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Published on 6 Comments on Review: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Meet the Cooke family. Our narrator is Rosemary Cooke. As a child, she never stopped talking; as a young woman, she has wrapped herself in silence: the silence of intentional forgetting, of protective WeAreAllCompletelyBesideOurselvescover. Something happened, something so awful she has buried it in the recesses of her mind.

Now her adored older brother is a fugitive, wanted by the FBI for domestic terrorism. And her once lively mother is a shell of her former self, her clever and imperious father now a distant, brooding man.

And Fern, Rosemary’s beloved sister, her accomplice in all their childhood mischief? Fern’s is a fate the family, in all their innocence, could never have imagined.

~ Goodreads

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

This was a nominee for the Man Booker prize in 2014. I went into this book already knowing what the plot twist was (it was kind of hard to avoid if you read any of the press surrounding it), but this did not hinder my enjoyment of the novel. Great story about the devastating effects on a family when one of the members is gone, and has left under adverse circumstances. It does skip fairly often from the present to the past but I didn't find it hard to follow and it was a necessary part of the plot. My only issue that I had with it was that while I didn't dislike any of the characters, I wasn't really invested in them either. I think if I had related more to them (particularly the main character Rosemary) I would have given it a 4 star. I enjoyed the plot, particularly that it explored something different. The writing was well done, maybe a bit extraneous at times, but overall it hit the mark with the family dynamics and animal activism.

This one is worth a look, I can understand why it was an award nominee. Good story about the effects on a family after a change in the family structure.

4

Published on 4 Comments on Review: Your Perfect Life

Your Perfect Life

Best friends since childhood, Casey and Rachel couldn’t lead more different lives. While workaholic Casey rubs elbows with celebrities daily as the host of Gossip TV and comes home nightly to an empty YourPerfectLifeapartment, stay-at-home mom Rachel juggles an “oops” baby, two fiery teenagers, and a husband who barely seems the man she fell in love with two decades before. After an argument at their twentieth high school reunion, Casey and Rachel throw back shots to get the night back on track. Instead, they get a life-changing hangover.

Waking up in each other’s bodies the next morning, they must figure out how to navigate their altered realities. Rachel is forced to confront the reason she gave up her broadcasting dreams when she got pregnant in college, and Casey finally steps out of the spotlight to face the truth about why she’s alone. And they soon discover that they don’t know themselves—or their best friend—nearly as well as they thought they did.

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke bring humor and heart to every page of this novel that is sure to please fans of In Her Shoes and The Opposite of Me. Your Perfect Life is a story about two very different women, what they didn’t know about each other, and how, by switching lives, they each learn to appreciate their own.

 
~ Goodreads

 

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

 

I fully intended to get to this book last summer by the pool, but "the best laid plans"........you know how it goes 🙂 I did bring it on vacation this spring to a balmy climate, so it still worked out. This book was a really quick, fun, and thoroughly enjoyable read. I love that it is written by two best friends who live across the country from each other (good thing we live in the internet age!). It's cleverly written, you really engage with the characters, and of course can't wait to see how it all plays out. I love that while the premise of the book was for each of them to appreciate what they had in their life, they also manage to create a better life for each other while in their  friend's shoes (literally in their shoes!). They discover how to make the life they are living even more fulfilling. You do need to avoid over analyzing while you are reading, of course it's not remotely possible that people would not catch on if you switched bodies, but just take it with a grain of salt, and you will enjoy. The authors have a new book coming in June that looks just as fun, so I'll be looking for that one.......maybe I'll even read it at the pool this summer!

 

Pick this one up for a light, fun take on "the grass is always greener on the other side".

 

4

Published on 4 Comments on Review: The Grand Reopening of Dandelion Cafe

The Grand Reopening of Dandelion Café (Cherry Pie Island #1)

 

When Annie White steps back onto Cherry Pie Island, it’s safe to say her newly inherited Dandelion Café has seen better days! And while her childhood home on the Thames-side island idyll is exactly GrandReopeningDandelionCafethe same retreat from the urban bustle of London she remembers, Annie’s not convinced that Owner of The Dandelion Cafe is a title she’ll be keeping for long. Not that she can bear the idea of letting her dedicated, if endearingly disorganized staff lose their jobs. Plus café life does also have the added bonus of working a stone’s throw away from millionaire Matt and his disarmingly charming smile!

