by Jennifer Weiner
When Becky, an overweight chef, meets Ayinde, the biracial wife of an NBA star, and Kelly, an overachiever struggling to overcome her chaotic childhood, at a prenatal yoga class, all three women soon unexpectedly find themselves relying on each other for everything from bathing newborns to unemployed husbands. When Lia, a mysterious woman running from a tragedy, joins their group, the women find that together, they can survive anything. Even the first year of motherhood.
At times funny, at times heartbreaking, and sometimes both at the same time, Weiner delivers one her best I've read so far. Told in alternating chapters by all 4 women, Weiner has the ability to give each character her own voice, without shorting anyone. I was in tears with Lia's story, laughing out loud with Becky, sympathetic of Ayinde, and wanting to shake some sense into Kelly.
My only complaint about Jennifer Weiner's books is that I never want them to end.
Library book
Monday, August 15, 2011
Fly Away Home
by Jennifer Weiner
Sylvie Woodruff has it all - a senator husband, two grown daughters, a judge mother, and all the privileges she spent her life building. Until the media discovers her husband had an affair with a young staffer and got her a job. As Sylvie's life quickly unravels, she retreats to her childhood vacation home in Connecticut. Joined later by her daughters, Sylvie and her daughters slowly put back together the lives that had so recently fallen apart.
What more can I say about Jennifer Weiner's books? Her characters feel like friends by the time the story is over. I usually read her books in a matter of days - in this case, one day - because I cannot put her books down and then am sad when it's done. This one was a little different because the main character, Sylvie, is older than the characters Weiner usually writes, but still superbly done. If you've ever seen a politician standing up admitting an affair and wonder how his wife can stand there next to him, Weiner takes you inside the life of that wife and shows you what she's thinking.
As always, a great book by Jennifer Weiner.
I got this on Kindle for $11.99
Sylvie Woodruff has it all - a senator husband, two grown daughters, a judge mother, and all the privileges she spent her life building. Until the media discovers her husband had an affair with a young staffer and got her a job. As Sylvie's life quickly unravels, she retreats to her childhood vacation home in Connecticut. Joined later by her daughters, Sylvie and her daughters slowly put back together the lives that had so recently fallen apart.
What more can I say about Jennifer Weiner's books? Her characters feel like friends by the time the story is over. I usually read her books in a matter of days - in this case, one day - because I cannot put her books down and then am sad when it's done. This one was a little different because the main character, Sylvie, is older than the characters Weiner usually writes, but still superbly done. If you've ever seen a politician standing up admitting an affair and wonder how his wife can stand there next to him, Weiner takes you inside the life of that wife and shows you what she's thinking.
As always, a great book by Jennifer Weiner.
I got this on Kindle for $11.99
Toys
by James Patterson
Hays Baker and his wife Lizbeth have super-human strength, amazing looks, and are smarter than your average human. Because they're not human - they're Elites, an exclusive group of "people" who are part of the Agency of Change. They work to rid the world of ordinary humans and make the earth a better place.
Until a brutal attack leaves Hays gravely injured. While in surgery, doctors make a discovery that changes everything Hays knows about the world around him - and himself.
This is by far not one of Patterson's best. Honestly, it was all I could do to get through it. There was a lot of action, which is not unusual for a Patterson novel, but it was hard to stay with it through the car chases, airplane escapes and runs through abandoned buildings.
There are so many other great James Patterson novels out there that I wouldn't waste my time on this one.
I got this for Kindle from Amazon for $14.99.
Hays Baker and his wife Lizbeth have super-human strength, amazing looks, and are smarter than your average human. Because they're not human - they're Elites, an exclusive group of "people" who are part of the Agency of Change. They work to rid the world of ordinary humans and make the earth a better place.
Until a brutal attack leaves Hays gravely injured. While in surgery, doctors make a discovery that changes everything Hays knows about the world around him - and himself.
This is by far not one of Patterson's best. Honestly, it was all I could do to get through it. There was a lot of action, which is not unusual for a Patterson novel, but it was hard to stay with it through the car chases, airplane escapes and runs through abandoned buildings.
There are so many other great James Patterson novels out there that I wouldn't waste my time on this one.
I got this for Kindle from Amazon for $14.99.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Flight Lessons
by Patricia Gaffney
When Anna finds her live-in boyfriend and her boss in her bed, she goes home to Maryland to help manage the family restaurant. Unfortunately, Anna and her aunt Rose haven't been on speaking terms for years, ever since Anna caught her father and Rose together while her mother was dying.
This was a good book that didn't get too bogged down in the family drama. There were quite a few other characters that were well written and interesting, such as Frankie and Theo. Anna and Rose muddle through trying to work out their issues, while Anna also struggles to rebuild her life after her boyfriend's betrayal.
I got this book at Barnes & Noble for $6.
When Anna finds her live-in boyfriend and her boss in her bed, she goes home to Maryland to help manage the family restaurant. Unfortunately, Anna and her aunt Rose haven't been on speaking terms for years, ever since Anna caught her father and Rose together while her mother was dying.
