Luanne Oleas
This book took me places besides back in time. The story started in the Scottish Highlands, moved to Oxford, then London, and ended somewhere I didn't expect.I love all of [a:Evie Dunmore 18775709 Evie Dunmore https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1548783382p2/18775709.jpg] books in the four-book The League of Extraordinary Women (TLOEW) series, and [b:The Gentleman's Gambit 75293479 The Gentleman's Gambit (A League of Extraordinary Women, #4) Evie Dunmore https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677050625l/75293479.SX50.jpg 85846264] is no exception. I love that when the author writes historical fiction, she doesn't gloss over the historical part and yet still incorporates the sizzle I love. Catriona is not your basic Victorian-age, Scottish damsel in distress. She's a bright woman, easily speaking multiple languages, who can take care of herself. Her past experience with men has taught her that she's not the marrying kind. When the mysterious and exotic Elias Khoury happens upon her in an awkward way, it only affirms that her feelings about the male gender are correct.I love how a smart woman's dilemma was explained. In some ways, it's still true.“He wasn't the first to use her for her brains or connections; everyone she had fancied before him had done it and patterns were nothing if not consistent. There was a cruel irony in finding herself reduced to the very thing she had worked so hard to cultivate, her academic position. It was as though a woman could have either a brain or a heart, and whichever way, she was allowed only half a life.”I love the suffrage aspect in all the TLOEW books, but this one has an added dimension. The pilfering of Phoenician sculptures and what it might take to return them to their native lands. There were times I thought I couldn't keep up with the twist and turns of this book and the multitude of characters, but the author led me carefully by the hand through the story to its unexpected conclusion. It is interesting how Elias sneaks into Catriona's heart (and she into his) only to have their connection prohibited by social norms and timing. It seems they will have to be content with what little time they have together. And believe me, they make the most of it. This is another great tale and I'm so glad I read it.
It's with a heavy heart that I write this review. Not because of the book; it was great. Because it was the last available Kristin Hannah book that I hadn't read yet. I still can't find her first one (A Handful of Heaven - 1991).
NIGHT ROAD really pulled at my heartstrings. Maybe because I'm a mom. I fell in love with Jude and Miles crazy twin teenagers and then—disaster struck. I was relieved that this set of teens seemed to have a decent relationship with their mom. The last few Hannah books that I've read had very contentious relations between the mom and the teenage daughter.
Of course, I stayed gripped with anxiety right until the end. Maybe it hit me doubly hard because my daughter was born the same year at the teenage characters. All the music, clothes, and cars were all so familiar. Too much so. I thought the granddaughter would resolve everything, but that just shows you how wrong I was. I took more than that for Jude to recover.
Keep the Kleenex close for this one. Loved it.
I was looking for something easy to read. I was overwhelmed by the bleak evening news and reading too many books that had dark themes and deep messages. I want something breezy and uncomplicated. [b:Against the Wind 8702120 Against the Wind (The Raines of Wind Canyon, #1) Kat Martin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1300578386l/8702120.SY75.jpg 13574910] filled the bill nicely.A beautiful, young widow (Sarah) with a sweet young daughter (Holly) escapes Los Angeles to her hometown, Wind Canyon, Wyoming, to recover from her (no good) husband's murder. Naturally, she meets the handsome cowboy (Jackson) who she dumped in high school because he was dirt poor. Lots happens. The dead husband's worthless business contacts come looking for Sarah. Jackson doesn't want to fall in love. Neither does Sarah. So of course, they both do and then spend a lot of the book trying to deny it—between stints of outrageous sex. The bad guys keep coming. The dead husband was blackmailing half of LA. Sarah can't catch a break and then horrible memories of the night of her abusive husband's death come back to haunt her. Jackson is just wondering why they can't just get together. I do believe for 50% of this book, Jackson had his head cocked looking like a confused German Shepherd. The sex is great. They're obviously attracted to each other, especially now that Jackson is rich, but he can't figure out why Sarah won't commit. Fortunately, as well as being great looking, smart, and having well placed, mystery-solving brothers, Jackson has the patience of Job. He'll just wait until Sarah gets over whatever is keeping her from staying with him.Yes, it's simple. The good people are extraordinarily good looking. The bad guys are ugly. Someone is always available to babysit the daughter when Jackson and Sarah decide to run to LA to have sex and investigate the latest clue. Overall, I was looking for a no-brainer and I found it. I needed it.
