her husband....again. And maybe, just maybe, she’ll discover that the key to happiness does, in fact, lie in Martha’s perfectly arranged cupboards and artfully displayed charcuterie platters.

Or maybe not.

~ Goodreads

 

My review............4 stars

 

Oh my goodness, this is my first book by Jen Lancaster, and it will definitely not be my last! It's also another memoir, not a genre I typically pick up. That will change after I seek out all of Jen's other titles. This book was hilarious, but at the same time contained lessons about life, and a sweet tribute to a beloved pet. Jen gets herself in all sorts of situations while she's trying to live a year following the teachings of Martha Stewart. Her husband Fletch, himself a very funny guy without even trying, has to redirect and rescue her efforts on many occasions throughout the book. I could relate to many of the scenarios, especially since whenever my husband and I attempt any household improvement, it always takes on a life of its own 🙂 I flew through this book since I couldn't wait to find out what kind of project/calamity was going to occur next. There is no life altering advice within the pages, but it is sheer delight from an entertainment standpoint.

 

My advice for you when you read this book is to do it within the confines of your house, unless you want to attract attention while you laugh until you cry! I'm off to find more from Jen Lancaster.

 

5

wishful

Wishful Thinking

 

Jennifer Sharpe is a divorced mother of two with a problem just about any working parent can relate to: her boss expects her to work as though she doesn t have children, and her children want her to care for them as though she doesn t have a boss. But when, through a fateful coincidence, a brilliant physicist comes into possession of Jennifer s phone and decides to play fairy godmother, installing a WishfulThinkingmiraculous time-travel app called Wishful Thinking, Jennifer suddenly finds herself in possession of what seems like the answer to the impossible dream of having it all: an app that lets her be in more than one place at the same time. With the app, Jennifer goes quickly from zero to hero in every part of her life: she is super-worker, the last to leave her office every night; she is super-mom, the first to arrive at pickup every afternoon; and she even becomes super-girlfriend, dating a musician who thinks she has unlimited childcare and a flexible job. But Jennifer soon finds herself facing questions that adding more hours to her day can t answer. Why does she feel busier and more harried than ever? Is she aging faster than everyone around her? How can she be a good worker, mother, and partner when she can t be honest with anybody in her life? And most important, when choosing to be with your children, at work, or with your partner doesn t involve sacrifice, do those choices lose their meaning? Wishful Thinking is a modern-day fairy tale in which one woman learns to overcome the challenges and appreciate the joys of living life in real time."
~ Goodreads

 

My review............4 stars

 

When I decided to read this book (as part of the BookSparks summer reading challenge), I had some major reservations. It's about time travel, not a favorite subject of mine. Lo and behold.....I liked it! Sure it has a time travel aspect in it, and a kind of sketchy scientific explanation for it, but beyond all that it is a wonderful story about a woman who needs to be in two or three places at once. We can all relate to that right? I loved the character of Jennifer, and I thought that she, and the characters surrounding her, were well crafted by the author. Beyond the scope of the physical and mental challenges of the time travel, there was a great story about mothering, friendship, exposing corruption at the workplace, and even a sweet love story. Great pacing in this, it had me on the edge of my seat a few times, and then sitting back and savoring Jennifer's life at others.

 

If you can get beyond the time travel, this is a wonderful story that would be a perfect summer read. Head on over to the BookSparks page to see the other titles coming up this summer.

 

BookSparksSummerReadingChallenge
I'm giving away an extra copy of Wishful Thinking that I received. Enter via the Rafflecopter below to be eligible to win (US only please).

Rafflecopter