The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
Published by Bantam, an imprint of Random House

Willa Jackson and Paxton Osgood grew up and still reside in the small Southern town of Walls of Water, North Carolina. The women have never been friends, although their family histories would encourage them to be so. Willa’s family once owned the Blue Ridge Madam – a huge mansion that has stood for years, unused, a testament to the scandal that became the Jackson family years ago. And now Paxton has decided to restore the home to its former glory and use it as a luxury inn. But there is a mystery surrounding the Blue Ridge Madam, and like it or not, Paxton and Willa must work together to uncover long-buried secrets their families, and their town, have kept from them all these years.

Even though I have never lived in the South (Orlando might be in the southern part of the country, but it is definitely not The South), I always love a good Southern fiction novel and The Peach Keeper really worked for me on that front. The history between the two families, the old money secrets and drama, and the atmosphere of living in a small town – I loved all of these things. The mystery aspect was engaging and it kept me on the edge of my seat, although I have to admit that for me the mystery was secondary to my getting to know these characters. While I was interested in uncovering the family secrets, I was more interested in the present day issues faced by Willa and Paxton.

I liked both Paxton and Willa as main characters; in fact I couldn’t decide which woman I enjoyed more. I rooted for both of them to find love and happiness, and I hoped desperately that they would become the friends it was clear they were destined to be. I was happy to see them work together to uncover their family secrets and Sarah Addison Allen gave me a nice conclusion to that issue. Both Paxton and Willa were unique individuals with well-written, fleshed-out personalities. It was clear that they were very different people, yet at the same time they were able to form a bond that had eluded them for years.

While The Peach Keeper isn’t the kind of heavy, complicated novel that I sometimes enjoy, it was the perfect mix of sweet and mysterious, with a tiny bit of magic thrown in, that I absolutely enjoyed it. This is a feel-good, wonderful piece of Southern fiction.

Remember Me by Cheryl Robinson

Remember Me by Cheryl Robinson
Published by NAL Trade, an imprint of Penguin
Review copy provided by the publisher in conjunction with TLC Book Tours

Mia and Danielle became best friends at their Catholic all-girls high school, even though they came from drastically different backgrounds and no one would have ever expected them to click in such a way. But years later, an unexpected deception shatters their friendship and they cut ties with one another completely. Now the two women are in their forties. Mia is teaching high school in Detroit, and dealing with her cheating husband and their financial woes. Danielle is a successful novelist, but even the success she’s always dreamed of can’t buy her happiness in her marriage. The two women don’t even think of one another anymore, until a tragic accident brings them together in such a way that forces them to look back at their past, reexamine where they went wrong, and imagine the possibility of a renewed friendship.

Remember Me has a lot going for it. First of all, I enjoyed getting to know these two main characters – what their backgrounds were, what their childhoods were like, how they became friends, and what happened to them as they got older and started families and careers. I feel that Robinson devoted an equal amount of time to both women, allowing the reader the opportunity to get to know them very well – independently and together as two halves of this strong, deep friendship. I enjoyed the way the story was told – it focused on what was happening in the present, filling in Mia and Danielle’s pasts by going back and forth throughout their present day stories. It worked for me because I would get sucked into both stories, and this going back and forth really kept my attention.

Unfortunately, while those elements of the book really worked for me, the majority of the book did not work so well. The biggest issue I had with the novel was the fact that the writing just wasn’t what I was hoping for. The dialogue felt clunky, the flow of the writing was kind of all over the place, and overall it just didn’t seem natural. In addition, the novel was much too long (in my opinion) which made me concentrate on what I saw as shortfalls even more. Last, the way the women reconnected was hugely contrived and it just felt to me like Robinson created this event so the women would have the opportunity to meet again – the way the events unfolded is extremely unlikely and probably would not happen that way in real life. It bothered me because I felt like the book could have been so much better had this aspect of the novel been a bit more realistic.