What an amazing voice this author has!! I can't believe how real his Jewish and Black characters sound.
This is a fantastic tale that revolves around a deaf orphan, but he barely has a part. It's really the story of a several communities, all outside of White society which must rely on each other, no matter how much they dislike that idea.
The tale starts with Moshe's music theater, recounting all the great acts he books in the early 1920. Moshe is a Jewish immigrant who ends up living on Chicken Hill, a neighborhood of mostly Black inhabitants. Most of the Jewish residents left, but Moshe's wife, Chona, insists they stay. She runs the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store for mostly Black clientele.
Moshe employs Nate to keep his theater running. Nate has a checkered past that he keeps from everyone, even his wife Addie. They take in a deaf/mute nephew, but turn the child over to Chona for safe keeping when the state authorities find out the child is with Nate & Addie.
The crooked doctor, the scheming characters Fatty, Big Soap, and Paper, the Jewish temple's water problem, Bullis the egg man, the Pennhurst Sanitorium, and a loan shark, all have a hand in making this complex tale come to life. I couldn't it put down.
I happened upon [b:The Cafe at Beach End 74890593 The Cafe at Beach End RaeAnne Thayne https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677904557l/74890593.SY75.jpg 98826178] in the grocery store and thought it looked entertaining. It's the first book I've read by [a:RaeAnne Thayne 116118 RaeAnne Thayne https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1447635609p2/116118.jpg], but it won't be my last. I'm normally drawn to smuttier (read: spicier) books, but Ms. Thayne handled the emotional end deftly when describing the budding relationships between both Meredith & Liam and Meredith's cousin Tori & Sam. The depth of the secondary characters made them more than caricatures. Even the pets (two dogs, Jasper & Shark) had distinct personalities. Both Meredith and Tori has legit reasons to not get into a romantic relationships. Though the two women, cousins, co-own a cafe, they are anything but partners. They were close as kids, but life definitely got in the way. They only have the remnants of a long-ago friendship, one that neither believes can be salvaged. The on-going struggle between the cousins is as intriguing as their connections with their love interests.While many romances proceed at a scorching pace to get to the bedroom, this book is more akin to real life. The hopes, the hesitations, the awkwardness, the connection are all emotions we've felt when we first begin to have feelings for someone. This author makes it real.I enjoyed this and will be reading more of [a:RaeAnne Thayne 116118 RaeAnne Thayne https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1447635609p2/116118.jpg].
In [a:Ann Patchett 7136914 Ann Patchett https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1371838720p2/7136914.jpg]'s novel, TOM LAKE, she makes the most of the COVID pandemic shutdown. The main character and former actress, Lara, sees her three grown daughters returning to the family farm. They're trying to save the cherry harvest without the usual aid of farm laborers. This gives them many long hours working together. The daughters fill that time by asking their mother about her past and the movie star, Peter Duke, who she dated way back when.So much of this book centers around what family stories we pass on and what we keep in our hearts. Although the relationship better Lara and Peter really happened, it wasn't all wine and roses like the daughters imagined. And maybe the greatest love story, the one between Lara/Laura and Joe, the girls' parents, isn't of much interest to the daughters.It also reveals that we don't always tell the whole truth until the moment is right—if at all. Some facts are better unveiled when the listeners are ready to hear it. Mothers often have to guess when it the right time and what might actually derail their offspring if they found out the truth at the wrong time.One confusing part of the story was that Lara named her daughters after important characters in her life. Daughter #1: Emily was the name of Lara's character in OUR TOWN, the play by Thornton Wilder. Daughter #2: Maisie was also the name of Lara's mother-in-lawDaughter 33: Nell was Lara's grandmother's nameOUR TOWN plays a huge role in the TOM LAKE story. It probably helps if you have seen or read it once. Patchett did an excellent job with this story and how it unfolds will surprise the reader. Or at least it surprised this reader.
