Category Archives: 4-star reads

May 9, 2013 · 4:00 am

Book review: ‘Paris In Love’ by Eloisa James

Paris In LoveI love daydreaming about Paris.

It’s one of my favorite pastimes, in fact. The people, the architecture, the desserts . . . all tantalizing. Intoxicating. Absorbing. If I had the funds and vacation time (both quite elusive these days), I’d be on a transcontinental flight faster than you can say macaron.

But alas. Until I can sip wine beneath the Eiffel Tower in person, I’ll have to settle for delightful stories like Eloisa James’ memoir Paris In Love.

After surviving cancer shortly after her mother recently died of the disease, Eloisa James convinces her husband, son and daughter to move abroad for a year to discover what the Parisian life is all about. With Anna and Luca settled in a new school and Alessandro learning the local ropes, Eloisa settles in to absorb the city and work on several books.

A popular and prolific romance novelist, Eloisa makes no bones about her French journey: though she may wish she and her family came away from the experience with amazing “life lessons” or a greater appreciation for family or the passage of time, what their year abroad really taught her was to try and be in the moment. Life is just life. Told as a series of vignettes, Paris In Love is a compilation of her skillfully-crafted Facebook and Twitter updates from their time in the City of Light — occasionally expanded into short essays about subjects as diverse as Anna’s burgeoning friendships, French food, a nearby dance school and more.

It was a different reading experience — and a quick one. James’ thoughts are shared in paragraph-long snippets that, while chronological, don’t necessarily connect from one page to the next. The results felt like reading someone’s travel journal: little glimpses of day-to-day life for a stranger in a strange land, trying to blend with the locals while getting some work done. The most charming passages focused on Luca and Anna, Alessandro and Eloisa’s children, and I looked forward to hearing about their ex-pat adventures in school.

Francophiles and armchair travelers will find Paris In Love to be a fast, delightful read — and James’ fans will welcome an opportunity to know the author better through her memoir. If Paris lacks sparkle for you, you’ll likely find the descriptions hum-drum — but if you’re looking to escape to the other side of the Atlantic for a few hours, James’ invitation to come along is a fun one.


4 out of 5!

ISBN: 0812981901 ♥ Goodreads ♥ LibraryThing ♥ Amazon ♥ Author Website
Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for my honest review


14 Comments

Filed under 4-star reads, book reviews

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

May 2, 2013 · 4:00 am

Book review: ‘Nowhere But Home’ by Liza Palmer

Nowhere But HomeWhen Queenie Wake fled Texas for brighter lights, she never imagined she’d be back. Her fantasy life working as a chef in New York City wasn’t all she’d imagined, sure, but it was better than wandering North Star pitied as one of two daughters her pistol of a mother left behind. And running from Everett, her first love, seemed easier than ever dealing with the pain of his marrying someone else.

But life has changed. After an incident in a New York kitchen, Queenie finds herself unemployed and homeless in one fell swoop. Crawling back to Merry Carole, her older sister, is the only sensible option — at least until she gets on her feet. Soon she accepts a unique position: cooking death row inmates’ last meals at a nearby prison.

The job is hard. And weird. And she has fellow prisoners for sous chefs, but they diligently — and quietly — work on anything Queenie asks. Between the struggle to create the “perfect” last meal for these doomed souls, dealing with Everett’s reappearance in her life and trying to balance the judgment of her community with her own dreams, Queenie is in a bind. And there’s just one question on everyone’s minds: will she finally stay, or will she go?

Liza Palmer’s Nowhere But Home is an entertaining story I couldn’t put down, even when I eventually wanted to smack Queenie in the head for being such a numbskull. (I have that reaction pretty often.) As much about the roles and expectations of family as it is about accepting love, Palmer’s novel is layered and compelling.

As our star of North Star (sorry, that was cheesy), Queenie is the youngest child of a notorious town harlot who met an untimely end years before. Long shadowed by her mother’s seedy life and dramatic death, Queenie wants to avoid her legacy when possible — except in the kitchen. A famed cook just like her mama, Queenie still fields requests for the Number One: her mom’s signature dish. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for this elusive mother, a woman who named her daughter “Queen Elizabeth” so no one could turn their nose up at her. She obviously had issues, poor parenting among them, but had to have done something right to have such kindhearted girls.

