Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

“Grief was what you owed the dead for the necessary crime of living on without them.”

Kamila Shamsie's Home Fire is a slow building masterpiece that explores sibling love and sacrifice.

I loved everything about this book, the more I process it - the more I love it. It's beautifully written, evocative and painful. This type of novel takes a special talent - the craft alone here is meticulous. 

The story centers around three siblings - Isma is the oldest, who has spent the majority of her teenage years looking after her twin siblings, Aneeka and Parvaiz. The twins have reached the age of 18 and Isma now has the ability to move forward with her life - beginning with an opportunity to travel to America to further her education. Her story opens the novel, a chapter in which she's stopped by airport security and interrogated about her clothing, her life, and basically her motive for leaving England. 

You see, her father was a famous Jihadist. 

Aneeka and Parvaiz remain in London, each doing their own thing but remaining firmly intertwined in each other's lives. But then Isma and Aneeka find their world ripped out from beneath them when their brother disappears to follow in his father's footsteps and joins ISIS. 

This novel is political, that goes without saying. But examines humanity, social class, moral values, and familial ties. It's searing. 

I loved this though, if you're the type of reader that needs a hook right off the bat or quickly loses interest - this probably isn't for you. But if you're the kind of reader who appreciates a novel written with a quiet precision that builds to an outstanding ending - you will probably enjoy this novel like I did.

Long-listed for the Man Booker, Home Fire offers a modern spin on the Sophocles tragedy, Antigone. The parallels are easy to spot if you're familiar with the source material and if you aren't, I would check that out before picking this up to appreciate the full extent of Shamsie's work here.

Overall very well done and very thought provoking - though I wouldn't recommend to the casual reader, and reserve this for readers who enjoy work by authors who I feel have a similar quiet literary prowess and slow build in their work ie: Lauren Groff ( Fates & Furies ) or Mohsin Hamid's Exit West .

Buy It

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository

New Release Tuesday: Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan #SRC2017

Hello, fellow Book Friends and Happy New Release Tuesday!

Today you're finally able to get your paws on Kevin Kwan's newest novel in his Crazy Rich Asians series - Rich People Problems! I was sent an early copy of the book as part of BookSparks  summer reading challenge and read it last week before the release date. Let me tell you, it's just as funny as the other two books!

A few years ago I read Crazy Rich Asians - and found it to be a perfect weekend read. I found it to be hilarious, well paced and just plan crazy! Reading about feuding families, old money v. new money, tech start ups and billion dollar shopping sprees made for a very entertaining novel.

Kwan's second novel in the series, China Rich Girlfriend also made it to my reading list and like the first book, I found it similarly paced and just as funny as the first. Obviously I had the same expectations going into Rich People Problems - the latest in the series.

I read this book during my lunch breaks at work and found it hysterical! I was actually laughing out loud in spots, garnering some interesting looks from my co-workers in our lunchroom. This book is very similar to the other two - same crazy families, same crazy rich people problems! These characters are absolutely fascinating to me! I love the witty dialogue, the meddling mothers, scheming social climbers and just the whole Singaporean vibe of this book! If you enjoyed the other two, I believe you'll enjoy this one as well. If you haven't read this series, go check it out - it's perfect poolside reading fare!

Believe me, the drama never stops and it's one wild private jet ride at a time with these books!
If you're looking for something light and fun for the weekend or to carry you through the work week, check this one out!

Buy It:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository

ABOUT THE BOOKSPARKS SUMMER CHALLENGE 2017 #SRC2017

If you're on the look out for some new reading material - you can participate in the BookSparks summer reading challenge! All summer long we will be reading books from amazing authors like Kevin Kwan and sharing our #topsecretmission posts over on Instagram! Check out the lineup over here and read along all summer long! The challenge runs from May through August, you can read on your electronic devices - the team has joined forces with iBooks - or head down to your local library or local bookseller to purchase the books!

If you're reading along, I would love to know what you're thinking of these books so far!

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

Some books we read for entertainment, others we read for enlightenment. Some books are fast paced, entertaining chapter churning fun. Others are relevant, important and thought provoking.

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid is enlightening, relevant, and thought provoking. This book will not be for everyone – those who read solely for entertainment value will not enjoy this novel as much as readers who quietly contemplate the larger meaning of the text before them. Exit West examines the plight of the displaced and it is heart breaking and hopeful but most importantly, incredibly relevant.

It is the type of book everyone should read – but probably won’t.

 Set in an unnamed city at the edge of Civil War, Saeed and Nadia first meet in an evening class on Corporate Identity and Branding. They meet, he asks her to coffee, thus beginning a relationship both similar and dissimilar to any other budding courtship. They listen to music, send text messages, dream about traveling, explore each other and discuss the future. Yet their relationship is different from many, as their city falls into war and eventually they choose to leave – a part of a mass migration of people; displaced by man’s hunger for power and control.

