The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain

The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain
Published by Mira, an imprint of Harlequin
Review copy provided by the publisher

When Travis Brown was nineteen years old, he made a decision that would change his life: he chose to be a single father to his daughter, Bella, even though he knew it would be the most difficult thing he would ever do. Now Bella is four years old, Travis has just lost his mother, his home, and his job, and he is starting to realize that life can get a lot worse before it gets better. He and Bella are living in his van when he is offered a miracle of a job, so he travels to Raleigh to take advantage of the offer. Unfortunately, what he finds when he gets there is not an actual job, just an opportunity to participate in some criminal activity and make a bunch of cash after doing so. With Bella in mind, Travis knows he must do something to give her food and shelter, so he makes a choice that sends him on a desperate, spiraling path downwards.

I liked this book. I didn’t love it, but I read it in two sittings and I felt compelled to keep reading and to find out what would happen to Travis, Bella, and the other characters involved. Travis was an incredibly naive character, and for that reason I had a difficult time connecting with him. I didn’t understand how he could miss clues about the people he was involved with that were seemingly so obvious to the reader – such as the fact that this “job” was not actual employment and that the woman who got it for him was up to no good. But other than that, it was clear that he had only the best of intentions for his daughter and wanted desperately to do the right things so she would have a happy and secure life.

The thing about this novel is that it was incredibly predictable, and ended in the most obviously sappy way possible, but I still appreciated the fact that Chamberlain gave me the exact ending I had been hoping for the entire time I was reading it. This kind of novel isn’t for everyone, but if you’re in the mood for a sweet story that doesn’t make you work too hard, The Good Father would be a nice choice.

Sea Change by Karen White

Sea Change by Karen White
Published by NAL Trade, an imprint of Penguin
Review copy provided by the publicist

Thirty-five year old Ava Whalen has always felt a sense of distance from her own family, a feeling of not quite belonging. So when she meets and quickly marries Matthew Frazier, she’s hopeful that her days of loneliness are in the past. What Ava fails to understand is that since she became involved with Matthew so fast, there’s a lot she doesn’t know about him – including specifics surrounding his first wife’s death. Feeling lost and just as alone as always, Ava sets out to investigate Matthew’s past and what she finds is that she, too, has a connection to this island she now lives on with him. The things she learns about Matthew’s history and her own will shock her and change her life.

I have nothing but love for Karen White’s novels. They never fail to interest me and leave me wanting more, and Sea Change was a welcome addition to that pattern.  As I expected, I loved her heroine in this novel, Ava, and felt deeply that I wanted her to get the answers she needed. I wanted her to find peace in her life and true happiness with her new husband, and as I read the book I was anxiously awaiting these things for her.

There was a secondary storyline weaved into the plot, that of Pamela, a woman who lived on St. Simons island over a hundred years ago, and while I was interested to find out how Pamela and Ava were connected, I have to admit that I was less invested in Pamela’s story than Ava’s. I still cared about Pamela, don’t get me wrong, but Ava was just more interesting to me as a character for whatever reason. I was happy to find how these two women’s lives were linked, though, when that finally came together towards the end.

I honestly don’t have a ton to say about Sea Change just because I liked it so much. If you are new to Karen White, I can’t understand what you’re waiting for. I have truly enjoyed each one of her novels that I’ve read, and this is just another to add to that list. Her novels are atmospheric, beautifully written, there’s usually a touch of a mystery, and they always feature a heroine that the reader can’t help but love. Recommended.

Happy Accidents by Jane Lynch

Happy Accidents by Jane Lynch
Published by Voice, an imprint of Hyperion

As a child growing up in a south suburb of Chicago, Jane Lynch dreamed of being an actress. Although her early attempts at breaking into Hollywood were not successful (such as writing letters to every casting director she could think of), through a series of happy accidents, her dreams came true. And now that she is a successful actress, married to the perfect woman for her, and about a million times more confident in herself than she ever has been in her life, Lynch decided to tell the reader the story of how she got to where she is today.