One (shoestring budget) café makeover, a few delightful additions to the somewhat retro menu and a lot of cherry pie tastings later, The Dandelion Café is ready for its grand reopening! But once she’s brought the dilapidated old café back to life, Annie finds herself wishing her stay on the island was just a bit longer. She always intended to go back to the big city…but could island living finally have lured her back home for good?

The Grand Reopening of Dandelion Café is Book 1 in The Cherry Pie Island series. Each part of Cherry Pie Island can be read and enjoyed as a standalone story – or as part of the utterly delightful series

~ Goodreads

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

Sometimes you just want a good chick-lit type book, and this fit the bill very nicely! I have read this author before (The Little Christmas Kitchen), and enjoyed her writing immensely. I remember after reading the first book, that I was craving Greek food, and with this one I was dying for cherry pie.....and I don't even LIKE cherry pie 🙂 Although her books are not really about the food, Oliver has such a way of describing it, and fitting it in to the story, that it just adds to the already captivating plot. Most of what occurs in the book are things you can see coming a mile away, but it's ok because you are rooting for all of them to happen. There is nothing really earth shattering that happens, no world problems are solved, and yet you just can't help but get sucked in by the characters and their daily happenings. It just makes you want to hang out with them, and if Dandelion Cafe were a real place, I'd be going there for certain. I might even try the cherry pie!! I'm definitely looking forward to the next books in the series. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me a copy to read and review.

Pick this one up for a quick read (could read it in a few hours), great cast of characters, lovely setting, and did I mention the food descriptions?

 

3

Published on 3 Comments on Review: The Secrets Of Midwives

The Secrets of Midwives

 

Three generations of women Secrets in the present and from the pastA captivating tale of life, loss, and love…Neva Bradley, a third-generation midwife, is determined to keep the details surrounding her own pregnancy—including the identity of the baby’s father— hidden from her family and TheSecretsOfMidwivesco-workers for as long as possible. Her mother, Grace, finds it impossible to let this secret rest. The more Grace prods, the tighter Neva holds to her story, and the more the lifelong differences between private, quiet Neva and open, gregarious Grace strain their relationship. For Floss, Neva’s grandmother and a retired midwife, Neva’s situation thrusts her back sixty years in time to a secret that eerily mirrors her granddaughter’s—one which, if revealed, will have life-changing consequences for them all. As Neva’s pregnancy progresses and speculation makes it harder and harder to conceal the truth, Floss wonders if hiding her own truth is ultimately more harmful than telling it. Will these women reveal their secrets and deal with the inevitable consequences? Or are some secrets best kept hidden?
~Goodreads

 

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

 

This was my first attempt at an audiobook (I know, welcome to the 21st century Donna!). I honestly was not sure if I would be able to keep my mind on the story if I was listening to it, but was this ever a good book to begin with! I knew from the synopsis that this was my kind of read (multi generational saga, midwifery, strong women protagonists, buried secrets), and I'm happy to report that I was not disappointed. What a wonderful story that just sucked me in, I wanted to invite these characters over for dinner. They all had distinct personalities, and everything was not always rosy between mothers and daughters (as we know is the norm), but it was just the right mix of tension and love, doubt and forgiveness, truths and secrets. It was fairly easy to figure out the secrets, but for me, that was not the main focus of the book. The characters were at the heart of the story, and I didn't care that I could predict how it was going to end. I wanted everyone to have a happily ever after because they were my friends!

 

I was lucky enough to win a copy of this audiobook from Traveling with T. Thanks to her, I can now say that I am able to listen to books.....yay! This book was read by Alison Larkin. I don't have experience with audio narrators, but I thought she was fabulous! I adored her accent, and would definitely pick up another book read by her.

 

This is a great read if you like books about women (particularly generations of women), with lovely writing, and great character development. If you are looking for a great mystery (since the word secrets is in the title), you may not be as enamored of this one.

 

7

Published on 7 Comments on Review: Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

MrPemumbraBookstoreThe Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon away from life as a San Francisco web-design drone and into the aisles of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after a few days on the job, Clay discovers that the store is more curious than either its name or its gnomic owner might suggest. The bookstore’s secrets extend far beyond its walls.
~ Goodreads

My review...........2 stars

The premise of this book was very inviting (it's about a bookstore, count me in), and it started out well, but then it all kind of went downhill. I loved the story of the bookstore, it's workings, the quirky characters who would show up in the middle of the night, and the mystery behind what was really going on in this bookstore. Once we discover the mystery, and the characters take off on this bizarre adventure to solve it, they lost me. I wasn't overly fond of any of the characters (although with a little more work, Mr. Penumbra could have been fleshed out to be a favorite). It was ok, but after a good start, it fizzled out for me. Major points for the cover design, the little books glow in the dark!!