The doors they pass through lead them to Greece, England and eventually the United States. They face opposition, loss, fear and hope as they journey from their homeland to one new land after another in hope of finding a place in the world where they may have safety and opportunity to begin afresh. The reader sees their relationship as it begins and as it shifts with time and experience. Their experience and growth beautifully captured with passages such as this:

”Every time a couple moves they begin, if their attention is still drawn to one another, to see each other differently, for personalities are not a single immutable color, like white or blue, but rather illuminated screens, and the shades we reflect depend much on what is around us.”

This is not a plot novel; its importance is not in the actual movement of the characters or development of their relationship, but rather the general themes and questions their movement evokes. It displays a unique literary structure – an omniscient narrator who keeps the reader at arm’s length and magical realism that straddles the line between fantasy and science fiction. Exit West does so much more than offer glimpses into the relationship between two people in a refugee camp who flee the war torn remnants of their homeland. It begs the reader to examine his or her own attitudes about immigration, colonialism, war, and human migration and the lens with which we view such people and institutions. My favorite chapter is about a woman, who having lived in the same house all her life, observes the coming and going of new people and despite her own stationary physical location realizes, “We are all migrants through time.”

This novel is a dazzling depiction of a modern dystopia that is alarmingly similar to a world we currently live in. It is a beautiful, yet ugly, frightening, yet hopeful, assessment of a world that could be not far into our future.

Buy it

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Book Review: Two By Two, Nicholas Sparks

Happy Friday!

I hope you've had a wonderful week and are ready for a great weekend!

We're heading into Christmas Break here and I'm so excited for a chance to catch up on some holiday reading. I think I have a fun line up for next week's posts, so stay tuned!

Today I'm reviewing the latest Nicholas Sparks novel, Two by Two. It was released earlier this fall, so maybe you've already read it!

I've been a fan of Nicholas Sparks' work since The Notebook. I mean, really, who doesn't secretly love a great love story?! I will admit, I'm a hopeless romantic at heart and I love the way he can write about people falling in love.

Two By Two is very different from his previous novels. In fact, Sparks' newest novel is the complete opposite of his past work. Unlike his previous novels that center around two people finding each other and starting a relationship, this book is about a relationship that is falling apart.

Russell Green has everything - a great job, beautiful home, stunning wife and adorable daughter. Until suddenly, his world falls apart and he's scrambling to figure out what exactly went wrong.
The core of this novel is watching Russ figure out how he's going to handle loss and adapt to a new life - one that he never planned on.

There were elements that I liked in this book, and then there were a lot of things that I didn't like. The biggest problem was that unlike his earlier work, this novel didn't hook me (ever). I'm usually okay if it takes a few chapters to get into a book, but this never really interested me.

In fact, this is one book that I read 3/4 of and skipped to the end to read the last page because I felt it was predictable enough that I wouldn't be missing too much if I read the ending without reading the entire novel.

I just couldn't get into it and I never felt that I could relate to the characters.

The writing is the same as it usually is, Nicholas Sparks is a good writer, but I felt that this novel was lacking that little extra that hooks the reader in.
Character development was decent, but still didn't have the same effect on me as some of Nicholas Sparks' more memorable characters. Overall, I think that this book is fairly unremarkable and not memorable which was disappointing from such a well known author.

Kudos to Nicholas Sparks for trying something different though!

Have you read this? What did you think?

Buy it on Amazon
Buy it at Barnes & Noble
Listen on Audible

Or check out your local library!

Book Review: Euphoria, Lily King

Title Euphoria, Lily King

Print Length: 273 pages

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press

Publication Date: June 3, 2014

Rating: 5/5 Stars

S Y N O P S I S

Part Romeo and Juliet, part anthropological essay, Lily King's Euphoria tells the story of three anthropologists studying native tribes in New Guinea during the 1930s. Nell Stone, a controversial and famous anthropologist, and her husband Fen are fleeing a cannibalistic tribe when they run into Andrew Bankston, a British anthropologist studying river tribes on his own. Lonely and suicidal, Bankston clings to the intelligent Nell and charismatic Fen, helping them to find a new tribe for their research. Nell and Fen are introduced to the Tam - a female driven, artistic river tribe. Here Nell studies the customs and values of the Tam while Fen, desperate to emerge from beneath the shadow of his famous wife, is focused more on antiquities than anthropological research. Tensions rise between the three anthropologists as Bankston and Nell draw closer to each other and Fen plots to commit an unforgivable crime with deadly consequences. Taut, sensual and beautifully written, this critically acclaimed novel is worthy of all the praise it received.

M Y  T A K E

Lily King's novel, Euphoria, is sensual, riveting and brilliant. It was named book of the year by the New York Times, Vogue, Time and many other publications. This book truly is a stand out - but please allow me to warn you, it's not for everyone. What made this novel work for me was the beautiful language and descriptions of the native people by Nell and Bankston. Together they make the story beautiful, emotional and sensuous. Because this book is so beautifully and hypnotically written I rated it five stars - it is wonderful. Some readers may find this book slow to start, I believe that this is good. It allows for a gradual build up to the climax of the story and gives the reader a better sense of the characters. Fen is brooding and jealous, Bankston hopelessly romantic and Nell pragmatic and methodical. Euphoria is a masterfully crafted story about love, jealousy, science and the beauty that comes with understanding someone other than oneself. I found it to be uncomfortable - an emotion that I feel great literature should evoke from its reader - beautifully written and tragic. This novel isn't for the faint of heart - it is not a beach read or airplane book but it is a wonderful example of modern literature.