So, overall I’m not sure how I feel about Remember Me as a whole. There were definitely aspects of the novel I enjoyed, and I had no problem finishing the book, but I can’t get past the less-than-stellar writing and the fact that the events in the book seemed so contrived. So I guess I would say that the novel is decent but not great and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Published by Broadway, an imprint of Random House

Henrietta Lacks was a 31-year-old black woman living in Baltimore, a mother of five children, when she died from cervical cancer. Her family had a vague understanding that before her death, she was being treated for her cancer at Johns Hopkins. What her family didn’t know is that the doctors there had taken samples of Henrietta’s cells, without her permission or even her knowledge, to be used in research. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the story of these cells, but it is also the story of Henrietta’s family and how this one tragic event shaped so much of the rest of their lives.

Upon finishing The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, all I could think was, “why did it take me so long to pick up this book?” I feel like every other person on the planet has read this book and for good reason – it is fantastic. But for that reason, I am not sure what else I can possibly add to the chorus of voices saying how great the book is.

What is so wonderful about what Rebecca Skloot did here is she didn’t just talk about the medical stuff. She gave an extremely well-researched and interesting background on the use of cells, how Henrietta’s were used, the legalities of it all, etc., but it never felt boring or weighted down with facts. Because, in addition to all that, this book is like a biography of Henrietta and her family. What happened to Henrietta had a huge impact on her husband, her children, and grandchildren, and Skloot went to great lengths to develop relationships with her family in order to tell their story. By the end of the book, I truly felt that I knew these people, that their story is one that should have been told long ago and thank goodness Skloot pushed and pushed to get Henrietta’s name out there.

I experienced The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks as an audiobook, and I would highly recommend listening to this book. The narrator is Cassandra Campbell, and of course she does a fabulous job (as she always does). For whatever reason, I really enjoy nonfiction in audio and this is a perfect example of that. Definitely recommended!

Overall, I would highly encourage you to pick up The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks if you haven’t done so already. It is informative, compelling, and just as good as everyone has been saying! If you are an audio fan, I would recommend listening to the book as well.

The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard

The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard
Published by Harper Perennial, an imprint of HarperCollins
Review copy provided by the publisher in conjunction with TLC Book Tours

Ruth Plank and Dana Dickerson are born on the same day in the same town, and although they are never really friends, Ruth’s mother takes to calling them the “birthday sisters” and so they remain somewhat in touch throughout the years. Ruth is artistic and dreams of a different life for herself than working on her family’s farm. Dana, a misfit in her own family, is more rooted in reality, plans to attend college and eventually find a home and stay there. Ruth is strangely drawn to Dana’s brother, Ray, and the two do get involved for a period of time, while Dana realizes that she’s interested in women and settles down with a professor named Clarice. As the two women get older, and their families grow and change, they stay in rough contact over the years, until one day the truth behind how the two families are connected is finally revealed.

The Good Daughters begins with the night Ruth Plank was conceived, and with that the reader can tell that the book is going to be an intricate, character-driven family story that will be difficult to put down. I definitely found that to be the case, I knew from the get go that this book was going to pull me in and it totally did. While the novel focuses mostly on the characters, the characters here are so well-written and compelling that I found it next to impossible to put this book down for any stretch of time.

I don’t know how else to say it, and this is going to sound cheesy, but these characters truly spoke to me. For the 300ish pages of this book, Ruth and Dana were a part of me. I cried when they cried, I celebrated when they celebrated, and I was just as shocked by the truth of their family connection as they were. I honestly got lost in this book – I wouldn’t look up or even think about anything else for at least 100 pages at a time. (I am very fidgety, even while reading I get distracted extremely easily, so this is no easy feat!) I cannot possibly articulate clearly enough how much these characters got inside my head and took over, the experience was that powerful for me.