This was a good book that didn't get too bogged down in the family drama. There were quite a few other characters that were well written and interesting, such as Frankie and Theo. Anna and Rose muddle through trying to work out their issues, while Anna also struggles to rebuild her life after her boyfriend's betrayal.
I got this book at Barnes & Noble for $6.
Saving Max
by Antoinette Van Heugten
Daniella Parkman knows her son Max. He's brilliant and fragile and autistic. But when she finds him unconscious and bloodied in the room of another boy at the psychiatric facility he's been admitted to, she suddenly isn't sure what she knows about her son. But time is running out for Danielle to save her son.
This book started off very strong and I was quickly drawn into the storyline. However, about halfway through it seemed to move into an unrealistic arena that it just didn't come back from. That Danielle is able to break into the facility more than once, that she's the only person that can unravel the mystery of Max's victim, that the random man she meets in a hotel bar later becomes the only person who can help her, that what is considered the finest facility in the country hires a doctor with less than stellar reputation, I just couldn't swallow all of it. Maybe any one of those points, but I think it was the combination of all of them together that bothered me.
This was a Kindle book for $7.55 (though I believe the price is slightly higher now).
Daniella Parkman knows her son Max. He's brilliant and fragile and autistic. But when she finds him unconscious and bloodied in the room of another boy at the psychiatric facility he's been admitted to, she suddenly isn't sure what she knows about her son. But time is running out for Danielle to save her son.
This book started off very strong and I was quickly drawn into the storyline. However, about halfway through it seemed to move into an unrealistic arena that it just didn't come back from. That Danielle is able to break into the facility more than once, that she's the only person that can unravel the mystery of Max's victim, that the random man she meets in a hotel bar later becomes the only person who can help her, that what is considered the finest facility in the country hires a doctor with less than stellar reputation, I just couldn't swallow all of it. Maybe any one of those points, but I think it was the combination of all of them together that bothered me.
This was a Kindle book for $7.55 (though I believe the price is slightly higher now).
I'd Know You Anywhere
by Laura Lippman
A letter from death row arrives for Eliza saying "I'd know you anywhere" and Eliza is instantly transported back to the summer she was 15 and abducted by Walter Bowman. What Walter wants from her now, Eliza doesn't know and she's not sure she can tell him anyway.
Told both from the current time and flashbacks to the summer she was 15, this story just moves and moves. I could not put it down. Why does Eliza survive? Why is she the girl that Walter doesn't kill? How could she not escape? And why does she agree to meet Walter now, after 20 years, when she has managed to put that summer behind her?
In a backdoor sort of way, this story also takes a look at the death penalty. It's not overpowering, but the character that acts as the go-between for Walter and Eliza has a definite opinion, but she is also drawn as an unlikable character so it's hard to take anything she says to heart.
I loved this book and have been recommending it to everyone.
This was a Kindle book for $9.99.
A letter from death row arrives for Eliza saying "I'd know you anywhere" and Eliza is instantly transported back to the summer she was 15 and abducted by Walter Bowman. What Walter wants from her now, Eliza doesn't know and she's not sure she can tell him anyway.
Told both from the current time and flashbacks to the summer she was 15, this story just moves and moves. I could not put it down. Why does Eliza survive? Why is she the girl that Walter doesn't kill? How could she not escape? And why does she agree to meet Walter now, after 20 years, when she has managed to put that summer behind her?
In a backdoor sort of way, this story also takes a look at the death penalty. It's not overpowering, but the character that acts as the go-between for Walter and Eliza has a definite opinion, but she is also drawn as an unlikable character so it's hard to take anything she says to heart.
I loved this book and have been recommending it to everyone.
This was a Kindle book for $9.99.
Strange Fits of Passion
by Anita Shreve
Mary arrives in a small Maine town with her baby daughter and a past she doesn't discuss with anyone. Fleeing her abusive reporter husband in New York City, Mary - formerly Maureen English - tries to settle in and make a safe life for them. Her affair with an older lobsterman brings her happiness she had never experienced. But when she is betrayed by another, and Mary's husband finds her, Mary must make a decision that will forever change her life.
This story originally starts as a reporter brings her noted to Mary's now college-age daughter regarding her mother's story. The story is unfolds by way of interviews and letters written by Mary and the Maine townspeople. While maybe predictable in it's climax, Mary's story is nonetheless engaging. I kept reading to find out who betrayed Mary.
This was a paperback I picked up at a book sale.
Mary arrives in a small Maine town with her baby daughter and a past she doesn't discuss with anyone. Fleeing her abusive reporter husband in New York City, Mary - formerly Maureen English - tries to settle in and make a safe life for them. Her affair with an older lobsterman brings her happiness she had never experienced. But when she is betrayed by another, and Mary's husband finds her, Mary must make a decision that will forever change her life.
This story originally starts as a reporter brings her noted to Mary's now college-age daughter regarding her mother's story. The story is unfolds by way of interviews and letters written by Mary and the Maine townspeople. While maybe predictable in it's climax, Mary's story is nonetheless engaging. I kept reading to find out who betrayed Mary.
This was a paperback I picked up at a book sale.
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