I must be in a "mood", because I picked another light, fun romance to read. I have to say, there is something about a quick read. One of those books that you can't put down, don't want to end. This is another one of those.
Maddy, the main character is a young, successful professional, whose life is turned upside down when her fiancee and business partners leaves her. She decides to follow a dream, purchasing a bed and breakfast in need of repair on the Maine coast.
The book takes us through her transition to a small town as "the new girl". We watch as she and her enormous dog meet and befriend Otis, the elderly widower next door. And then as Otis introduces her to church. Or re-introduces may be the better term. She alludes to being an active Christian earlier in life, but had fallen away from the church. Otis sees to it that she finds it again.
Maddy finds a local contractor to do all of the renovations on the home, which are quite extensive. John, a single father of two young boys, is also an active member in the church. The two find their relationship, and it blossoms, until Maddy's ex decides to find her.
Like all true romance novels, the story has it's ups and downs. I really enjoyed it because I identified with Maddy. I've always dreamed of running a bed and breakfast. And I loved the Christian storyline. It was a beautiful insight into the family a church can become, and members of that family show up at various times to help Maddy through difficult situations. Because of the Christian theme, this romance novel isn't filled with sex, and infidelity. It's a pure romance. I imagine it hit a cord with my old-fashioned, romantic self.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Wine in my Sippy Cup, by Deborah Dove
With this book I took a break from historical fiction to indulge in a guilty pleasure. A fun, light, easy-to-read comedy.
Wine in my Sippy Cup is a light-hearted memoir, written in first person, of a thirty-something ex-career woman turned stay-at-home mother who finds herself smack dab in the middle of an identity crisis.
Surrounded by three close friends, we feel her frustration, her doubt, as she runs into an ex, tries to create a new "identity", and struggles with the changes in her marriage. The book is light, witty, and very funny in a "corny" way. It is just what the doctor ordered on this damp and dreary late winter weekend.
While some of the stories seem "too funny", you have to take the story for what it is. Comedy. Humor. Entertainment. I loved the break from reality. Or into reality, depending on the day!
Wine in my Sippy Cup is a light-hearted memoir, written in first person, of a thirty-something ex-career woman turned stay-at-home mother who finds herself smack dab in the middle of an identity crisis.
Surrounded by three close friends, we feel her frustration, her doubt, as she runs into an ex, tries to create a new "identity", and struggles with the changes in her marriage. The book is light, witty, and very funny in a "corny" way. It is just what the doctor ordered on this damp and dreary late winter weekend.
While some of the stories seem "too funny", you have to take the story for what it is. Comedy. Humor. Entertainment. I loved the break from reality. Or into reality, depending on the day!
1929, by M. L. Gardner
Yet another installation in my historical fiction addiction.
1929 is an inside look at the lives of three young couples, wealthy by any standards prior to the stock market crash of 1929, and what they have to endure to get through life and survive once everything is lost. It is real; it is difficult to read.
I have never before read such a first-person account of the crash. And it left me sad to see the book end. Gardner does a wonderful job of making the reader feel intimately close to all six of the main characters. We feel their desperation as they realize the true breadth of the crash. We feel the need to hurry as they try to find a new place to live, jobs to survive.
From a land where they had servants, furs, and fine china and silver, they are transformed into working peasants, living in a tenemant.
It is beautiful, in the romantic, poetic way, to watch the young couples struggle, and change, and grow together through the hardships that now plague them. As simple as learning to cook, to stretch their money, and as difficult as trying to find a way out - a means to a new life again. The struggles are real, and they are difficult.
My favorite scenes are those that give us a glimpse at life in the 20s. A 20s era that isn't typically glorified in literature. A life where celebrations were simple, and real. And struggling together made people grow closer. Where living with less is an existence.
We as readers get to go with these three young families, as they go from riches, to poverty, and then through the struggle to get back out of the depths of the crash. It is a beautiful moment of human strength and durability.
and the power of love.
for me - the perfect marriage of historical fiction and romance.....
1929 is an inside look at the lives of three young couples, wealthy by any standards prior to the stock market crash of 1929, and what they have to endure to get through life and survive once everything is lost. It is real; it is difficult to read.
I have never before read such a first-person account of the crash. And it left me sad to see the book end. Gardner does a wonderful job of making the reader feel intimately close to all six of the main characters. We feel their desperation as they realize the true breadth of the crash. We feel the need to hurry as they try to find a new place to live, jobs to survive.
From a land where they had servants, furs, and fine china and silver, they are transformed into working peasants, living in a tenemant.
