by Tess Stimson
Clare Elias has it all together. A handsome younger husband, a successful chain of flower shops and pregnant with twins. When the twins come however, Clare finds herself lost and overwhelmed, and does what she swore she would never do - she hires a nanny. Jenna is young, smart and organized, making Clare feel worse. And then Clare's husband's secrets come to light, throwing the whole family, including Jenna, into turmoil.
I read this book in a day. Granted, it was Sunday and I didn't do anything else all day - literally - but it was that good. Told in alternately viewpoints - Clare's, Jenna's, Clare's husband's, her brother's and her mother's - I knew exactly what everyone was thinking throughout the entire novel. The only thing that bothered me was that near the end, the scenes overlapped a lot, with everyone telling their side and it got tedious in some parts.
Any woman who has had a baby and then wondered what they got themselves into can identify with Clare. Jenna is a young woman, trapped in a relationship she doesn't know how to end, loving babies that don't belong to her.
Overall, a very good book. I would read more by this author for sure.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Mothers & Other Liars
by Amy Bourret
An article in a magazine takes Ruby Leander back ten years, to when she was a 19-year-old who made a shocking discovery at an Oklahoma rest stop. Now, Ruby learns the truth about what really happened that day and must make a decision that may cost her everything, and everyone, she loves.
An interesting and intriguing read, Ruby and her daughter Lark are two characters who have literally grown up together. But Ruby soon learns that "Finder's Keepers" isn't applicable to babies. She makes the hard choices and is forced to deal with the circumstances. It's in turn funny, heartbreaking, and heartwarming. And Ruby's decision as to how to get her daughter back is shocking. The chapters are short, some are literally less than one page, which normally I really like. But sometimes in this case, I felt like it was a distraction from the storyline.
I was not a fan of the ending. Ruby is a sympathetic character, but the ending left the whole story feeling unrealistic.
An article in a magazine takes Ruby Leander back ten years, to when she was a 19-year-old who made a shocking discovery at an Oklahoma rest stop. Now, Ruby learns the truth about what really happened that day and must make a decision that may cost her everything, and everyone, she loves.
An interesting and intriguing read, Ruby and her daughter Lark are two characters who have literally grown up together. But Ruby soon learns that "Finder's Keepers" isn't applicable to babies. She makes the hard choices and is forced to deal with the circumstances. It's in turn funny, heartbreaking, and heartwarming. And Ruby's decision as to how to get her daughter back is shocking. The chapters are short, some are literally less than one page, which normally I really like. But sometimes in this case, I felt like it was a distraction from the storyline.
I was not a fan of the ending. Ruby is a sympathetic character, but the ending left the whole story feeling unrealistic.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Certain Girls
by Jennifer Weiner
Cannie and her daughter Joy are back in the sequel to "Good in Bed". Joy is almost 13 now, Cannie is married to Dr. K, and her friends and family are all back to help get her through Joy's bat mitzvah. But Cannie is still Cannie, and along the way she and Joy face unforeseen obstacles.
This book is as good as the first. Though Cannie is finally happy in her own skin, her daughter Joy is the one who is self-conscious about her mother and all her ways. When Joy reads Cannie's first book, a version of "Good in Bed", she sets off to discover the line between fact and fiction in her mother's life. If you've ever been an almost-13-year-old girl, or you have had an almost-13-year-old girl, you will recognize and cringe at the changing dynamic between Cannie and Joy, complete with eye rolls, slammed doors, and one-word sentences.
Weiner's books are like talking to a friend. They are easy to read, realistic, at times both humorous and heart-breaking. I look forward to reading more.
Cannie and her daughter Joy are back in the sequel to "Good in Bed". Joy is almost 13 now, Cannie is married to Dr. K, and her friends and family are all back to help get her through Joy's bat mitzvah. But Cannie is still Cannie, and along the way she and Joy face unforeseen obstacles.