To play devil’s advocate, this book is very heavily driven by the characters, so if you are more into books with an exciting, event-driven plot, I must be honest and say that The Good Daughters probably won’t impress you as much as it has me. But if you can appreciate a book with excellent writing, honest and real characters, which has a nice quietness about it, this book is for you. There are so many things I loved about The Good Daughters so I will simply end this by saying that I most highly recommend this novel. I truly loved it and now I know I must read more from Joyce Maynard!

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Published by Philomel, an imprint of Penguin

Sixteen-year-old Lina is enjoying a regular childhood in Lithuania in 1939 when her family begins to understand that Stalin is attempting to invade, and rumors are spread about people she knows in her community who suddenly begin to disappear. Before her family has a chance to escape Lithuania, they are sent by the Russians to a forced labor camp in Siberia. Conditions at the camp are unthinkable – very similar to what the Nazis were subjecting their prisoners too at this same time in history – and Lina relies on her love of art to get her through this impossibly devastating time in her life. As other people in camp begin dying off, due to starvation, disease, and the freezing temperatures, she wonders if her mother, brother, and she will ever be reunited with her father again.

The first thing that I have to say is wow. Between Shades of Gray is absolutely a must-read. I knew I had to read it when I realized that the events described in the book are historical events that aren’t really discussed or taught in school. I hate to admit this, but I did not learn about the Russian invasion of these countries in school and even now only had a vague understanding that this happened (until picking up this book, of course). The book is heartbreaking, yes, but it is also important and tells a story that many of us wouldn’t otherwise hear.

In addition to Between Shades of Gray being an important story, the plot is engaging and the book is difficult to put down. The novel is the type that, although it’s difficult to read at times because of the subject matter, you can’t look away. I just wanted to keep reading and reading until I finished the book because I had to know how Lina’s story ended. And along the way there is plenty of devastation, death, disease, horrifying things – but I kept searching for that one kernel of hope and Sepetys kept giving it to me. Part of me didn’t want to know how it ended, because throughout the novel I felt like it couldn’t possibly end on a happy note, but another, bigger part of me had hope that something would go right for Lina and her family.

One more compelling aspect of this novel: the characters. Lina is a completely believable teenager that most teens will have no problem relating to. It’s crazy that something like this can happen to innocent people, but history has shown that this is exactly what happened, and teens will be able to easily put themselves in Lina’s shoes and let the gravity of what happened to her sink in. True, Lina is a fictional character but from my understanding she is based on Sepetys’ mother and her story is one that teens did experience during the Russian invasion of those countries at that time. I rooted for Lina the entire time I was reading the book and I definitely believed her character. She felt real to me, so the things she went through were all the more real and heartbreaking to me.

I can’t say enough about Between Shades of Gray. This book is absolutely incredible, telling a story that is not told often enough and one that many people probably don’t even know about. I give this book my highest recommendation and I urge you to read it.

TSS: Lazy Weekend

Good morning everyone and happy Sunday Salon! I am lucky enough to be enjoying a long (for me) weekend – I didn’t have to work yesterday! I haven’t announced this publicly yet, but here goes: I got a promotion at work, which is super exciting, so currently I’m working on a training and development program. So for these next four weeks I should be off every Saturday, which to me is beyond fabulous. As for my promotion goes, I work at a financial institution (a bank) and I’m being promoted from banker to branch manager. Which means, after my program is all said and done, when you go into a bank and say “I need to speak to the manager”, that person will be me! I’m excited but also a bit nervous because it is a huge responsibility which will entail working many hours and dealing with many stresses. But I feel ready for what’s to come and I know my training program – which is about 4 months long in total – will prepare me even further. So yay!

So what did I do with my time off yesterday? Absolutely nothing, which is the best ever! I laid out by the pool in the morning, came home and finished a book, ran a few errands, came home and finished another book, and by then it was time to get ready for church. After church, hubby and I went to our favorite local Mexican restaurant for dinner. It was a fabulous day. Today I think I will get some blog posts scheduled, maybe read a little, and try to meet a friend for lunch. I’m trying to enjoy as much time to myself as I can because once my new job actually starts in a few months I will be turning the vast majority of my energy and attention to work. So I need to enjoy this time while it lasts!