It is beautiful, in the romantic, poetic way, to watch the young couples struggle, and change, and grow together through the hardships that now plague them. As simple as learning to cook, to stretch their money, and as difficult as trying to find a way out - a means to a new life again. The struggles are real, and they are difficult.
My favorite scenes are those that give us a glimpse at life in the 20s. A 20s era that isn't typically glorified in literature. A life where celebrations were simple, and real. And struggling together made people grow closer. Where living with less is an existence.
We as readers get to go with these three young families, as they go from riches, to poverty, and then through the struggle to get back out of the depths of the crash. It is a beautiful moment of human strength and durability.
and the power of love.
for me - the perfect marriage of historical fiction and romance.....
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Fitting in my favorite genre of historical fiction, Snow Falling on Cedars was a beautifully written tale of forbidden, impossible love, prejudice, and war-time destruction.
Starting out, I found the book difficult to dig in. So many details, specific words - law terms, sailing and fishing terms - just too much to allow the flow of words for me. But I stuck with the book, and found that once I allowed myself to really emerse myself in the descriptions, I was able to feel the flow of thoughts. It's as if Guterson writes in a different tempo, and the work cannot be truly appreciated unless read at that tempo...
I found myself loving the descriptive passages inside the hollowed out cedar. I loved the descriptions of the homes, and of how the people handled themselves. I loved understanding every detail of the jurors, and the scene in the courtroom.
Guterson does a beautiful job of creating the character relationships in the book, taking us back into history, building their stories, and giving us insight to the woven paths their lives have taken....
I loved this book, the author's writing style, and the journey the book took me on.... well worth the patience needed to get into the feel of the book.... well worth it.
Starting out, I found the book difficult to dig in. So many details, specific words - law terms, sailing and fishing terms - just too much to allow the flow of words for me. But I stuck with the book, and found that once I allowed myself to really emerse myself in the descriptions, I was able to feel the flow of thoughts. It's as if Guterson writes in a different tempo, and the work cannot be truly appreciated unless read at that tempo...
I found myself loving the descriptive passages inside the hollowed out cedar. I loved the descriptions of the homes, and of how the people handled themselves. I loved understanding every detail of the jurors, and the scene in the courtroom.
Guterson does a beautiful job of creating the character relationships in the book, taking us back into history, building their stories, and giving us insight to the woven paths their lives have taken....
I loved this book, the author's writing style, and the journey the book took me on.... well worth the patience needed to get into the feel of the book.... well worth it.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Trailing, a memoir
Trailing, a memoir by Kristin Louise Duncombe
Trailing is a beautifully written memoir of a "trailing spouse". Having grown up as a child of a diplomat, Kristin didn't forsee any issues with following her husband to East Africa as part of a medical team. She had grown up moving a lot, mostly overseas, and assumed that her life experience had prepared her...
The transition to life in Nairobi, as a trailing spouse with no career, was far from smooth. Kristin tries to fill her days, feel fulfilled, while being the spouse of an active medical doctor on the front lines of African distress. Kristin is starting to feel good when a car jacking turns her world upside down. With post-traumatic stress disorder, every day life becomes excruciatingly difficult. Simple travel in a taxi upends her day.
The memoir follows Kristin to Uganda, and ultimately to France, through multiple jobs. (Finding a way to utilize her social work education overseas was much more difficult than expected.) Her challenges of overcoming PTSD, raising a child, and ultimately dealing with complete betrayal take us through from depression to triumph.
Duncombe does a beautiful job of taking us into her innermost pain. It was a heartwarming story, that makes you cheer in her triumph and cry at her pain.
Trailing is a beautifully written memoir of a "trailing spouse". Having grown up as a child of a diplomat, Kristin didn't forsee any issues with following her husband to East Africa as part of a medical team. She had grown up moving a lot, mostly overseas, and assumed that her life experience had prepared her...
The transition to life in Nairobi, as a trailing spouse with no career, was far from smooth. Kristin tries to fill her days, feel fulfilled, while being the spouse of an active medical doctor on the front lines of African distress. Kristin is starting to feel good when a car jacking turns her world upside down. With post-traumatic stress disorder, every day life becomes excruciatingly difficult. Simple travel in a taxi upends her day.
The memoir follows Kristin to Uganda, and ultimately to France, through multiple jobs. (Finding a way to utilize her social work education overseas was much more difficult than expected.) Her challenges of overcoming PTSD, raising a child, and ultimately dealing with complete betrayal take us through from depression to triumph.