This book is as good as the first. Though Cannie is finally happy in her own skin, her daughter Joy is the one who is self-conscious about her mother and all her ways. When Joy reads Cannie's first book, a version of "Good in Bed", she sets off to discover the line between fact and fiction in her mother's life. If you've ever been an almost-13-year-old girl, or you have had an almost-13-year-old girl, you will recognize and cringe at the changing dynamic between Cannie and Joy, complete with eye rolls, slammed doors, and one-word sentences.
Weiner's books are like talking to a friend. They are easy to read, realistic, at times both humorous and heart-breaking. I look forward to reading more.
Down Came the Rain
by Brooke Shields
Brooke's book (and yes, we ARE on a first name basis now) details her struggle to get pregnant and then the devastating effects of her postpartum depression after the birth of her first daughter.
This book was honest and forthright, all the things you think Brooke Shields would be if you met her in person. Having read another autobiography from a different "celebrity" about postpartum depression that pretty much said, yeah, I was sad and then got some drugs and now I'm fabulous, it was refreshing to read an honest account. There was a little too much time spent on how Shields is going to be a better mother than her own mother, and sometimes it was annoying to hear "We just got settled in our New York apartment, and it was time to head back to our Los Angeles house", but overall, a good book that shows us that Brooke Shields is really just a regular person. Mostly.
Brooke's book (and yes, we ARE on a first name basis now) details her struggle to get pregnant and then the devastating effects of her postpartum depression after the birth of her first daughter.
This book was honest and forthright, all the things you think Brooke Shields would be if you met her in person. Having read another autobiography from a different "celebrity" about postpartum depression that pretty much said, yeah, I was sad and then got some drugs and now I'm fabulous, it was refreshing to read an honest account. There was a little too much time spent on how Shields is going to be a better mother than her own mother, and sometimes it was annoying to hear "We just got settled in our New York apartment, and it was time to head back to our Los Angeles house", but overall, a good book that shows us that Brooke Shields is really just a regular person. Mostly.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Good in Bed
by Jennifer Weiner
When her ex-boyfriend writes a magazine article entitled "Loving a Larger Woman", Cannie Shapiro's life goes into a tailspin. She wants him back, she wants to lose weight, and she wants to sell her screenplay. But none of these are happening. Quite unintentionally, Cannie is on a path to figuring out who she is, who she was, and who she's going to be.
When the cover of the book proclaims it to be "This season's beach-book", you almost always can find a light-hearted chick-book. And this book did start off that way - Cannie's life falls apart quite spectacularly and she begins to put everything back together with amusing levels of success. But about halfway through this book, it took a little bit more of a serious turn. It didn't lose its humor, or entertainment value, but I did find myself tearing up a few times, which rarely happens with me.
The thing I enjoyed best about this book was its realistic voice. It was like reading an e-mail from a good friend, where you can picture her sitting at her computer writing to you about what's happening in her life. I have another book by this author, and it features the same characters, but I think I have to check and see if there are others in-between that I need to read first. I hate reading a series out of order!
When her ex-boyfriend writes a magazine article entitled "Loving a Larger Woman", Cannie Shapiro's life goes into a tailspin. She wants him back, she wants to lose weight, and she wants to sell her screenplay. But none of these are happening. Quite unintentionally, Cannie is on a path to figuring out who she is, who she was, and who she's going to be.
When the cover of the book proclaims it to be "This season's beach-book", you almost always can find a light-hearted chick-book. And this book did start off that way - Cannie's life falls apart quite spectacularly and she begins to put everything back together with amusing levels of success. But about halfway through this book, it took a little bit more of a serious turn. It didn't lose its humor, or entertainment value, but I did find myself tearing up a few times, which rarely happens with me.
The thing I enjoyed best about this book was its realistic voice. It was like reading an e-mail from a good friend, where you can picture her sitting at her computer writing to you about what's happening in her life. I have another book by this author, and it features the same characters, but I think I have to check and see if there are others in-between that I need to read first. I hate reading a series out of order!
Live Bait
by P.J. Tracy
Book 2 in the Monkeewrench series brings us back to Minneapolis and Detectives Magozzi and Rolseth. This time, an elderly man, a man who everyone in town loved, is murdered in his greenhouse. Soon there's a disturbing pattern to the murders: someone is killing elderly Jewish concentration camp survivors. And the questions grow beyond who? to why?