It's been a while since I've been able to indulge in a new Alice Hoffman book. For me, it's always the literary equivalent of eating chocolate.[b:The Invisible Hour 62919793 The Invisible Hour Alice Hoffman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1686761095l/62919793.SX50.jpg 98737242] is like dark chocolate, my favorite. It holds all the magical elements that [a:Alice Hoffman 3502 Alice Hoffman https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1590599928p2/3502.jpg] is so adept at creating. It like reading a long, intricate dream. I loved the whole premise of connections between mothers and daughters as well as the indescribable bond between readers and authors.Ivy's story to escape judgment regarding her own unplanned pregnancy in a remote commune gracefully evolves into her daughter Mia's escape back to the “real” world for a chance to live free (and invisible.) Ivy's husband, head of the secret community, haunts Mia's every attempt to live her own life. Hoffman warns us about men like him. “Some people are who you think they are. Some people hide the wolf inside of them, but you can hear them howl.”So what does that all have to do with [a:Nathaniel Hawthorne 7799 Nathaniel Hawthorne https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1291476587p2/7799.jpg]? I'm so glad you (well, I) asked. It's was Mia's prohibited trip into a library and her love of his book [b:The Scarlet Letter 12296 The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1404810944l/12296.SY75.jpg 4925227] that gave her the courage to escape. Why? Here's how Hoffman explains our undeniable need for a good book.“Real life is unbelievable. Souls are snatched away from us, flesh and blood turn to dust, people you love betray you, men go to war over nothing. It's all preposterous. That's why we have novels. To make sense of things.”Mia is able to connect with Hawthorne in a way only a deft writer of magical realism could connect them. Even though I haven't read The Scarlet Letter in ages, it all came back to me anew with a interpretation that is so poignant in our women's rights-challenged world. Don't just read this book. Live in it. Dream of it. Let it carry to you to places you thought you couldn't go.
After struggling through a book of short stories by another author, it was refreshing to read [bc:Maybe Someday 62967882 Maybe Someday (Maybe, #1) Colleen Hoover https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1666362550l/62967882.SY75.jpg 24878180] by [a:Colleen Hoover 5430144 Colleen Hoover https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1464032240p2/5430144.jpg]. Again, this great storyteller presented star-crossed lovers in an unexpected, angst-ridden relationship. Sydney has just been betrayed by her best friend/roomie and her lover when the story starts. (What a hook, huh?) A guitar-playing neighbor, Ridge, invites her in from the rain with her two hastily packed suitcases. That's how the story all began. Where it went from there kept me entranced for three days. Other reviewers can tell you about the plot, but I like to remember what the book meant to me. In the throes of moving house, I hadn't had time to read. Plus, all my books were packed, and I had yet to find the library in my new city. So, when the unpacking started, I grabbed the first book I found that I hadn't read and started it. And started it. And restarted it. I finally got about halfway through and just gave up. It was well-written by an NYTimes bestselling author. I even liked parts of it. I just couldn't get into it. I would look at the book and then go doom-scroll.Did I lose my love of reading somewhere? I knew that Colleen Hoover's books always went down like hot chocolate on a cold night for me. I found the library and placed a hold on one of her books. It finally came in and from the moment I brought it home, I realized I still loved reading. I love reading about a deep relationship with struggles and complexities. I love characters that ruminate over their predicaments. I'm an overthinker and I want characters I read to be just as ponderous. Overall, there were parts of this book that were hard to believe. Sure. A deaf guitarist? Well, Beethoven was deaf, but he wasn't born deaf. Anyway, I was willing to suspend my disbelief because I like the escape this book provided. Five stars for sure, four of which come from just having a book restore my love of reading.
I almost gave up on this book and I'm so glad I didn't. I didn't know where the author was going with it. It took me a while to figure out who the protagonist was and who was the antagonist. Once I sorted that out, it became a very engaging read.
The previously unknown half-sister, Steph, summed up the story in one sentence, while talking to Abby, the main character.
“Your family is f*ed up.” She continued by saying, “Abby, I want us to be sisters, and for our sons to be cousins.... But I don't need two fathers—I have a great one. And your brother? Well, I'm not interested in being around that kind of rage.”
If you have ever wanted to read a book about a family more dysfunctional than your own, this is the book for you. I know it made me feel a whole lot better about my relations.
Adam, the patriarch, is bipolar. He raised Abby and Ken alone when his wife died. Now that Abby and Ken are grown up, they have their own issues. This issues tend to ripple out to everyone they know. However, the characterization for each one is so spot on, you're driven to keep reading.
The climax is more like a car wreck happening before your eyes, but completely intriguing. If you get to this point in the book late at night, I have bad news for you. You aren't putting the book down and you aren't getting any sleep.
Check out Little Monsters. It's a whale of a tale!!
Loved it. All 400 pages. More page really, since I read the large print version.
What really struck me was how much I grew to love all the characters in this tale. Initially, I thought it would be full of self-involved people who hung out in college and never let go of those days. And in some ways, like the never-letting-go part, they were. However, they also all had a certain tenderness to them.