Because make no mistake: Queenie is kindhearted. She doesn’t want you to think so, and she’d die before you told her such a thing, but this woman — a narrator who has tried so hard to escape the past, to harden her heart, to avoid pain and confrontation — is really just a broken shell. It takes coming home to North Star, her sister and her star quarterback nephew to begin to put the pieces together again.

“Friday Night Lights” and the Texas football atmosphere are mentioned on the back cover . . . and that scared me a bit. Far from a sports fanatic, the idea of an entire town flipping out over football is foreign to me. But I understand that, you know, Sports Are Great and all; I’m just a book nerd. But Palmer doesn’t go overboard. Queenie’s nephew, Cal, has finally brought honor to the Wake family name — and no one in North Star is psyched about it. But I thought the town dynamics were well-played and interesting, and I wanted to slug the busybodies trophy wives who couldn’t stand to see Merry Carole and Cal happy. What a bunch of jerks.

Overall, this novel is very . . . balanced. Equal parts family dynamics, romance, friendship and dealing with an unsettling past, none of the many plot threads overwhelmed the others. Just as I was getting a little irked with the back-and-forth between Everett and Queenie, we flip over to Queenie dealing with her tumultuous past. Or dealing with the rude parents of her nephew’s teammates. Or pondering her next move. It was easy to read, fast-paced but introspective, and that’s just not something I see too often.

You know, honestly? I’d originally slapped a 3-star rating on this one and called it a day. Though I liked the book, I didn’t think it really resonated with me. But I finished it more than a week before penning this review, and so many details — and emotions — came flooding back just now. It’s rare that a seemingly lighthearted story gives me so much to chew on . . . and that bumped this one up for me. You know, I really liked it. It was really good.

Fans of women’s fiction, small-town dynamics, Texas-set novels and stories that ponder what it means to let go will find much to mull over with Nowhere But Home. Queenie is a heroine as unique as her name, and I wouldn’t hesitate to add this one to your burgeoning to-be-read stack. It’s worth it.


4 out of 5!

ISBN: 0062007475 ♥ Goodreads ♥ LibraryThing ♥ Amazon ♥ Author Website
Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for my honest review


3 Comments

Filed under 4-star reads, book reviews

Tagged as , , , ,

April 9, 2013 · 4:00 am

Book review: ‘Have Mother, Will Travel’ by Claire and Mia Fontaine

Have Mother, Will TravelMia and Claire Fontaine, a mother-daughter duo who “found” each other again after years of physical and drug abuse threatened to separate them forever, have settled into a familiar — and unfamiliar — rhythm. Now a decade out from her troubled past, Mia is a 25-year-0ld woman learning the ropes of adulthood after growing up too fast.

With her daughter now relatively settled, Claire needs a new focus — and has recently uprooted her life to move cross-country with her husband. Now planted in a fixer-upper with “potential” in Florida, 51-year-old Claire still vacillates between wanting to help her daughter and trying to let her come into her own. It isn’t easy.

Feeling both physically and emotionally separated when Claire learns about the Global Scavenger Hunt, a real “Amazing Race”-style trip that takes travelers to four continents and ten countries in less than a month, she eagerly calls her daughter to gauge interest. They both feel disconnected after ending a whirlwind press tour for Come Back, a memoir they penned about Mia’s turbulent youth and sexual abuse, and want to start fresh. Claire sees this as an opportunity to get to know her daughter again — and differently this time.

Claire and Mia FontaineThey sign up. They embark. Starting in China and eventually winding their way through Malaysia, Nepal, Greece, France and more, the Fontaines explore different cultures, traditions, meals, gender roles — and the ever-changing dynamic between mothers and daughters.

Have Mother, Will Travel is a unique blend of memoir that both excites with its armchair travel opportunities and entices with its insights on the complicated, beautiful and challenging relationships between families. The women take turns narrating, each with a distinct voice and focus, we’re frequently treated to the “two sides to every story” lens as Mia and Claire discuss traveling, the past and their future.

