Book Review: "Summer Rental" by Mary Kay Andrews

Synopsis (from GoodReads.com):

Sometimes, when you need a change in your life, the tide just happens to pull you in the right direction….

Ellis, Julia, and Dorie. Best friends since Catholic grade school, they now find themselves, in their mid-thirties, at the crossroads of life and love. Ellis, recently fired from a job she gave everything to, is rudderless and now beginning to question the choices she's made over the past decade of her life. Julia—whose caustic wit covers up her wounds--has a man who loves her and is offering her the world, but she can't hide from how deeply insecure she feels about her looks, her brains, her life.  And Dorie has just been shockingly betrayed by the man she loved and trusted the most in the world…though this is just the tip of the iceberg of her problems and secrets. A month in North Carolina's Outer Banks is just what they each of them needs.

Ty Bazemore is their landlord, though he's hanging on to the rambling old beach house by a thin thread. After an inauspicious first meeting with Ellis, the two find themselves disturbingly attracted to one another, even as Ty is about to lose everything he's ever cared about.

Maryn Shackleford is a stranger, and a woman on the run. Maryn needs just a few things in life: no questions, a good hiding place, and a new identity.  Ellis, Julia, and Dorie can provide what Maryn wants; can they also provide what she needs? 

Five people questioning everything they ever thought they knew about life. Five people on a journey that will uncover their secrets and point them on the path to forgiveness.   Five people who each need a sea change, and one month in a summer rental that might just give it to them.

One of Library Journal's Best Women’s Fiction Books of 2011

My Thoughts **spoiler alert**:

I really enjoyed this book. It is absolutely a summer read (and is advertised as such!), but the author has such a talent for description that she made me feel like I was AT Ebbtide and in Nags Head with the characters.

Ellis seemed to fall a little flat to me: I understood her angst, her torment over joblessness and manlessness. At times, it almost seemed like she was the main character, even though the story was supposed to be about the three friends- Ellis, Dorie and Julia. 

Dorie also didn't do much for me. I could appreciate her unique life situation with her husband leaving her for another man just as she learned of her pregnancy, but as a person, I didn't really feel much for her. Julia, on the other hand, procrastinator, model and pot-stirrer was a bit better. She certainly threw a few wrenches into the plot. 

The person I was most interested in, however, was Madison/Maryn, the woman on the run from her abusive and embezzling husband. Funny thing is, she was supposed to be a "sub-plot" but she was the most real of all of the characters. 

Of course, this isn't supposed to be a work of literary genius: it's pure entertainment. And entertain, it does! Recommended for a quick, easy, amusing beach-read.

Final Word: B+

Book Review: When We Were the Kennedy's by Monica Wood

Synopsis (from GoodReads): 1963, Mexico, Maine. The Wood family is much like its close, Catholic, immigrant neighbors, all dependent on a father’s wages from the Oxford Paper Company. Until the sudden death of Dad, when Mum and the four closely connected Wood girls are set adrift. Funny and to-the-bone moving, When We Were the Kennedys is the story of how this family saves itself, at first by depending on Father Bob, Mum’s youngest brother, a charismatic Catholic priest who feels his new responsibilities deeply. And then, as the nation is shocked by the loss of its handsome Catholic president, the televised grace of Jackie Kennedy—she too a Catholic widow with young children—galvanizes Mum to set off on an unprecedented family road trip to Washington, D.C., to do some rescuing of her own. An indelible story of how family and nation, each shocked by the unimaginable, exchange one identity for another.

My Thoughts:

I had really high expectations for this book to be a lot all at once: a tear jerker, laugh out loud funny, a sort of coming-of-age book all rolled into one. After all, the description makes it sound like this is exactly what it is! While it wasn't as funny as I had hoped, I did find myself consistently wanting to read on to find out what would happen next.

The story is told from middle-sister Monica's perspective. The Wood family has some unique dynamics that made their [mis]adventures more interesting: a special needs sister, a priest uncle who desperately wants to fill the "dad" void but who takes up drink, and distant relatives from Prince Edward Island who seem straight-from-the-fairy-tales. 

The death of a family member, particularly a parent or spouse, is earth shattering in its own. However, once the story moved beyond that (the even happened in the first couple chapters), nothing truly astounding happens for the rest of the book. Sure, there are a few surprises here and there that make you want to jump up and cheer (or run and give someone a hug), but overall it was a fairly mundane story with a few cute anecdotes. I particularly enjoyed the parts about the Nuns in Monica's school. 