Oh, one more thing – I need to announce the winner of The Leftovers by Tom Perotta! The winner is Angel from Mermaid Vision Books! Congratulations Angel! I have sent you an email letting you know.

What are you up to this lovely Sunday?

Weekend Cooking: 400 Calorie Fix by Liz Vaccariello and Mindy Hermann

400 Calorie Fix: The Easy New Rule for Permanent Weight Loss by Liz Vacariello and Mindy Hermann
Published by Rodale Books

Research shows that the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to control caloric intake while maintaining an overall healthy diet and exercise plan. 400 Calorie Fix has a new secret to controlling calories – keep all meals at or around 400 calories. By doing this, a person can eat anywhere from three to six meals each day depending on individual needs. This book explains the science behind this rule, explains how it can be applied to any person’s individual situation, and then gives tons of examples of 400 calorie meals, in terms of restaurant meals, frozen food type meals, and meals to cook.

I hesitated to review this book because I don’t actually believe in diets, nor am I actively trying to lose weight. But the reason I was attracted to the book in the first place was the beautiful color photographs and healthy-looking recipes, so I should at least talk about it for those reasons. The whole concept of eating 400 calorie meals does make sense to me, and I can see how it would be helpful if trying to control calories to keep 400 calories as a general rule. Personally, this approach means nothing to me because I typically don’t eat huge portions anyway and most of the suggestions they made for what really is in a 400 calorie meal is about what I would eat without thinking about it. So while I didn’t love the concept of the book, I did enjoy several things about it.

The section on fast food/restaurant food was helpful to me, but not overly so. I think it does have a lot of information that other readers might enjoy, though. Basically what this section does is explain what types of meals fit roughly within the 400 calorie framework at various restaurants and fast food places. Personally, I don’t eat much fast food and when I go out to a restaurant I’m looking to enjoy my food and not count calories, so I doubt I’ll be using this section. But for people who don’t do a lot of cooking, for whom eating out is the go-to meal option, this section looks to be very helpful. What is nice is that there are specific choices one can make from tons of restaurants, and this section is very detailed in that way.

The cooking section is what I found the most value in. I found several recipes to try, and it is always nice when I find a cookbook I know will include healthy, relatively easy recipes. The vast majority of the recipes in this book fit that criteria, which I loved. I would like to share with you one of the recipes I made, which was delicious (my hubby even liked this and he is the most picky eater I know) and fits in the 400 calorie framework for those interested in following this diet/lifestyle.

Oven-Baked Chicken Fingers

Ingredients:

1/4 cup lightly salted dry-roasted peanuts
1/2 cup panko
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 egg
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch thick strips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Chop the peanuts in a food processor until find. Place the peanuts, panko, and chili powder in a large resealable plastic bag or container. Shake to mix.
3. Whisk together the egg and mustard in a large bowl. Add the chicken and combine until all strips are covered. Place the strips in the plastic bag or container with the panko/peanut mixture. Seal and shake until all strips are well coated. Place the strips on the baking sheet. Bake until the coating is crisp and the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.

The recipe suggests serving the chicken with baked sweet potatoes, which I did, giving this meal a total calorie count of 410. It was super easy to make, very quick, and I was able to whip it together without complaint after a long, exhausting day at work. It was delicious and filling and such a great alternative to regular chicken tenders. My husband and I both loved it. I love to dip my chicken into ranch, so I used a low-fat ranch dressing as my dipping sauce. Keep in mind if you are trying to count calories to add the calories for whatever you dip the chicken in and also whatever you add to the sweet potato! (I just use a little butter on mine.) But overall, I would recommend taking a glance at this book if you want to look into a more healthful, low-calorie eating and cooking philosophy. And definitely make this recipe if you like chicken tenders!