Of course the book mostly focuses on Harriet and her now ex, Wyn. Ten years has passed since they first hooked up and like a lot of couples, they found they couldn't live with or without each other.
I enjoyed that their jobs were actually a significant part of their lives. Some books it seems the characters don't have to earn a living. However, jobs were also part of the reason they broke up which is so realistic. I like Wyn's growth, for admitting he needed to work on himself. I liked Harriet's growth for examining her own motivations for pursuing medical school.
Like all of Emily Henry's novels, her dialogue was spot on. You felt as if you were listening in on the reunion of good friends who don't see each other enough. Also, the author was able to show the strains on friendship that crop up as people mature. As much as we all want to stay connected to our old friends, life and work get in the way.
Harriet's crew of friends were lucky to meet up once a year at an idyllic cottage in Maine. However, that cottage is being sold, and I did wonder how/if the friends would continue to connect. I could definitely imagine a sequel to this book. The characters are great and their continued evolution would be intriguing. Fingers crossed! I'd definitely read the next phase of the story.
Wow... just wow! In my quest to read all of Kristin Hannah's books, I purchased WINTER GARDEN as the next one to be devoured. And devoured it was.
Two sisters, Meredith and Nina, different as night and day, must connect with their distant mother, Anya, when their father, the family glue, dies. It would be easier to connect with a fence post. Both daughters in their 40s, have never seen their mother smile or received a hug from her. The only comfort she ever gave them came in the form of a Russian fairytale. Somehow, when she relays the story of a prince and a peasant girl in Leningrad, all the emotion and goodness missing from their every day exchanges falls away.
I'm not one to read a lot of historical fiction but this lesson wrapped in a novel isn't to be missed. How the daughters relate to their mother directly affects their relationships to their significant others (Meredith's husband, Nina's lover). It seems their mother's cold exterior has transferred to both daughters, crippling their ability to commit and communicate.
The saga of how the daughters delve into their mother's past, what they learn, and how it affects them both is a history lesson and a life lesson. READ THIS BOOK TODAY!
As soon as I learned that [a:Ali Hazelwood 21098177 Ali Hazelwood https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1611084228p2/21098177.jpg] was “The Queen of STEM romance,” I knew I had to read at least one of her books. Dashing through the library, it was as if [b:Love, Theoretically 61326735 Love, Theoretically Ali Hazelwood https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1681476644l/61326735.SY75.jpg 96703712] jumped out at me.I love, love, love the main character, Elsie Hannaway, an overeducated physicist who settles for less, constantly. Why is this so believeable? Any woman who has ever worked in STEM (aks science, technology, engineering and mathematics) knows what a male-dominated field it is and how hard it is for a woman to get anywhere. So Elsie does what a lot of women, in or out of STEM do. She molds and remolds herself constantly to be what she thinks others want. She takes people-pleasing to the next level, to the point where she really doesn't know who she is, what she likes, or what she wants. (How many of us have been there?)What's great about this book is that when she meets the love interest, Jack Smith, he isn't the kind who says, “I love you just the way you are. You're perfect.” No, he loves who he thinks she really is. Then pushes to find out who that is. His honesty policy has Elsie peeling back the layers of personas she's used, wondering if she can ever really be just herself. Does she even know who that is? She finds she's been lying to her roommate (“Yes, I like that movie too”), her mother (“I'd be happy to straighten my brothers out for you”), and even her mentor, a nefarious scientist, who calls her “Elise” (not Elsie) and she doesn't even correct him because she believes she's lucky he even helps her.Elsie's bundle of insecurities only seem heightened when the intricacies of the plot get deeper. Will she find herself? Be herself? Rise to her full potential? Nothing is a given. I'm off to read another Ali Hazelwood book. Did I mention it was steamy in all the right ways? It was.
This was a particularly hard book to read, considering it's set in WWI. The news right now is full of Russia attacking Ukraine. Often, when I need to escape from the nightly news, I turn to a novel. This novel wasn't an escape, but more like a leap into the fire. Normally, I don't read a lot of historical fiction. However, [a:Sebastian Faulks 4229 Sebastian Faulks https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1506626382p2/4229.jpg] truly brings the past alive in searing detail from how making love changes you to what it's like to live with lice in the seams of your clothes. I suppose the most heartbreaking aspect of this book is how war changes those who participate because they must and not because they want to.The main character, Stephen Wraysford, had a sad childhood where neglect oddly prepared him for what he would face on the battlefield. What he learned, unfortunately, is still being forgotten today. Apparently, one man's horror can't survive more than a generation. Still, he was a passionate man for his time and his love of Isabelle carried him long after their relationship ended.The transition to the 1970s initially threw me for a loop, where Wraysford's granddaughter developed an obsession about him and his experience. It did lend a little hope that all that was learned was not forgotten. I would like to read this book again in the future, when WWWIII isn't on the news.