What I loved most about the book — aside from, you know, the tantalizing descriptions of locales like Cairo and Athens — was how seamlessly the women shift from talking about their relationship to exploring the relationships all women share. As much an exploration of motherhood as a travel memoir, Have Mother, Will Travel offers so much food for thought regarding women’s roles in other nations, our perceptions as Americans (and what it means to be American) and the underlying responsibility humans have to one another.

Of the two voices, Claire — an erstwhile screenwriter — was the more literary. She offers gems like this:

“It’s not often mothers and daughters relate in silence. We speak our whole lives long in conversations reckless, tender, thoughtless, bold, honest, funny, hypersensitive, unconscious, cutting, healing. Our daughters hear us in utero long before they see us and we hear our mothers’ voices long after they’re gone. ‘I have conversations with my mom all the time,” my friend Leah recently told me. “She’s been dead twenty years and I still have things to say to her.’” (p. 117, hardcover edition)

I looked forward to their insights as American women abroad as much as their discussions of their personal relationship, though both were fascinating. While reading Come Back isn’t necessary to get the full breadth of Have Mother, Will Travel, I could see where really getting the pair’s back story would help to appreciate just how far they’ve come — and how far they have to go. Still, an introduction in this book helps set the stage for the ladies’ around-the-world adventure; I thought it was very well done. I felt dropped into the story without getting smacked over the head with too much telling, not enough showing.

And the story itself? It was interesting. Uplifting, different. Well-paced and well-researched, the Fontaines obviously spent a great deal of time reliving their experiences and expanding on them with local history. I loved the blend of fact and emotion — the swirl of Claire and Mia’s personal dynamics amidst the warm stone of Cairo’s ancient pyramids and the fragrant fields of Avignon. Claire often details their interactions with natives, too, and I loved the little stories of the people they met in remote locales.

If you love armchair travel and discussions of the tender but steadfast love fused by motherhood? Well, the Fontaines are ready to let you in. Have Mother, Will Travel was an engrossing read that delved deeper than I expected from the (pretty!) cover, and it’s one I would easily recommend to memoir lovers looking for some international flavor.


4 out of 5!

ISBN: 0061688428 • Goodreads • LibraryThing • Amazon • Authors’ Website
Review copy provided by TLC Book Tours in exchange for my honest review

9 Comments

Filed under 4-star reads, book reviews

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

April 8, 2013 · 4:00 am

Book review: ‘Bloom’ by Kelle Hampton

Bloom by Kelle HamptonAs Kelle Hampton and her husband prepare to welcome their second little girl, they have no idea that lovely Nella, new little sister to their beloved Lainey, will present more new challenges — and opportunities — than they could ever have imagined.

Born with Down syndrome, Nella’s condition was a complete shock to the Hamptons . . . especially Kelle, who was suddenly forced to reconcile the dreams she had for the “sister” relationship her daughters would share and left to grapple with how a special-needs child would impact her family. In her honest, raw accounts of the early days of Nella’s life and where her family is now, Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected is a captivating, soul-soaring story of a mama whose love for her children knows no bounds.

Hampton is a blogger, writer, photographer — all talents immediately evident at her blog, Enjoying the Small Things. Nella’s story begins as a post in January 2010, and the Hamptons’ lives are forever altered by her arrival. What becomes immediately obvious in Kelle’s retelling is this mother’s pure, raw and unfiltered ability to draw you into her family’s story . . . and hold nothing back.

I’m going to be honest with you, just as Kelle is honest with us: her reaction to Nella’s Down syndrome was tough to read. She painfully describes the days and nights following her daughter’s birth, in which she writhed and sobbed and questioned her faith. I felt physically uncomfortable hearing Kelle’s reaction, but the story is obviously a retrospective. We understand that Kelle doesn’t feel this way now and, in fact, she frequently mentions her own embarrassment about her behavior. We know how much she adores Nella now — but she doesn’t prune the past. She chooses not to remove the ugly bits, even knowing how ugly they really are.