Reign of Madness by Lynn Cullen

Reign of Madness by Lynn Cullen
Published by Putnam Adult, an imprint of Penguin
Review copy provided by the publisher in conjunction with TLC Book Tours

Juana of Castile, middle daughter of the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabel, grew up with the knowledge that her role in life is to further her family’s ambitions through marriage. She is wed to the Duke of Burgundy, otherwise known as Philippe the Handsome, and surprises herself by falling in love with her charming and adoring new husband. But the ambitions of her husband soon outweigh any love she has for him, when years later her mother dies, leaving the Spanish crown up for grabs. Rumors are spread about Juana, she is called crazy, possessive, and insane, as Philippe vies for the title of King of Spain that he believes is rightfully his. This novel explores the truth behind Juana of Castile – who was she really, and what role did her husband’s ambition play in creating this image of her that Spain still carries to this day?

I first became interested in Juana of Castile when I read C.W. Gortner’s take on her life, The Last Queen [my review], and I’ve been wanting to read more about her ever since. For this reason, I was super excited to pick up Reign of Madness and dive deeper into the history of Queen Juana, and luckily I found myself just as happy with this novel as I was hoping to be. Cullen truly brought this time period to life before my eyes and allowed me to get another in-depth look at this fascinating historical personality.

The way that Lynn Cullen chose to tell Juana’s story was just perfect. She told the story from Juana’s point of view, offering the reader a peek into what she may have been thinking and feeling during crucial events in her life. Also, the book spans decades – beginning when Juana is just fourteen and ending when she is an old woman. This gives the reader a unique opportunity to get into Juana’s head, throughout all the ups and downs of her life, and get the chance to truly understand her. This worked for me so well because I connected with Juana quite easily. Every time I read historical fiction about royalty, I always feel so deeply sorry for the women as they had so little autonomy over their own lives, and reading this book gave me that same feeling about Juana. She was forced into a marriage to further her family’s kingdom, lucked out enough to actually fall in love with her husband, but then had to deal with his affairs, his drinking, his being away from their home all the time, etc., without any options of getting out of this relationship that was no longer healthy or happy. It just made me sad.

However, reading this novel illustrated for me how strong and determined Juana really was. She did what she could to protect her family of origin and also her new family – her husband Philippe and their children. She loved her husband with a passion and devotion that surprised me, considering how terribly he treated her throughout much of their marriage. She loved her children and wanted badly to be with them even when they were forced to live in different countries. History may call her Juana the Mad but I think a more appropriate name for her, based on what I’ve read in this book, would be Juana the Brave.

Another thing I enjoyed about the book was the peek into Ferdinand and Isabel’s marriage and history. Also, Christopher Columbus was a character in the novel, which was interesting and very enjoyable. It was nice to see another take on what may or may not have happened from the Spanish perspective over that period of history. Cullen made these characters come to life for me and not only was the book nice to learn from, but it provided a very fun reading experience.

I was extremely impressed by Reign of Madness and would definitely recommend it. For those of you who enjoy historical fiction, this book is not to be missed.

Friendship Bread by Darien Gee

Friendship Bread by Darien Gee
Published by Random House
Review copy provided by the publicist

One afternoon, Julia and her daughter Gracie arrive home to find a loaf of Amish Friendship Bread on their doorstep, along with a bag of starter and a note describing how to make the bread herself. Julia, still grieving from a personal tragedy, doesn’t have the strength to do most things on most days but in order to appease Gracie, she decides to make the bread. Soon she has four bags of starter to pass on, so she goes to the local coffee shop to pass on the bags and it is there she meets Madeline and Hannah, two newcomers to Julia’s small town of Avalon, Illinois, and the three begin a fast friendship. And pretty soon, everyone in town is baking Amish Friendship Bread and passing along starters to friends and strangers alike. Who knew that one loaf of bread could cause this much camaraderie and new beginnings in this small town?