Sad to say, this just wasn't my kind of book. It holds promise for those who like mystery and adventure of the quirky sort.

1

Published on 1 Comment on Review: Wonder

Wonder

 

August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice cream. He plays on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside.

But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in Wonderplaygrounds. Ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go.

Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he's being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted - but can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all?

Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches forever, Wonder is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page.

~ Goodreads

 

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

 

This technically should be lumped in with my YA reviews, which I do in a multiple books in one post format. However, this book, which I think is considered middle grade, should be read by everyone! Auggie is a gem, perhaps one of the best young characters you will ever encounter. He will make you laugh, he'll make you cry, and he'll make you marvel at his ability to handle the cruelness of people in this world. The other characters are also very well fleshed out, including Auggie's sister, the boy who befriends him, and the school bully (I have the version of the book with the Julian chapter at the end, not all books have this). Since it's a middle grade book, it is a fast read, and the vocabulary is geared for that level, but trust me, you won't mind because you will be so engaged in the story. I really hope there will be a sequel to this, I want to grow old with Auggie!

 

The synopsis says it best, this is a book you will remember long after the final page. Go out and read it.

 

3

Published on 3 Comments on Review: Shotgun Lovesongs

Shotgun Lovesongs

 

Hank, Leland, Kip and Ronny were all born and raised in the same Wisconsin town — Little Wing — and are now coming into their own (or not) as husbands and fathers. One of them never left, still farming the family's land that's been tilled for generations. Others did leave, went farther afield to make good, with varying degrees of success; as a rock star, commodities trader, rodeo stud. And seamlessly woven into their patchwork is Beth, whose presence among them—both then and now—fuels the kind of passion one comes to expect of love songs and rivalries.
ShotgunLovesongs
Now all four are home, in hopes of finding what could be real purchase in the world. The result is a shared memory only half-recreated, riddled with culture clashes between people who desperately wish to see themselves as the unified tribe they remember, but are confronted with how things have, in fact, changed.There is conflict here between longtime buddies, between husbands and wives — told with writing that is, frankly, gut-wrenching, and even heartbreaking. But there is also hope, healing, and at times, even heroism. It is strong, American stuff, not at all afraid of showing that we can be good, too — not just fallible and compromising. Shotgun Lovesongs is a remarkable and uncompromising saga that explores the age-old question of whether or not you can ever truly come home again — and the kind of steely faith and love returning requires.

~ Goodreads

 

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

 

Great story about a small town, and what happens when you come home again. Told in the first person by all the characters (4 men, 1 woman), with present time and past recollections. It sometimes does get a bit confusing to figure out who is speaking if you leave a chapter in the middle. While I was not a fan of all the characters, I did find that each of them had some endearing moments. The story was not anything that will keep you on the edge of your seat, but just kind of meanders along on the life journeys of the 5 childhood friends. While I did not grow up in a small town, I could appreciate the way the author wrote about it, and the fact that people who do come from small towns, have the same friends for their entire lives. A well written story, it did drag a bit here and there, but that is mostly due to the nature of the plot.

 

I liked this one, I thought it was a well done story about small town life, and the power of friendship.

 

9

Published on 9 Comments on Review: The Headmaster’s Wife

The Headmaster's Wife

 

Inspired by a personal loss, Greene explores the way that tragedy and time assail one man’s memories of his life and loves.

Like his father before him, Arthur Winthrop is the Headmaster of Vermont’s elite Lancaster School. It is the place he feels has given him his life, but is also the site of his undoing as events spiral out of his TheHeadmastersWifecontrol. Found wandering naked in Central Park, he begins to tell his story to the police, but his memories collide into one another, and the true nature of things, a narrative of love, of marriage, of family and of a tragedy Arthur does not know how to address emerges.

Luminous and atmospheric, bringing to life the tight-knit enclave of a quintessential New England boarding school, the novel is part mystery, part love story and an exploration of the ties of place and family. Beautifully written and compulsively readable, The Headmaster’s Wife stands as a moving elegy to the power of love as an antidote to grief.