I am a huge fan of Glee, in which Jane Lynch stars as Sue Sylvester, the laughably manipulative and cunning cheerleading coach who is out to get the kids of the Glee Club and especially their teacher, Mr. Schuster. In fact, Sue Sylvester is possibly my favorite character on the show – her scenes always make me crack up but what I love even more is Lynch’s ability to turn Sylvester into an actual human being despite her completely over-the-top personality. It was for this reason that I chose to read this book, and I’m so glad I did. I loved learning more about the incredibly talented actress (and it turns out, interesting person) that is Jane Lynch.

I would probably say that Happy Accidents is best suited for those readers who are already fans of Jane Lynch, and as I am firmly in that category, I absolutely loved this book. I loved getting to know the real Jane Lynch, the person behind the character I’ve come to love so much on a TV show, and she has a life story that is actually quite fascinating. My heart broke for her when she talked about how difficult it was for her to come out to her family (and first, to admit that she is gay to herself) but the fact that she eventually found real love made me want to cheer out loud for her.

I chose to listen to the audiobook of Happy Accidents, and that was an excellent choice because Lynch narrates herself. I love when celebrities narrate their own audiobooks and this was no exception. Lynch was the perfect choice to tell her own story, as I felt like I was listening to her talk to me personally the entire time. It was a delightful experience.

If you at all a fan of Jane Lynch and interested in learning more about her, you must read Happy Accidents. And I would highly encourage you to experience the audio version. Her narration is perfect. Loved this one!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Published by Crown, an imprint of Random House

On the morning of Nick and Amy Dunne’s five-year wedding anniversary, Amy disappears. Although he is a golden child in their small Missouri town, Nick soon becomes the prime suspect in Amy’s disappearance. In alternating chapters, the reader hears from Nick in the present day and Amy in the format of her diary as the story of their marriage slowly comes together and the question of what happened to her looms on.

Everything you have heard about Gone Girl is true. This novel is an absolute mindf*ck. It will keep you on your toes. You will not be able to put the thing down. Your jaw will drop in shock. It’s that good.

I honestly don’t want to say anything else about it! I read a lot of reviews for Gone Girl before reading the book, and while nothing was spoiled for me, I had certain expectations going in. This is the kind of book where you should have no expectations – just sit back and let Flynn take you on this crazy adventure of a read.

If you are looking for a crazy good, exciting, fascinating, appalling novel, look no further than Gone Girl. It is as excellent as everyone has been saying and I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t enjoy it. Highly recommended!

The Secret Lives of Wives by Iris Krasnow

The Secret Lives of Wives: Women Share What It Really Takes to Stay Married by Iris Krasnow
Published by Gotham, an imprint of Penguin
Review copy provided by the publisher

Journalist Iris Krasnow interviewed more than 200 married women for this inside look at what really keeps marriages together. The women in this book are incredibly diverse, but they each have one thing in common: they’ve stayed married to the same man for at least 15 years, most of them much longer. Along with their stories, Krasnow adds some insight of her own that she’s learned over the course of her own marriage.

I’m not sure what exactly I was thinking requesting this one from LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer’s program several months back – maybe I thought it was a novel – but this book is definitely not something I would normally have picked up on my own. Either way, I eventually did read it and while I can see some value in the book and did enjoy parts of it, overall I’d have to say it wasn’t one of my favorite nonfiction books.

I probably shouldn’t have even read the book, honestly, because while I am married and plan to stick with my husband through the long haul, I feel like the book’s very premise excludes a lot of people. The book only applies to heterosexual couples, first of all, as there is no mention of a same-sex couple anywhere within the book. It excludes heterosexual couples who, for whatever reason, don’t want to get married. In fact, there’s even a couple in here who lived together for 15+ years before deciding to get married, as a testament to the fact that marriage is “better” than not being married because when they finally signed that piece of paper their relationship improved. The book alienates people who have gotten divorced, for any reason, but especially those who have ended marriages because of abuse and other similar valid reasons for getting a divorce.