Okay, so I was not expecting to like this book. Books that appear to be this saccharine sweet don’t usually work for me. I can’t remember if I agreed to review this book or if it was a surprise (this is terrible that I cannot remember, I am aware, and normally I keep much better track of these things) but I almost didn’t pick it up. Something, however, caused me to think I might enjoy it, so I finally buckled down with the first 50 pages. And after that, I was hooked.

Yes, Friendship Bread is an extremely sweet, uplifting novel. However, it deals with so many real issues, and the characters felt so much like real people to me, that I truly had trouble putting the book down. I ended up enjoying it far more than I could have expected. The novel isn’t really about the bread itself, but about the relationships and friendships that form because of the connections people make when they pass along the bread. I have to say that I was surprised by how much tough, real-life stuff Gee chose to examine in this book. The characters in this novel dealt with the death of a child, death of a spouse, infidelity, family conflicts, unplanned pregnancy, and more. The friendship bread served as a backdrop for the characters to examine their issues and heal from them.

I adored many of the characters in this book and really rooted for them. I would say that Julia is the character I most sympathized with, but her friend Hannah would be a close second. What was surprising to me was how Gee managed to create such fully realized, interesting characters while not devoting a ton of time to each one (as there were so many). I was very impressed by how involved I felt in each of their lives.

Friendship Bread really surpassed my expectations and I would definitely recommend it. While it is a sweet novel, it contains much more depth than you would think, and its characters had me at hello. I truly enjoyed this book and am so glad I picked it up.

A Place of Yes by Bethenny Frankel

A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life by Bethenny Frankel
Published by Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

Bethenny Frankel has been through countless struggles and hardships in both her personal life and her professional life, and from these challenges she has learned many important lessons. In this book, she illustrates the 10 rules she followed which led her to have a fabulous marriage, a beautiful daughter, great friends, and an amazing career, all at once. Along with each rule are funny and sometimes bittersweet stories of the trials and tribulations that she had to go through in order to fully understand and live out the principles outlined in the book. Accompanied by Frankel’s trademark sarcasm and wit, A Place of Yes is laugh-out-loud funny while also being a valuable resource.

I make no bones about the fact that I am a huge fan of Bethenny Frankel. I think she is absolutely hysterical and could probably read from the phone book and make me crack up laughing. As Frankel was filming her TV show, Bethenny Getting Married?, she was writing this book, so I’ve been anticipating reading A Place of Yes ever since watching that show. And I have to tell you, I was not disappointed with this book one bit.

There were two things I loved about this book the most: first, Frankel’s sarcastic style shines through in her writing and I was hanging on to every word, laughing and loving it, and second, I loved getting a glimpse into her past when she talked about her family, exes, business failures, etc. The 10 rules, for me, were really secondary to the act of learning more about this personality who I have come to respect and enjoy. However, the 10 rules actually were helpful, although I hesitate to cause a reader to think of this book as a self-help book. I think it’s more like a book about what has worked for Frankel in finding success and happiness in her life, and she turned it into a succinct 10 rules in order to share her stories with her fans and readers.

As far as the rules themselves, I do agree with many of them and would suggest that A Place of Yes is a helpful tool if you are in pursuit of letting go of whatever is holding you back and grabbing the reins of a happy and successful life. I personally am pretty happy with both my personal and professional life right now, but I did find some good tips on how to even enhance what I’m currently doing. For example, the rule “Everything’s Your Business” encourages readers to treat every interaction, conversation, and introduction as if it could help one’s goals at some point during the future. Don’t make a poor first impression because you don’t think the person you are meeting will be important to you – you never know! So always act professional, always put your best self out there as if you were running your own business and every single conversation can help you be more successful. Obviously Frankel explains it way better than I just did, but you get the point. I like this rule because I do tend to brush off conversations and interactions I have no interest in, and it made me think that maybe I should be more careful in these situations, I should treat every person like they could mean something to me down the road. This rule in particular really made me think.

Anyway, I loved A Place of Yes and would definitely recommend it. Especially if you are already a fan of Bethenny Frankel. And if you’re not, this book just might cause you to become one!