 
~ Goodreads

 

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

 

I picked this book up for two reasons, it's about a boarding school (I never attended a boarding school, but I'm always drawn to stories about them), and it takes place in Vermont (where I grew up). It's an interesting book, but I can't really go into a lot of detail without giving away the plot twist. I wasn't really too sure about the first half of the book (another one that bordered on creepy), but I'm glad I stuck with it because it gets explained by the middle of the story. I thought the book was well paced, and well written. It had good character development, although I can't say that I really identified, or felt for any of the characters.

 

This one is a tough one to review without giving things away. It's a good read, but not one that will probably stick with me.

 

10

Published on 10 Comments on Review: The Good Girl

The Good Girl

Born to a prominent Chicago judge and his stifled socialite wife, Mia Dennett moves against the grain as a young inner-city art teacher. One night, Mia enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. With his TheGoodGirlsmooth moves and modest wit, at first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.

Colin's job was to abduct Mia as part of a wild extortion plot and deliver her to his employers. But the plan takes an unexpected turn when Colin suddenly decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota, evading the police and his deadly superiors. Mia's mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them, but no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family's world to shatter.

~ Goodreads

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

This is yet another of those books that is being compared to Gone Girl (gah....when will it ever end?). I liked this more than Gone Girl! The characters in Gone Girl were just flat out crazy, this one, not so much. I absolutely love a book where I can be convinced to change my mind about a character, once I learn their back story, and get to know them over a period of time. Such was the case with Colin Thatcher. For the most part this book was completely predictable, but I was ok with that, I just wanted to find out what was ultimately going to happen. I enjoyed the detective work that is intertwined within, and there is even some Mia before and after chapters to keep you guessing. I don't like to include spoilers in my reviews, so I'm just going to say OMG about the last few pages!!!

If you like a crime story, and a book where you start rooting for the bad guy, trust me.....this one is for you. And the ending.......OMG, did I mention the ending?!!

3

Published on 3 Comments on Review: The Wednesday Group

The Wednesday Group

 

Gail. Hannah. Bridget. Lizzy. Flavia. Each of them has a shameful secret, and each is about to find out that she is not alone… Gail, a prominent Boston judge, keeps receiving letters from her husband’s latest girlfriend, while her husband, a theology professor, claims he’s nine-months sober from sex with grad students. Hannah, a homemaker, catches her husband having sex with a male prostitute in TheWednesdayGroupa public restroom. Bridget, a psychiatric nurse at a state hospital, is sure she has a loving, doting spouse, until she learns that he is addicted to chat rooms and match-making websites. Lizzy, a high school teacher, is married to a porn addict, who is withdrawn and uninterested in sex with her. Flavia was working at the Boston Public library when someone brought her an article that stated her husband had been arrested for groping a teenage girl on the subway. He must face court, and Flavia must decide if she wants to stay with him. Finally, Kathryn, the young psychologist running the group, has as much at stake as all of the others. As the women share never-before-uttered secrets and bond over painful truths, they work on coming to terms with their husbands’ addictions and developing healthy boundaries for themselves. Meanwhile, their outside lives become more and more intertwined, until, finally, a series of events forces each woman to face her own denial, betrayal and uncertain future head-on.From author Sylvia True comes The Wednesday Group, a captivating, moving novel about friendship, marriage, and the bonds that connect us all.
~ Goodreads

 

My review..........4.5 stars

 

If you like stories with great character development, and how women learn to grow from a life shattering experience, then this is a must read for you! I loved this debut novel. Don't be fooled by the huge paragraph describing all the reasons the women are in therapy, these are taken care of very early on in the book (I was worried it was going to be very heavy on the mens sexual addictions, and it's not). It's a book about the women, and what they are feeling, and how they cope with the actions of their husbands. It's also about their interactions with each other during their weekly group therapy sessions. Even the women who I didn't feel an instant connection with, I grew to like and care about by the end of the book. I'm not sure that I agreed with some of their decisions regarding their marriages, but it was so well written that you could understand why they were made. I took away half a star because it does leave a couple things up in the air, and I always like to close a book and be satisfied that all my characters are wrapped up.

 

I was given a copy of this book to review through the publisher (St. Martin's Griffin). It's release date is set for March 24, 2015. I hope to hear a lot more from this author.......kudos to her on such a well done debut!