I don’t want to be too negative, though, because I get it – I agree with Krasnow that couples these days can be too quick to throw in the towel, not determined enough to work on a relationship instead of giving up on it, and people a lot of times don’t truly believe that marriage is a forever commitment. I like that she found so many different women whose experiences run the gamut of what is possible to work through and grow from in a marriage. In fact, that’s what I really did enjoy about The Secret Lives of Wives – the testimonials were extremely interesting. I found it fascinating what some people do in marriages, what some people endure, what some people are willing to live with and what some people do when they come face-to-face with an actual deal breaker. Without these testimonials, there’s no way I would have finished this one.

I don’t know. While I enjoyed this book to a degree, overall I felt that it was pretty judgmental toward anyone who gets a divorce or chooses not to get married at all. And the fact that it completely excludes everyone from the GBLT population truly bothered me. I can’t really recommend this book, but if you are interested in getting a peek inside other people’s marriages, maybe give it a try.

The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe

The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe
Published by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster
Review copy provided by the publisher in conjunction with TLC Book Tours

Grace Miller has recently moved with her husband to the small island of Macau, due to her husband’s job. They have recently learned of Grace’s infertility, and she must now deal with the fact that all the dreams she had for her life and family have been shattered, possibly taking her marriage with them. She decides to open a little cafe specializing in macarons (a light French pastry that Grace associates with good memories of her mother), and the cafe brings new light and purpose to her life, as well as new friends. But Grace’s marriage has serious cracks in its foundation, and when it reaches a breaking point, she must confront the secrets of her past to move through this difficult time in her life.

I began reading The Color of Tea when I was on vacation at the beach, and I have to say that was such a good choice because this is a fantastic summer read. It’s a sweet story that deals with some heavier themes, but is easy to get into and held my attention throughout. It has so many elements of a great summer read and I really enjoyed the novel.

What drew me into this novel and kept me hanging on, more than anything else, were the characters. Grace of course was important, and I really liked her, but more significantly I loved many of the minor characters. Gigi, unexpectedly pregnant (to her mother’s dismay), a native of the island, was someone who Grace came to rely on and I felt for her the second she graced the page. Gigi had a tough exterior but there was a real softness underneath, a true person who was searching desperately for a soft place to land. And Rilla, the woman Grace hires to help her in the cafe, she became like a sister to Grace and I loved seeing their friendship grow over the course of the novel.

One thing I liked about The Color of Tea is that there are many deeper themes running through this novel, but they never make the novel feel heavy or dark in any way. Rather, they serve to balance out the softer side of the novel that is the cafe and everything fun and light that comes with that. Some of the themes include human trafficking/domestic slavery, infertility, poverty, mental illness, and infidelity. Had Tunnicliffe chose to explore any one of these themes in more detail she would have written a completely different book – instead, she explores these themes with a soft touch, in a way that brings these issues to light but doesn’t revolve the entire story around them.

If I had one quibble with The Color of Tea it would be the predictability of the plot. The book ended exactly how I expected it to, and while there’s a bit of satisfaction that comes from that, overall I like books to be slightly less predictable.

I truly enjoyed The Color of Tea and I think it makes a perfect summer read. The novel has all the elements I’ve come to expect from women’s fiction – great characters, a plot with some depth, and a story that kept me turning the pages. Recommended.

The First Husband by Laura Dave

The First Husband by Laura Dave
Published by Penguin

Annie is thirty-two years old and feels like she has it all. She loves her boyfriend of five years, Nick, a movie director, and has the perfect job with tons of travel, which is exactly what she wants. She has an amazing best friend and a she and Nick have a great apartment in Los Angeles. But one night, Nick comes home to tell Annie that he is done with their relationship, and wants to pursue another woman. Devastated, Annie goes into a local bar for a drink and meets Griffin, this amazingly down-to-earth chef who she quickly falls for. After a whirlwind romance, Annie and Griffin are married and living in rural Massachusetts. Unfortunately for Annie, her new life isn’t all roses and as she begins to question what exactly she signed up for, Nick reinserts himself into her life and she is forced to take a hard look at the choices she’s made.