This novel is a subtle romance by an author who understands the complexity of human relationships. When Macon's wife Sarah walks out, he's stunned and slightly clueless. Sure, nothing was perfect in their marriage, especially lately. Very little in fact. After their only child died, they really were going through the emotions. Macon moves back in with his quirky siblings, bringing along his dog, Edward.
Edward seems as thrown by life events as Macon. So much so, he's started biting. Enter an unusual dog trainer, Muriel. Unlike Macon, Muriel has perfected rolling with the punches to an art form. When nothing really works out in your life, you start to accept that as normal and find a way to go on.
The book goes on to pose, and eventually answer, the question, who is Macon? Is he the stable, unemotional guy Sarah knows or is he the lover that Muriel invents? Anne Tyler's ability to give us all the clues we need to understand the answer is what makes her a remarkable author and a master observer of human behavior.
One of the interesting side notes of this book, is Macon's profession as a travel writer. It's Tyler's attention to deadlines and how he creates that makes him more believable. She knows whereof she writes in this case.
Pick up this book, sit down, and enjoy a little journey in your favorite armchair. You'll be glad you did.
It was fascinating to read the continuation of Lily and Atlas' story. It had been months since I read [b:It Ends with Us 27362503 It Ends with Us (It Ends with Us, #1) Colleen Hoover https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1470427482l/27362503.SY75.jpg 43940889] which was actually the beginning of their story. I was surprised how much of the original story came back to me. (I've read a lot of books since that one.)I really thought that Ryle, Lily's first husband—but not her first love—would be less of a factor than he was in this story. However, it seems leaving an abusive relationship isn't the end of the victim's problems, particularly when you are still co-parenting with the abuser.My daughter works with victims of domestic violence and it's insane how difficult it is to escape an abusive relationship. (And how deadly the consequences can be.) I thought this book portrayed that aspect well. Having supportive family members is a huge help and not something that always happens in real life. One part of the book that seemed unrealistic revolved around the character Atlas. He's overly perfect. Good-looking, great cook, endless patience, super understanding. In fact, he didn't seem like the product of an abusive home, which he's supposed to be. That aside, I thought the book was excellent and the lack of personality flaws in Atlas wasn't enough for me to even deduct a star. Worth the read for sure.
This is my favorite [a:Elinor Lipman 63681 Elinor Lipman https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1482327276p2/63681.jpg] book so far. (I'm trying to read them all.)Maybe the best start to a book. Spoken like a true lawyer, Jane finds herself convicted of indecent exposure and sentenced to six months of house arrest simply for having sex at midnight on the roof of her apartment building with a younger colleague. While the guy gets off with a slap on the wrist, Jane not only loses her freedom, but her job and her bar license is suspended.What does an intelligent woman, barring one lapse in judgment, do for six months home alone? She can't even take in work in her profession. How she handles her “downtime” is really the heart of the story. One can only watch so much TV. Jane's passively aggressive twin sister helps by paying for food while suggesting possible hobbies. As a dermatologist/plastic surgeon, she enlists Jane's help in finding nutritional “face-saving” recipes. It's Jane who makes the leap making those recipes on TikTok and baring her soul. “Hi, I'm Jane. My license to practice law was suspended, so here I am, about to make boiled onions for your dining pleasure.” Her sister's other suggestion was to cater meals for Perry, who is also under house arrest at the same, sprawling apartment complex and has been ordering takeout 7 days a week.What should have been a boring six months turns into a real romp for someone who can't leave the building. There's the story of the prude who turned in Jane for her midnight escapade. The Polish siblings of dubious heritage who were the prude's charges. There's Amanda, a dentist and Jane's socially inept neighbor who is ready to marry any man and have his baby. Perry's weird foot-in-mouth mother, Jane's supportive parents, and all those lousy coworkers who dropped Jane like a hot rock after her conviction. . . all except one.Every twist and turn in this book was equally unexpected and perfect. Need a break from your life? READ THIS BOOK!
