Title: Crazy Rich Asians
Author: Kevin Kwan
Published: May 20, 2014 by Anchor (paperback)
Pages: 527
Source: Purchased
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads

When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most eligible bachelor.

On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her relaxed vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy relatives, and scheming social climbers.

My review:

I was chuckling at the author's descriptions before I had read past the first page! This was a fun, satirical look at the super rich of Singapore. However, despite their wealth, we soon see that a lot of these people have the same issues plaguing many in our societies........mothers who interfere into their childrens' lives, gossipy neighbors, insecure women, and a hefty dose of canniving, canoodling, and cattiness! I can't say that this book really teaches you anything, and most of the characters were not anyone I'd want to know in real life, but I thought it was escapism to the highest degree. I think it was a bit lengthy, some of the descriptions of opulence did get wordy, but it sure was fun to imagine all those places and things.

There is a sequel to this book (it may end up being a trilogy?), so don't expect everything to be tied up nicely at the end. I'll be reading it for sure, I can't wait to find out what happens to Rachel and Nick.

If you are someone who doesn't like reading about those with extreme wealth (even though they are being called out for it), then this probably would not be a good fit for you. I thought it was crazy fun, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Title: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
Author: Joanne Fluke
Narrator: Suzanne Toren
Published: 2001 by Recorded Books LLC
Length: 9 hrs 35 min
Source: Recorded Books
Rating: 3/5
Goodreads

In her first foray into the sleuthing game, resourceful, red-headed Hannah Swensen must find the right ingredients to solve two perplexing murders. One chilly morning on her way to The Cookie Jar, Hannah discovers Ron, the dairy delivery man, shot dead in his truck. When she begins to investigate, she suspects the dairy owner, but when he, too, is murdered, Hannah must look further afield for the culprit.

My review:

This was a quick and light read (listen). I did not know that it was the first in a series, and I think this is what is termed a cozy mystery? I liked the main character, loved the humorous portrayal of her mother, was annoyed at first by the sister, but she grew on me. The small town setting, where everyone knows everyone and everything, has been used frequently in books, but I kind of like it. I did enjoy trying to figure out the mystery along with Hannah, and of course I guessed the wrong killer 🙂 Hannah is a baker, and there are cookie recipes mentioned throughout the book that are included at the end of several chapters. While this works well for reading (you can skip over them or not), it was a bit of an annoyance to have to listen to the recipes. I thought the narrator did a good job with voicing all the various characters, although with so many, some of them did end up sounding the same.

Overall this was a good book. It worked well to listen to poolside, since it didn't require lots of concentration to keep up with the plot. I've seen lots more in the series, and I'm not sure that I would continue. If I did, it would perhaps be one of the latter ones, to see what happened in Hannah's life. This book makes a big point about how small the town is, I think it would start to bother me that there happen to be so many murders!

I received a download copy of this book at BEA from Recorded Books.

Title: The Blessings
Author: Elise Juska
Published: May 26, 2015 by Grand Central (paperback)
Pages: 288
Source: Grand Central Publishing
Rating: 3/5
Goodreads

Elise Juska's THE BLESSINGS is an extraordinary novel about an ordinary family. The Blessings rally around one another in times of celebration and those of sorrow, coming together for departures and arrivals, while its members harbor private struggles and moments of personal joy. College student Abby ponders homesickness in her first semester away from her Philadelphia home, while her cousin Stephen commits a petty act of violence that takes a surprising turn, and their aunt Lauren faces a crisis in her storybook marriage she could never have foreseen. Through the lens of one unforgettable family, this beautifully moving novel explores how our families define us and how we shape them in return.

My review:

This is a well developed story about a large Irish-Catholic family in the Philadelphia area that takes place over the course of about 20 years. The chapters are told in chronological order, but each one seems like a short story exploring one of the family members. You do get information about the others along the way, but it seems written in the style of short stories. I'm not a big fan of short stories, so this was a little off putting for me, but because of the fact that the stories were interwoven, I did get used to the format. While I applaud the author for her creativity in using this type of approach, it did affect my overall rating. I also felt that maybe there was a bit too much happening to this family to make it totally believable. It made for good storylines, but it seemed like they had an awful lot of traumatic events to overcome. I thought the writing was well done, even though the chapters were about different people, they did flow well within. The characters were all people that you could relate to, and I thought the large family dynamic was well done.

Overall I thought this was a good book, but the format was not my favorite. I think anyone wanting a good family saga who doesn't mind short stories, will like this one. I will definitely be on the lookout for future books by this author, I  thought she did a very good job with her characterizations.

Thanks to Tiffany at Grand Central Publishing for sending me a copy for review. As always, my opinions are my own.