I really enjoyed this book. I had been hearing great things about Laura Dave for so long now and now I can completely understand why – The First Husband is both smart and funny, entertaining with serious moments, and the characters are very well-developed and felt authentic to me.

I like that the premise of this book isn’t completely believable (most people don’t marry someone they’ve known for three months, especially immediately following a five-year relationship), yet Dave got me to believe it 100%. I was so invested in Annie that I didn’t even question any of the major plot points of the novel, because her choices made complete sense based on her personality throughout the book – that’s how real she felt to me. And I really felt for her – she was heartbroken over the loss of Nick, so I completely understood why she fell for Griffin, and later I completely understood why she began to question her choice to marry him.

The writing in this novel is smart, too. It’s chick lit bur much deeper than you normally think to expect from that type of novel. I flew through the bookl, but there were moments that would give me pause, would make me stop and think and really consider what Dave was saying with her writing or her characters’ actions. I loved that.

So, in conclusion – I really liked this one! I am happy to report that my first experience with Laura Dave’s work was a success and I’ll be reading more of her books soon!

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Published by Penguin

Ten-year-old Daniel is growing up in Barcelona in the 1950′s, living with just his father since his mother’s death several years earlier. His bookshop owner father takes him to an exciting and secret place where rare books are kept and stored called The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, and Daniel is allowed to pick out just one for himself. He chooses The Shadow of the Wind, a novel by relatively unknown author Julian Carax, and quickly becomes enthralled with the book, flying through it and begging for more of Carax’s writing. But he is unable to find more of Carax’s novels, and he hears of rumors of a disfigured man who is on a mission to burn every single copy of anything Carax had ever written. As Daniel grows up, he becomes more obsessed with Carax himself, getting involved with many people along the way – people who both help him learn about Julian Carax and teach Daniel about himself in the process.

When I finished reading The Shadow of the Wind, my first thought was, what took me so long to pick up this gorgeous novel? This is truly a novel for those of us who absolutely love and cherish books and the stories within them. Any of us booklovers will see ourselves in Daniel, the boy who connects so powerfully with this novel that he must find out everything he can about its creator. I loved so much about this novel that I’m not quite sure where to begin.

The story itself is quite compelling, in the sprawling, get to know characters over years, kind of way. I loved how well I felt that I got to know Daniel over the course of the book, the reader sees him grow from a little boy of ten years old to an adult by the end of the novel, an adult who falls in love with a woman and plans a future and everything. We see him dream children’s dreams and then by the end of the novel learn hard truths about the world and the people he has admired for most of his life. It’s an amazing transformation and I loved every second I spent getting to know Daniel over the course of the novel.

The story of Julian Carax is also an incredibly compelling one, one that made me want to weep with sadness and anger for all this man’s pain, as well as the characters that surrounded him. There were so many horribly sad details about his life and about those he loved – I can’t explain properly without spoiling everything, but my goodness did so much of this book break my heart!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how gorgeous Zafon’s writing is. His prose is delicious, the kind of writing that you want to slide into, with passages that you want to reread over and over to let them sink in, their deliciousness rolling around in your mind. It’s really something special, the way this man can put together a sentence, and then when so much of the writing revolves around the main character’s love of books, well it’s just incredible. I loved every second I spent reading Zafon’s gorgeous prose.

What can I say besides that I loved The Shadow of the Wind? I thought it was such a fantastic book, and I can’t believe it took me this long to finally pick up Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s work! I will be reading more from him soon, that I can say for sure.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James

Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James
Published by Vintage, an imprint of Random House

I wasn’t even going to talk about this book on the blog. I’m almost embarrassed about the fact that I broke down and read it. I decided to read it on vacation when I was having an impossible time concentrating on the book I planned to read (The Shadow of the Wind, which turned out to be excellent, and which I’ll be talking about next week). I’ve told just about everyone I know that I refuse to read this trilogy, but I finally decided I should at least try to read the thing before continuing to criticize everything about it.