And that is the power of Bloom: Kelle invites us in, knowing we could judge her. Frown at her. Gossip about her. She invites us in because this story — her story — is an important one to tell, and she wants us to understand that Nella truly is a blessing. Their blessing. And if she couldn’t yet understand it that January night, she gets it now.

I read this story in two days, picking it up immediately after a copy arrived in the mail. I read it during my lunch break, hunched over a dry sandwich; I read it while waiting for my fiance to come home and ask about dinner; I read it while making dinner, which proved to be tricky; and I read it until 1 a.m. the following evening, wrapping up the Hamptons’ saga with half-shut, drowsy eyes. And then I found Kelle’s website because I needed updates.

Bloom is real, honest, gut-wrenching. It’s thought-provoking — what would I do in this situation? — and it’s painful. It’s also beautiful and realistic and something I couldn’t stop reading, because I have so much respect and admiration for Kelle — and so much jealousy regarding her giant, awesome net of friends (and how they get her through). The women in her life are amazing, and she makes no bones about the importance of their faith, inspiration and guidance in the weeks, months and years after Nella’s birth.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how truly gorgeous this paperback is. As Kelle is a talented photographer, the pictures in Bloom are her own — and each big moment is illustrated with a stunning shot or two. The book is the perfect blend of photographs and narrative, but make no mistake: the words themselves? Super important. This ain’t some picture book with a few captions pasted in, friends; Kelle is a fantastic, engaging writer, and I closed the final page with so much love for her family. The photos tell their own stories, and the book wouldn’t be as powerful without them.

If you appreciate memoirs, stories of family, books that detail adversity and rising above . . . well, I’ve got a book for you. Readers don’t need children of their own to appreciate Bloom and its universal truths about love, life and relationships, though I imagine the story will resonate even more powerfully for parents. This was the type of book I finished and wished I’d read a little more slowly. It’s the sort of tale I will return to again for courage and inspiration — and bless little Nella, who is too precious for words.


4.5 out of 5!

ISBN: 0062045040 • Goodreads • LibraryThing • Amazon • Author Website
Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for my honest review


10 Comments

Filed under 4-star reads, book reviews

Tagged as , , , , ,

April 1, 2013 · 4:00 am

Book review: ‘The Lost Husband’ by Katherine Center

The Lost HusbandLibby Moran is looking for a way out. Widowed with two young children, her only option in the wake of Danny’s death was to move in with her difficult mother. Still adrift three years later, a letter from a long-lost aunt arrives at just the right moment — and prompts her to reevaluate her family’s future. With Aunt Jean offering a place to stay in exchange for help on a working farm in Atwater, Texas, Libby makes an executive decision: she and the kids will feel more comfortable with goats than her mother.

Quitting her soul-sucking day job and piling Abby and Tank in the van, Libby sets out for Jean’s abode — and is fascinated by what she finds. At first exhausted by the early cycles of milking the goats, making cheese and taking their goods to local farmers’ markets, Libby settles into a rhythm with the help of O’Connor, a farm manager with his own complicated past. Rumor is he’s handsome, but you can barely tell with all the scruff.

With the support of an unlikely crew of family and new friends, Libby and the kids begin to discover that — even after tragedy — something can be gained from what was lost.

So. Katherine Center is awesome. I’ve read every one of her books, and they suck me in like nobody’s gull-darn business. The Lost Husband was no different, ending my somewhat hum-drum streak of starting and promptly abandoning books, and I was all up in this novel from start to finish.

Despite the heavy subject matter of Center’s latest (out May 7), this is not a serious story. It has serious elements, absolutely, and I may have teared up a few times, but like every story penned by this author? Well, at its core is a capable, loving heroine who doesn’t take herself too seriously . . . and the humor is what carries us through. The playful dynamic between Libby and O’Connor kept us from ever wading into misery, and the kids! Oh, the kids. Second-grader Abby stole every scene, and her little brother Tank also provided much-needed levity.

At its heart, The Lost Husband is about family — and carrying on in the face of tragedy. Three years after her husband’s sudden death, Libby is trying her best to keep her crew happy, healthy and together . . . and if that results in some helicopter parenting, I completely understood. When Abby is being bullied for a slight limp that lingers from a car accident, I wanted to swoop in there and read nasty PeePants Gavinski the riot act myself. Center’s great talent is creating families that feel like your family — and we’re with them every step of the way.