It started slow for me, but boy, did [b:Mad Honey 59912428 Mad Honey Jodi Picoult https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1642705453l/59912428.SY75.jpg 94339228] pick up steam. I'm a huge fan of [a:Jodi Picoult 7128 Jodi Picoult https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1657141143p2/7128.jpg], but I'm unfamiliar with her co-author [a:Jennifer Finney Boylan 30973 Jennifer Finney Boylan https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1200414859p2/30973.jpg]'s work. Let's just say they make beautiful books together.Not sure what I liked best about this book. The tidbits on beekeeping? The LBGTQ info? The honey recipes at the end? I think there's something for everyone in this book.I'm a sucker for courtroom trials and this one takes it to the next level. Picoult's always been a master when it comes to this skill, but I think this is her best yet. I never guessed the ending and I really thought I had it from the very beginning, yet when it unfolded, I realized all the clues had been well planted. Loved this book. It's a fatty, but it's worth it. In spades!
Just finished this wonderful book, [b:The Physician's Daughter 59805953 The Physician's Daughter Martha Conway https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1653141449l/59805953.SY75.jpg 94196497] by [a:Martha Conway 23092 Martha Conway https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1407087681p2/23092.jpg]. I'm not a historical fiction fan for the most part. Like if they hadn't numbered the World Wars, I wouldn't know which came first. (JK)Still, this novel gives great insight into a woman's chances of becoming a certified doctor at the end of the Civil War. (Hint: 1865-1866)The main character, Vita, is a physician's daughter whose brother died during the war. He was supposed to be the one who followed in Dad's footsteps. He never wanted to, but whip smart Vita always did. However, Dad was old school (read: about normal for the time period) and wouldn't suffer the indignities of having his daughter become a doctor. (How the world changes, eh?)The important task for a woman in Vita's time period was to get married, not something Vita desired. So, rather than being pawned off on some old coot, she struck a deal with Jacob, a former soldier who somehow survived Andersonville prison. Their deal? He and Vita split her dowry. She gets the money for med school. He gets money for an invention he and a fellow prisoner concocted during their time in Andersonville.It seems to be going along just peachy until Jacob suggests, on their wedding night, that Vita put her end of the bargain on hold and join his pursuit instead. Since she's now a married woman, all their joint funds are in Jacob's name. She assumes he's welching on their deal and leaves, basically dropping off the face of the earth.I grew very attached to both Vita and Jacob and their individuals struggles. Hers were the taboos faced by a woman who wanted a career. His involved PTSD from the war. What I really loved about the book was the insight into life as an intelligent woman in that time period. Each chapter of the book starts with a quote about women from a medical book written in the 1800s. They would be funny if the quotes did express widely-held beliefs of the day. For example:“The majority of women (happily for them) are not much troubled by sexual feeling of any kind.” From The Functions and Disorders of the Reproductive Organs, Dr. William Acton, 1881 Great story and very enlightening. I enjoyed it.
Wow, I'd give this book ten stars if I could. It's a great story about a widow reinventing herself, a young man who is lost, and a ticking time bomb of an octopus. Yes, that's right. An octopus. It's said when this story was submitted to a publisher for consideration, an editor wrote in the margin: “This is either brilliant or bananas.” Let me clear up any doubts. It's brilliant.When Tova starts working at the local aquarium near Puget Sound, she's already lost her husband to cancer, and her only son, who died in an unexplained drowning, has been gone for 30 years. She has taken a part-time job cleaning floors and fingerprints from fish tanks at night to stay busy. It's how she deals with all she's lost. Speaking of loss, Cameron is losing his band, his best friends married and are having a baby, and the aunt who raised him is involved with someone in the trailer park where she lives. He's also lost his latest in a string of unfulfilling jobs. When his aunt gives him some artifacts from the mother he never really knew, he decides he might as well go looking for the father he never knew either.And then, there's the octopus, Marcellus. He's been held captive most of his life. He tends to be a clever guy who sneaks out of his enclosure when the aquarium is closed. He can stay out of the water for 20 minutes before what he calls “The Consequences” start to affect him. He's extremely perceptive, as you might expect from an octopus who knows how to escape his tank and keep an eye on the clock.The author takes these three characters as her main ingredients, throws in some locals from the small community where Tova lives and creates magic. I am not normally a crier when reading and I have to admit, Shelby Van Pelt almost got me. Nothing actually streamed down my cheeks into my ears—I read in bed—but the words got pretty blurry on the page. For a feel good story that will make you glad you read it, read [b:Remarkably Bright Creatures 58733693 Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651600548l/58733693.SY75.jpg 90375164]. You will be glad you did.