So I read it. In about a day and a half. I have to admit, it’s a quick read. Maybe that’s the appeal? I don’t know, but what I do know is that looking back I feel like I wasted my time on a poorly-written, badly characterized, and entirely too repetitive book.

Now I really don’t care about the sex scenes. BDSM isn’t my thing, so I can’t say I was turned on by all the spanking and other, ahem, interesting things that Christian is into, but these things don’t bother me. What did bother me, however, was the truly awful writing. I highly doubt it is necessary to describe in excruciating detail every single thought that floats through Anastasia’s head, or every single time Christian tells her to stop biting her lip, or every single second of their relationship – what he did, how it made her feel, how she reacted, etc., etc., etc. Too much. Way, way too much.

And also, Christian’s BDSM preferences aside, the guy is a complete and total creep. Maybe there are some women out there who like to be controlled, who like to be told what to do and when to do it, who to see and especially who not to see, but I am definitely not one of those women. If I had a daughter and she wanted to be with a guy like this I would have to beg her to stay far, far away from him. And again, not at all because of the sex – whatever, if that’s what he likes okay fine, if he can find someone who’s willing to comply. It’s the creepiness, the almost-stalking, the demanding, all of that. Yuck.

So no, I didn’t like the book. Admittedly, I couldn’t put it down. Which is hilarious because I was making fun of it the entire time I was reading, telling my mom how ridiculous I thought it was and how much of an ass Christian was, and how if I read the words “oh, my” one more time I would throw the book into the pool, but there you have it – I flew through the book. Like I was saying, maybe its ease of access is part of the appeal? Or maybe it’s the fairy tale like fantasy of having a guy with unlimited money and the ability to “take care of” you? I don’t know. I don’t really get it, and I won’t be finishing the rest of the trilogy.

Did you read Fifty Shades? What did you think?

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
Published by Atria/Emily Bestler Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

From the publisher:

Luke Warren has spent his life researching wolves. He has written about them, studied their habits intensively, and even lived with them for extended periods of time. In many ways, Luke understands wolf dynamics better than those of his own family. His wife, Georgie, has left him, finally giving up on their lonely marriage. His son, Edward, twenty-four, fled six years ago, leaving behind a shattered relationship with his father. Edward understands that some things cannot be fixed, though memories of his domineering father still inflict pain. Then comes a frantic phone call: Luke has been gravely injured in a car accident with Edward’s younger sister, Cara.

Suddenly everything changes: Edward must return home to face the father he walked out on at age eighteen. He and Cara have to decide their father’s fate together. Though there’s no easy answer, questions abound: What secrets have Edward and his sister kept from each other? What hidden motives inform their need to let their father die . . . or to try to keep him alive? What would Luke himself want? How can any family member make such a decision in the face of guilt, pain, or both? And most importantly, to what extent have they all forgotten what a wolf never forgets: that each member of a pack needs the others, and that sometimes survival means sacrifice?

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you probably know that I can’t stay away from a Jodi Picoult novel. They are like candy to me … or potato chips … or glasses of wine … the kind of thing that you can’t have just one. You gotta keep going back. So of course I read her newest novel as soon as it was available from the library. And it was everything I expected – the multiple points of view, the courtroom scenes, the moral issue that the reader could pick either side of – and I liked it and flew through the thing.

There really isn’t anything too notable about Lone Wolf that sets it apart from Picoult’s other novels. As usual, I’m sure she had to do a lot of research (this time about wolves) to get important details right. But again, I enjoyed it. I found it to be fast-paced, I liked the characters, and while the wolf stuff was a little strange I did find it to add a little something extra to the book. Plus, at the time I was reading this one I needed something exactly like Lone Wolf – something that would entertain me while not requiring me to use much brainpower to experience it. So it worked on many levels.

If you are a Picoult fan I would recommend you give Lone Wolf a read. If you are new to Jodi Picoult I would say it’s not her strongest novel so maybe pick some of her earlier stuff to start with.