I wasn't sure who would return from the original Monkeewrench book and my question was answered with "just about everyone": Detective Magozzi, Gino, Grace, Harley, Roadrunner and Annie - plus all the other cops we met in "Monkeewrench". As Magozzi and Gino struggle to figure out who would be killing the elderly Jews in their community, they enlist Grace's help with a new computer system she and her crew have developed and soon find out that their murders go beyond their community,
Beyond the usual "who done it?" questions in a murder, I feel like this also asked a bigger question: "where must revenge stop?" The murder victims have secrets of their own, which as the detectives uncover them, lead them down a road they never thought they'd travel.
This series is shaping up to be very good and I look forward to reading more. As soon as I find a library, that is.
Book 2 in the Monkeewrench series brings us back to Minneapolis and Detectives Magozzi and Rolseth. This time, an elderly man, a man who everyone in town loved, is murdered in his greenhouse. Soon there's a disturbing pattern to the murders: someone is killing elderly Jewish concentration camp survivors. And the questions grow beyond who? to why?
I wasn't sure who would return from the original Monkeewrench book and my question was answered with "just about everyone": Detective Magozzi, Gino, Grace, Harley, Roadrunner and Annie - plus all the other cops we met in "Monkeewrench". As Magozzi and Gino struggle to figure out who would be killing the elderly Jews in their community, they enlist Grace's help with a new computer system she and her crew have developed and soon find out that their murders go beyond their community,
Beyond the usual "who done it?" questions in a murder, I feel like this also asked a bigger question: "where must revenge stop?" The murder victims have secrets of their own, which as the detectives uncover them, lead them down a road they never thought they'd travel.
This series is shaping up to be very good and I look forward to reading more. As soon as I find a library, that is.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Monkeewrench
by P.J. Tracy
A mystery written by a mother/daughter team. Ranging from Wisconsin to Minneapolis, police are stumped by two different sets of murders: an elderly couple found shot to death in their church and a serial killer copying a yet-to-be-released video game. As the police race to find the killer before the next murder, they discover that the video-game creators have secrets of their own that may have come back to haunt them all.
This book has been riding around in the back of my van (or my "mobile library" as some like to call it) for a few months now. It promised to be "Janet Evanovich meets Fargo", and anything claiming to be like Janet Evanovich will find its way into my hands eventually. I actually did find this book good, though it was not what I expected. There were some funny parts, but mostly it was a good old-fashioned mystery. Just enough background on the main police characters to make them real people and just enough clues to make you think you have it all figured out. And I did too - well, for the most part. Like any good mystery, there's a twist.
There's another five "Monkeewrench" series books by this writing team and I'm reading the second one now. (And this is where not having a library is going to be a pain in the butt, since I only have these two.) I wasn't sure while reading "Monkeewrench" which characters will carry into subsequent books, since there were quite a few that seemed like they could be substantial enough to base a series on.
A mystery written by a mother/daughter team. Ranging from Wisconsin to Minneapolis, police are stumped by two different sets of murders: an elderly couple found shot to death in their church and a serial killer copying a yet-to-be-released video game. As the police race to find the killer before the next murder, they discover that the video-game creators have secrets of their own that may have come back to haunt them all.
This book has been riding around in the back of my van (or my "mobile library" as some like to call it) for a few months now. It promised to be "Janet Evanovich meets Fargo", and anything claiming to be like Janet Evanovich will find its way into my hands eventually. I actually did find this book good, though it was not what I expected. There were some funny parts, but mostly it was a good old-fashioned mystery. Just enough background on the main police characters to make them real people and just enough clues to make you think you have it all figured out. And I did too - well, for the most part. Like any good mystery, there's a twist.
There's another five "Monkeewrench" series books by this writing team and I'm reading the second one now. (And this is where not having a library is going to be a pain in the butt, since I only have these two.) I wasn't sure while reading "Monkeewrench" which characters will carry into subsequent books, since there were quite a few that seemed like they could be substantial enough to base a series on.
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