A masterpiece. Maria Owens, a witch, start as a foundling in Essex County, England in the 1600s and ends up in Essex County, Massachusetts in time for the Salem witch trials. Along the way, she finds her mother, falls in love (unfortunately), and sails to Boston. The author's lyrical style, combined with recipes for healing herbs that can cure a fever or a heartache, season the story. This prequel to [b:Practical Magic 22896 Practical Magic (Practical Magic #1) Alice Hoffman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490354120l/22896.SY75.jpg 4030671] and [b:The Rules of Magic 34037113 The Rules of Magic (Practical Magic, #0.2) Alice Hoffman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492802012l/34037113.SX50.jpg 55038896], MAGIC LESSONS can definitely be read without reading the others, but I doubt you will. I stayed up until 4:00 am to finish this book. Yes, it's just that good.
This is the third Emily Henry book I've read in the past month/six weeks, basically all of her adult fiction that's currently available, although HAPPY PLACE is coming out in the Spring of 2023 and I look forward to that.
I enjoy her storytelling. I especially like her insight into the characters' reasoning for feelings as well as her snappy, quirky dialogue. The reader gets a great view of why the character is acting as she does and what her motivations might be.
In BOOK LOVERS, Nora and Charlie are frenemies of the first order. Known to each other by reputation before they meet, their anti “cute meet” confirms what everyone has told them about each other. She's a shark. He's a cold fish. But outward appearances can be deceiving when characters' motivations are hidden.
While Nora is driven to protect what little family she has left, Charlie has the same burden, but by duty, not choice. As such, their feelings toward the commitment of helping family differ. While Nora is nearly pathological about controlling her remaining sibling's well-being, Charlie is more curmudgeonly about being trapped into helping his family through hard times.
Oddly enough, this paradox worked for me. The author gave substantial reasons why the characters acted the way they did toward family members. Nora's ill-fated family losses were revealed later in the book, but hints were dropped along the way.
The burden of extra family responsibility has led both characters to either shun personal relationships. or compartmentalize them in such a way that emotion stays on the back burner. The “been hurt before, not going through that again” reasoning is a viable philosophy to both. So, it's believable when both feel an attraction but immediately know their connection isn't going anywhere if they can help/stop it. Being colleagues in the publishing industry also presents its own barriers to romance.
What I love about this book was how it played out the story recognizing and obliterating all the tropes used in every Hallmark romance. It made it all laughable. Nora's sister's checklist for their small town vacation includes: saving a business, skinny-dipping, dating a handsome local guy, camping under the stars, going horseback riding, wearing a plaid shirt, etc. All attempts at fulfilling this checklist of course go horribly awry.
Overall, I recommend this book for those who enjoy their romance with spice, crisp & intelligent repartee, and a certain irreverence.
From Lowen and Jeremy's unconventional meeting—the antithesis of a cute-meet—to the very last page, this book had me hook, line, and sinker.
It's my first Colleen Hoover novel, but it will definitely not be my last. Lowen is offered a contract to ghost write the remaining books in a series by the popular author, Verity Crawford. It seems the author has been severely injured in a car accident. She's also Jeremy's wife. The Jeremy that Lowen just met at the site of another car accident.
Lowen, being nearly destitute, takes the job. It seems between the death of her mother and the scant sales of her own books, Lowen is being evicted. Fortunately, or maybe not, she's invited to move into the Crawford mansion until she has a grip on what it will take to finish writing Verity's final three books.
Car accidents aren't the only tragedies befalling the Crawford household. Jeremy now lives with his disabled wife and his five-year-old son, but his two daughters also met untimely deaths. To say Jeremy is overwhelmed by misfortune would be an understatement. To say the Lowen is attracted to Jeremy is also an understatement.
Of course, the real mystery here is Verity. She lives in an upstairs bedroom, unable to move and requiring 24-hour care. Days are covered by a nurse, but Jeremy has the night shift. It's the odd hints that Verity's disability isn't all that it seems that begins to get under Lowen's skin. Is Verity faking it? A series of creepy events serve to trigger Lowen's tendency to sleepwalk, which only complicates matters.
I love a book that keeps me guessing the ending. I also love it when I'm completely wrong. And I was on this one. Check it out. You won't be able to put it down and you won't be able to figure out what's really going on either.