Title: A Hundred Summers
Author: Beatriz Williams
Published: April 1, 2014 by Berkely (paperback)
Pages: 432
Source: Purchased
Goodreads

Memorial Day, 1938: New York socialite Lily Dane has just returned with her family to the idyllic oceanfront community of Seaview, Rhode Island, expecting another placid summer season among the familiar traditions and friendships that sustained her after heartbreak.

That is, until Greenwalds decide to take up residence in Seaview.

Nick and Budgie Greenwald are an unwelcome specter from Lily’s past: her former best friend and her former fiancé, now recently married—an event that set off a wildfire of gossip among the elite of Seaview, who have summered together for generations. Budgie’s arrival to restore her family’s old house puts her once more in the center of the community’s social scene, and she insinuates herself back into Lily's friendship with an overpowering talent for seduction...and an alluring acquaintance from their college days, Yankees pitcher Graham Pendleton. But the ties that bind Lily to Nick are too strong and intricate to ignore, and the two are drawn back into long-buried dreams, despite their uneasy secrets and many emotional obligations.

Under the scorching summer sun, the unexpected truth of Budgie and Nick’s marriage bubbles to the surface, and as a cataclysmic hurricane barrels unseen up the Atlantic and into New England, Lily and Nick must confront an emotional cyclone of their own, which will change their worlds forever.

My review............5 stars

After reading blog after blog touting this as "the best beach read", this was the summer I was determined to see what all the talk was about. Well you can now count me in with my blog peers, because this book was fantastic! I really felt transported back to the 30's, the descriptions by the author were fantastic (but oh my, did people really drink and smoke that much back then?). It alternates back and forth between the time Lily and Nick were together, and the present summer at the beach. I could not wait to find out what happened between them, and how the summer was going to play out. There were a few more surprises thrown into the mix as well as the mystery of the ill fated lovers. I could see this as a movie, it reminded me of the old black and white movies from that era. There was an ease to the writing style that kept me fully engaged, I could almost see the scenes playing out on a movie screen in my head. I do admit that the ending felt a bit contrived, but at that point, I was so hooked that a measly few pages were not going to alter my view at all. This was my first book I've read by Ms. Williams, but it absolutely will not be the last!

Wonderful descriptions that make you feel like you are there watching the scenes play out, and feeling transported back in time. I loved this one, pick up a copy and join the club raving about this one.

The House on Mermaid Point (Ten Beach Road #3)

Maddie, Avery, and Nikki first got to know one another—perhaps all too well—while desperately restoring a beachfront mansion to its former grandeur. Now they’re putting that experience to professional use. But their latest project has presented some challenges they couldn’t have dreamed up in their wildest fantasies—although the house does belong to a man who actually was Maddie’s wildest fantasy once . . .

Rock-and-roll legend “William the Wild” Hightower may be past his prime, estranged from his family, and creatively blocked, but he’s still worshiped by fans—which is why he guards his privacy on his own island in the Florida Keys. He’s not thrilled about letting this crew turn his piece of paradise into a bed-and-breakfast for a reality show . . . though he is intrigued by Maddie. Hard as that is for her to believe as a newly single woman who can barely manage a dog paddle in the dating pool.

But whether it’s an unexpected flirtation with a bona fide rock star, a strained mother-daughter relationship, or a sudden tragedy, these women are in it together. The only thing that might drive them apart is being trapped on a houseboat with one bathroom.

~ Goodreads

If you want a story about women and friendship, the beach, and a renovation project thrown in, I recommend that you pick this one up. Don't say that you haven't been warned that one book could lead to four (+?) in the series 🙂

Every Fifteen Minutes

Dr. Eric Parrish is the Chief of the Psychiatric Unit at Havemeyer General Hospital outside of Philadelphia. Recently separated from his wife Alice, he is doing his best as a single Dad to his seven-year-old daughter Hannah. His work seems to be going better than his home life, however. His unit at the hospital has just been named number two in the country and Eric has a devoted staff of doctors and nurses who are as caring as Eric is. But when he takes on a new patient, Eric's entire world begins to crumble. Seventeen-year-old Max has a terminally ill grandmother and is having trouble handling it. That, plus his OCD and violent thoughts about a girl he likes makes Max a high risk patient. Max can't turn off the mental rituals he needs to perform every fifteen minutes that keep him calm. With the pressure mounting, Max just might reach the breaking point. When the girl is found murdered, Max is nowhere to be found. Worried about Max, Eric goes looking for him and puts himself in danger of being seen as a "person of interest" himself. Next, one of his own staff turns on him in a trumped up charge of sexual harassment. Is this chaos all random? Or is someone systematically trying to destroy Eric's life? New York Times best selling author Lisa Scottoline's visceral thriller, Every Fifteen Minutes,brings you into the grip of a true sociopath and shows you how, in the quest to survive such ruthlessness, every minute counts.

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 aplenty--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.

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, along 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.

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.

Beach Town

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 quarks 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?