The plot’s quick pace had me glued to my e-reader, sneaking passages whenever possible, and I loved the introduction of Sunshine, a formerly-famous actress hiding out with her grandfather in Atwater. After Libby nearly runs her over on her first day in town, the two become unlikely friends — especially given Sunshine’s ability to “talk” to those on the other side. Informing Libby she can “find” Danny, the titular lost husband, the duo begin a series of “seances” that actually give them a chance to talk, unwind and vent.

More than anything, what Libby needs is a friend.

I was just . . . so pleased with this book. From its rural Texas setting to its vibrant, interesting characters to its descriptions of tough but bucolic country life, Center has created a winner of a tale in her latest work. The budding love story was well-balanced with depictions of family life (and all its complications), and I inhaled this book in just a few days. Fans of Center’s have another gem for their collection — and I expect The Lost Husband to win over new readers, too.


4 out of 5!

ISBN: 0345507940 • Goodreads • LibraryThing • Amazon • Author Website
Digital review copy provided by publisher in exchange for my honest review


9 Comments

Filed under 4-star reads, book reviews

Tagged as , , , , ,

March 12, 2013 · 4:00 am

Book review: ‘Going Vintage’ by Lindsey Leavitt

Going VintageAfter she discovers her boyfriend cheating on her with a virtual girlfriend, 16-year-old Mallory decides she’s over technology. Her grandma got along just fine without FriendSpace and smartphones and digital gossip back in the ’60s, and Mallory decides “going vintage” is the way to sidestep her problems. Armed with a list created by Grandma fifty years earlier on how to make the most of her school year, Mallory recruits her sister in a scheme to shun modern technology until the current storm passes.

And pass it does — though not in the way Mallory expects. Jeremy doesn’t take the break-up well, even given his own indiscretions, and goes on a mission to win her back — though a handsome newcomer seems intent on showing Mallory what she’s been missing. Family rivalry, vintage throwbacks, sisterly love . . . all in a day’s work.

Lindsey Leavitt’s Going Vintage is a cute, offbeat young adult novel that will find a home with hip teens. Since anything old-school is trendy right now, I definitely appreciated that the story felt quite of-the-moment. You know how sometimes you read teen novels and think, “No one would ever talk like this, dress like that, react that way . . .” ? And it totally ruins it for you because, you know, you might not be a teen yourself, but you’re not that old and clueless? Doesn’t happen here.

Mallory herself is a pretty empowered gal. Not to go all “she’s a good role model!” on you, but honestly: she’s a good role model. Not content to wrap herself up with a dude, our girl makes her own decisions — and has no problem bucking trends. When a cute but slimy boyfriend does her wrong, she ditches him. When everyone else is glued to texting, she favors a more “old-fashioned” communication: actually talking on the phone. On a landline. To Oliver, who is absolutely adorable.

I fell a little in love with Oliver . . . and not just because it’s my favorite boy’s name. He’s Jeremy’s polar opposite, and his banter with Mallory couldn’t be matched. I loved his enthusiasm and Eagle Scout qualities — though he had a bit of a sassy streak, too. Basically, I loved that every character in Going Vintage left doormat status and developed a personality of their own.

And though the story has an overarching theme — don’t let technology rule your life – it has a surprising moral, too: don’t wax poetic about the past. Mallory’s grandmother, the inspiration for “going vintage” in the first place, does her part to keep her granddaughter rooted in the present. I loved Ginnie, Mallory’s kid sister, and her frankness. I also liked that the Bradshaws had offbeat jobs: Mal’s dad is an “antiques dealer,” which means he frequently prowls abandoned storage units looking for deals (think “Storage Wars”), while Mal’s mom has a surprising but modern hobby that generates the family cash (it’s a secret!). Another way in which this “vintage” story felt very current.

Fans of young adult fiction looking for a light, quick read will find much to enjoy in Going Vintage. Though it took me about 50 pages to get truly invested in the story, I couldn’t stop reading once I’d been hooked. I liked that the high school characters didn’t act too old or too young, and I appreciated that Leavitt could right some serious witty banter. A fun, enjoyable story.