I did have an overall feeling of "too much Oxford!" As someone from a small town, I can completely understand the feeling that a single business can be the lifeblood of the community. However, after Dad dies and things start to settle, I felt it rather tedious to keep coming back to the state of the Oxford throughout the story. Not until the very end did I see the point the author was making; to me, this is not particularly stellar writing. I should be able to follow the line of thought continuously, not flounder along until things click at the end. 

Overall, I'd say this is a Good Read! Particularly recommended if you have lost a parent recently. You will probably find more humor and heartbreak in this story than I because it will be more relatable. But even if you have not lost a loved one, this is still a pleasant read with a few twists and turns that will keep you interested throughout. 

Final Word: B-

Book Review: Mountains of the Moon by I. J. Kay

I won the book Mountains of the Moon by I. J. Kay from GoodReads First Reads (along with another, which I'm reading now!) and I was really excited to read it. Here's why...

Synopsis (from GoodReads.com): 

A highly original novel about a young woman’s journey from shattered youth to self-discovery.

After ten years in a London prison, Louise Adler (Lulu) is released with only a new alias to rebuild her life. Working a series of dead-end jobs, she carries a past full of secrets: a childhood marked by the violence and madness of her parents, followed by a reckless adolescence. From abandoned psychiatric hospitals to Edwardian-themed casinos, from a brief first love to the company of criminals, Lulu has spent her youth in an ever-shifting landscape of deceit and survival. But when she’s awarded an unexpected settlement claim after prison, she travels to the landscape of her childhood imagination, the central African range known as the Mountains of the Moon. There, in the region’s stark beauty, she attempts to piece together the fragments of her battered psyche.

Told in multilayered, hallucinatory flashbacks, Mountains of the Moon traces a traumatic youth and explores the journey of a young woman trying to transform a broken life into something beautiful. This dazzling novel from a distinctive new voice is sure to garner the attention of critics and readers alike.

My Thoughts:

Sounds pretty intense and interesting, right? I was so wrong...

I don't want to say it was "terrible" because it wasn't atrocious. However, I did not enjoy this book much at all. The hallucinatory and fractured way in which the story is told is so complex and multilayered that even when paying attention, it's nearly impossible to follow. Add (intentionally) misspelled words, (unfamiliar) British slang and fragments of song lyrics to the mix and it's a complete nightmare. Maybe it's just not my "cup of tea."

If I had not read the synopsis, I would have absolutely no clue what this story was all about. Even after reading it I feel the description is a bit of a stretch. If you are going to read this book, read the synopsis right before you begin the book and then again immediately following. It will help put everything together. 

I will say this: the author is gifted with descriptions. Even though I usually had absolutely no idea what was going on in the story, I felt like I was there (where ever "there" is...) I wish I could say more about the story, but I couldn't really follow it so I'll just leave it there.

Final Word: D

MIA

[the Alpha Gamma Delta badge & pearls]

I feel I should write a quick post about why I have been MIA for so long: I attended a Convention for my sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta, in St. Louis recently. In the days preceding my departure for St. Louis, I was packing bags, buying last minute forgotten items and working. While at the Convention, nearly every hour of my day was planned out for me and I did not even bring my computer with me! Whew! I returned on the evening of July 22nd after about a 10 hour car ride home.

The Convention was outstanding: I got to meet many sisters whom I have only heard over the phone or Skype or emailed back and forth with. They are real people, not just some anonymous person behind a screen somewhere! It also reaffirmed my love for Alpha Gam, our ritual, our sisterhood, our Purpose. For those of who are not Greek and are college-age, I highly encourage at least going through formal recruitment on your campus to see what it's about. I have gotten so many opportunities academically, socially, professionally and personally by being a member of a Greek organization.

Now that I'm off my soapbox about Greek Life, I will say this: I have been working on a new book to review! I was a GoodReads.com First Reads winner and obtained a copy of two pre-print or very newly released books. I'm not going to share the "identity" of the book I am reading right now - I want to reserve my comments until I finish just in case I change my mind. But I will say this: it's a challenge! I am looking forward to finishing it this weekend so I can share with you!

Until then, hang tight! I'm still here - and I'll be back to my usual activity soon!!