OMG, I just finished this book and I don't want it to be over. I want Sam and Sadie's story to go on forever. They're my video-game programmers/geeky friends now, and I want to know what they do every day.[b:Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow 58784475 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636978687l/58784475.SY75.jpg 89167797] is a masterpiece on human behavior. [a:Gabrielle Zevin 40593 Gabrielle Zevin https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1503541462p2/40593.jpg] makes each character so real we feel their joy and pain. Even their grief.I worried I didn't know enough about video gaming to really get into this book. My gaming life barely exists. A few rounds of Oregon Trail, a little PacMan, and summer fling with Kings Quest IV about sums it up. Turns out, that's really all I needed.I think I loved the asides about video games the most: “To design a game is to imagine the person who will eventually play it.”Or the thought that having a gaming partner is a more precious connection than a spouse. It was also a reminder of times I lived through. The before and after of 9/11. A conversation overheard by Sam and his mother about the 1984 Olympics, where Mary Lou Retton got a perfect 10 and how some guys in a diner said: “She never would have won if the Russians hadn't boycotted. It's not a victory if the best players aren't there.” When Sam asked his mother if that was true, she said:“Even if what he says is true, I think it's still a victory. Because she won on this day, with this particular set of people. We can never know what else might have happened had other competitors been there. The Russian girls could have won, or they could have gotten jet-lagged and choked.... And this is the truth of any game—it can only exist at the moment that it is being played. It's the same with being an actor. In the end, all we can ever know is the game that was played, in the only world that we know.”From that excerpt, you can see how the author can write believable dialogue. It's that way throughout the book. There's the perfect stuff we all want to say (and think in our heads) and then there's the inadequate stuff that comes out of our mouths that is forced to suffice as communication. This author gives us both. She especially good at letting us know what the characters hide from other characters in order to be kind, smart, or vengeful, which in the end usually turns out to be harmful to the relationship.Marx was also a well-drawn character who complemented the fever of gaming that Sam and Sadie shared. Once he was out of the picture, Sam & Sadie struggled to communicate at all. He was almost an interpreter for them. I love the ending. It's the circle of life. READ THIS BOOK.
Excellent, excellent book. I loved this story. I wanted to learn more about “online dating apps” when I picked up this book. However, what I did learn was what a great writer Christina Lauren is. Or should I say, what a great writing team Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings make.
I think the author(s) did an great job of creating deep and believable characters. I like that they didn't all have it all together in the beginning and tended to unravel from there. Sure, “Americano” River Pena was a bit too wonderful at times, but he had enough faults to make him real. And Jess was just your single mom who made mistakes, but one that is overall very intelligent.
The important factor here was the attraction between River and Jess, or in the beginning, the lack thereof. When they turn up to be a match via River's company's algorithm, neither one can believe it. In fact, the company has to offer Jess a reason to give the match a chance. (River already has a monetary reason for it to work out.) When Jess is offered a small stipend to give River a chance, she's just broke enough to take it.
I love all the interferences that make their match a struggle. It is definitely art imitating life in a perfect way. READ THIS BOOK! It sings.
I loved and hated this book. The story is excellent. The writing, stellar. What I disliked was the memories it brought up.
It really could be filed as historical fiction since it started in 1952, the year before I was born. The majority of the story that saddened me happened in the 1960s. I still remember I wasn't allowed to wear pants to school until I was a high school junior. In college, I got great math scores on my SATs. My counselor's advice? “Lucky you. You never have to take math again.” Meanwhile, the guys around me who got almost as good scores were encouraged to pursue the new field of computers.
In 1960, the FDA approved the birth control pill. In 1965, married women could take it. It was 1970 before all states allowed unmarried women to take it.
In 1974, women were allowed to have a credit card and a bank account in their own name.
Yes, we were voting, but you wouldn't know it. These are the days that a certain political party wants to relive.
The main character lived through these same repressions. Women were expected to stay in the kitchen, not work in a chemistry lab. They aren't there now, really. (My husband is a chemist.)
So, the tale of Elizabeth Zott and Calvin Evans falling in love and NOT getting married is half of the book. How Elizabeth handles her career in TV is the other half. Here was a perfectly intelligent woman, not allowed to pursue her passion, abiogenesis, because of her gender. But, because she was good-looking, they put her on TV with a cooking show. Figures.
Anyway, I loved and hated the book, but it's a great read. I still can't walk outside with my shirt off. I know some men who should be arrested for that, but aren't.