4 out of 5!

ISBN: 0345532740 • Goodreads • LibraryThing • Amazon • Author Website
Digital review copy provided by publisher in exchange for my honest review


12 Comments

Filed under 4-star reads, book reviews

Tagged as , , , , ,

February 28, 2013 · 4:00 am

Book review: ‘Someday, Someday, Maybe’ by Lauren Graham

Someday, Someday, MaybeAspiring actress Franny Banks is on a time crunch. With six months until her self-imposed deadline to land a real acting gig in New York City, Fran is struggling to make ends meet in a cutthroat world where everyone is an actor — and also a waiter. (Like Fran.)

Bunking with her best friend Jane and Dan, a writer aspiring to greatness himself, Franny is steadfastly avoiding her father’s guilt-trip phone calls and attending acting classes in the hope of becoming The Next Big Thing. With a few commercials under her belt, she hopes the royalty checks will sustain her until her big break arrives — if it ever arrives. Someday. Maybe.

If you’re anything like me, you noticed something about this review right away: the author, Lauren Graham? She was Lorelai. From “Gilmore Girls.” One of the most fantastic, formative television shows of my adolescence. Famous for her role on the popular TV show and now starring in “Parenthood,” Graham is a busy lady — and a very talented one.

Set in the mid-’90s, Someday, Someday, Maybe is everything that was great about “Gilmore Girls”: snappy writing; believable friendships; realistic, scathing dialogue. In a pre-texting, pre-Facebook, pre-Twitter world, Franny Banks is left to her own devices — and that device often includes an answering machine. Many chapters begin with a recap of Fran’s messages, recorded on honest-to-goodness machine tape, and they’re pivotal to the plot. She’s always waiting for someone to call her . . . about a job, about a date, about an agent. I loved the throwback references to older technology, remembering how exhilarating it was to come home and find that blinking red light on the machine.

Aside from the fun of reliving my childhood through old-school machinery, Graham’s characters wrapped me up in their world. Though I’ve never entertained the idea of moving to New York, I know what it means to have lofty dreams and felt the bittersweet tinge of every move Franny makes. With her wild hair, lack of style and sweet but bumbling personality, she’s the Everywoman. Half broken from the early death of her mother and left adrift, she’s the sort of character you want to help — but not pity. Franny isn’t some lazy, spoiled bum living off Daddy’s dime. Whatever meager royalties she earns from her commercials help supplement her paltry earnings from waiting tables, and I really felt the struggle — the serious, everyday, painful struggle — to come to terms with the idea that your dreams might just be out of reach.

Maybe.

But this book is no downer. On the contrary, I’d describe it as . . . humor? contemporary fiction? humorous nostalgic contemporary fiction? With Graham at the helm, Someday, Someday, Maybe felt like slipping back into Stars Hollow. Everyone is so funny and quick and quirky, and I got to thinking about how Lorelai Gilmore was kind of like a sophisticated, grown-up Zooey Deschanel before the latter was cool. (She was probably still in high school. I haven’t done the math.) Franny is the same way.

Taking a glance at Graham’s personal history, the author herself studied acting — even earning her M.F.A. in acting performance — before moving to New York City, where she starred in commercials before moving to Los Angeles in 1995. Hmm . . . timeline matches up. I’m not saying Graham is Franny, but there definitely was a sense of biographical material in some of the fun, kooky situations the author dishes up.

Bottom line? If you’re looking for a smart, fun story, Someday, Someday, Maybe is really enjoyable. In examining the typical dramatic arc, this book satisfies every component. I finished the story feeling happy and satisfied, content with how Franny ended up, and I was surprised by how much I truly cared for the characters. Thumbs-up.

Someday, Someday, Maybe will hit shelves in hardcover on April 30.


4 out of 5!

ISBN: 0345532740 • Goodreads • LibraryThing • Amazon • Author Twitter
Digital review copy provided by publisher in exchange for my honest review


23 Comments

Filed under 4-star reads, book reviews

Tagged as , , , ,