Duncombe does a beautiful job of taking us into her innermost pain. It was a heartwarming story, that makes you cheer in her triumph and cry at her pain.
A Bitter Veil
A Bitter Veil, by Libby Fischer Hellmann
In A Bitter Veil, Libby Fischer Hellmann gives us insight to the turmoil in the middle east, through the eyes of an American woman. The conflict at the heart of the novel is Iran, in the late 70s and early 80s, including the taking of the American hostages. We see the bitter hatred for Americans, the cruelty that comes with a revolution and political unrest.
Anna, an American college student, falls in love with an Iranian, and moves back to Iran to start a life with him. Her husband comes from an afluent family, and everything is provided for them. A new home, furnishings, everything. Her father in law arranges a job for her husband, and their life together seems off to a perfect start.
At first, Anna embraces her new home, the culture rich heritage, and different lifestyle. While the uprising had already begun before their move, it escalates quickly. We see many people in their lives changing, taking sides, and becoming untrustworthy. Anna's relationship with her own husband deteriorates rapidly, and he is taken up with secretive forces. And we see what Anna has to do, to simply survive...
The story is an amazing account of our heroine, and what she endures while living in the middle of chaos, and how people came to help her. It was beautifully written, and extremely moving. Two thumbs up!
In A Bitter Veil, Libby Fischer Hellmann gives us insight to the turmoil in the middle east, through the eyes of an American woman. The conflict at the heart of the novel is Iran, in the late 70s and early 80s, including the taking of the American hostages. We see the bitter hatred for Americans, the cruelty that comes with a revolution and political unrest.
Anna, an American college student, falls in love with an Iranian, and moves back to Iran to start a life with him. Her husband comes from an afluent family, and everything is provided for them. A new home, furnishings, everything. Her father in law arranges a job for her husband, and their life together seems off to a perfect start.
At first, Anna embraces her new home, the culture rich heritage, and different lifestyle. While the uprising had already begun before their move, it escalates quickly. We see many people in their lives changing, taking sides, and becoming untrustworthy. Anna's relationship with her own husband deteriorates rapidly, and he is taken up with secretive forces. And we see what Anna has to do, to simply survive...
The story is an amazing account of our heroine, and what she endures while living in the middle of chaos, and how people came to help her. It was beautifully written, and extremely moving. Two thumbs up!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
The Girl in the Italian Bakery
The Girl in the Italian Bakery
by Kenneth M. Tingle
Always intrigued by all things Italian and baked, I chose this book strictly based off the title. It was NOTHING like I expected!
The Girl...is a memoir, of a life that is tattered and broken.
Kenneth, the lead character, lives with his mother, a single mother, and has an absent father who is very open about not having any time for the boys. The boys move from tenement to housing project to apartment, always on the move. We follow Kenneth and his brothers Gary and Tommy (who had mental issues), through their childhood of violence, trouble, and dysfunction.
The book, to me, was difficult to read - very wordy in some cases, with too much detail. But it wasn't a BAD book, it was very interesting.
The Girl is actually a girl, working in an Italian bakery, who he sees from afar. He never gets to talk to her, although he thinks he sees her at various point throughout the book. She comes to symbolize his "missed opportunity".
In the end of the book, Kenneth comes to find God. Having hit his low point, he literally opens a Bible and finds in it the answer to life. He realizes that everything in his life has been for a purpose. Has gotten him to this point.
So while the book wasn't the best I've read, it was a great ending- a good-for-you lesson in life.
by Kenneth M. Tingle
Always intrigued by all things Italian and baked, I chose this book strictly based off the title. It was NOTHING like I expected!
The Girl...is a memoir, of a life that is tattered and broken.
Kenneth, the lead character, lives with his mother, a single mother, and has an absent father who is very open about not having any time for the boys. The boys move from tenement to housing project to apartment, always on the move. We follow Kenneth and his brothers Gary and Tommy (who had mental issues), through their childhood of violence, trouble, and dysfunction.
The book, to me, was difficult to read - very wordy in some cases, with too much detail. But it wasn't a BAD book, it was very interesting.
The Girl is actually a girl, working in an Italian bakery, who he sees from afar. He never gets to talk to her, although he thinks he sees her at various point throughout the book. She comes to symbolize his "missed opportunity".
In the end of the book, Kenneth comes to find God. Having hit his low point, he literally opens a Bible and finds in it the answer to life. He realizes that everything in his life has been for a purpose. Has gotten him to this point.
So while the book wasn't the best I've read, it was a great ending- a good-for-you lesson in life.
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