Buy it on Amazon
Buy it at Barnes & Noble

A B O U T  T H E  A U T H O R

Lily King grew up in Massachusetts and received her B.A. in English Literature from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her M.A. in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. She has taught English and Creative Writing at several universities and high schools in this country and abroad.

Lily’s first novel, The Pleasing Hour (1999) won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award and was a New York Times Notable Book and an alternate for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her second, The English Teacher, was a Publishers Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year, a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year, and the winner of the Maine Fiction Award. Her third novel, Father of the Rain (2010), was a New York Times Editors Choice, a Publishers Weekly Best Novel of the Year and winner of both the New England Book Award for Fiction and the Maine Fiction Award. Lily's new novel, Euphoria, was released in June 2014. It has drawn significant acclaim so far, being named an Amazon Book of the Month, on the Indie Next List, and hitting numerous summer reading lists from The Boston Globe to O Magazine and USA Today. Reviewed on the cover of The New York Times, Emily Eakin called Euphoria, “a taut, witty, fiercely intelligent tale of competing egos and desires in a landscape of exotic menace.”

Lily is the recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship and a Whiting Writer's Award. Her short fiction has appeared in literary magazines including Ploughshares and Glimmer Train, as well as in several anthologies.

Book Club: Modern Lovers by Emma Straub

Welcome to the first ever Book Gawker Book Club Meeting!

I am thrilled that you've joined me in reading this month's book club pick, Modern Lovers by Emma Straub and I'm dying to know what you thought!

M Y   T A K E

I absolutely loved this novel. I'm not saying this because I chose the book for my first book club post and I didn't want it to be a dud. I hope you all enjoyed it as well - and I typically don't talk up books just for the sake of a good recommendation. I can honestly tell you - I LOVED this novel. Emma Straub is magical. Her storytelling and character development is bar none and this is one of my favorite books this year.

W H A T  I  L O V E D

I felt that this story with its zany characters and quirkiness was witty and entertaining. I loved the juxtaposition of the young lovers' story with that of the older lovers in the story. The older couples each navigating their way through marital challenges and their children falling into what can only be described as a teenage whirlwind romance that is (let's face it) doomed from the start. Each character had his or her own unique struggle - and I thought that Emma Straub pulled their differences and uniqueness together beautifully in the end.
This book really was about friendship, self discovery, and love at all stages of life - whether it be during teenage or middle age years.

Emma Straub is incredibly witty. Her characters are razor sharp, smart and sassy - I loved that about this book. The only person I just wanted to give a good lecture to was Andrew (obviously) - but then it was apparent he was in definite need of some directional guidance so I'm going to throw him a bone there. One thing that I loved about this book was that it is incredibly smart but not overwritten. The prose was easy to read and enjoyable. I wasn't getting hung up on superfluous language or passages that were over my head. I found it to be to the point and funny.

W H A T  D I D N 'T  W O R K

Iggy Pop's return seemed downplayed a little to me. I mean, Elizabeth spent all that time making and hanging posters around the neighborhood, and I felt that his return was overshadowed by Ruby's cover up for Dust. I just would have liked a little more of a party for Iggy's return. What can I say, I'm an animal person.

Andrew - I'm not trying to make him out to be a bum, but he kind of was a bum! His character worked for the story and he came around in the end, but I would have liked to have seen a little more depth to him. I think behind the lost little boy looking for acceptance/distraction there were some other issues that made him more complex than he initially appeared throughout the book.

D I S C U S S I O N

Feel free to discuss in the comments, on Instagram or over at the Book Gawker's Facebook page! You're also more than welcome to link to your own post about Modern Lovers in the comments! I'm excited to know what everyone thought of this novel!
Also, I'm taking requests for July's Book Club pick - let me know what you would like to read!

July's book will be announced on June 30 - so be sure to check back!!

What did you think of Modern Lovers? Did you enjoy this novel?

• Loved it!

What worked for you, what didn't?

• Writing style, character development, storyline were all wonderful!
• I just wish that there had been some additional details added.

Who were your favorite characters?

• Mine was Ruby. I just loved her waywardness. She pretends to be a badass but she's really just a confused girl trying to figure it all out. Her ending was one of my favorite moments in the book. Naomi was another favorite - I thought she was funny and terrible all at once.

Did the book end the way you thought it would?

• I was actually really happy with the ending of this book. I felt that everyone found what they had been looking for which made me happy. I was a little surprised though because I feel that I'm getting used to bittersweet endings, so I fully expected a tragedy in end.

What would you ask the author about Modern Lovers?

• What was your writing process for this book and how did it differ from your previous work? What did you want to do differently with this novel?

Would you recommend this book? Why? Why not?

• Absolutely! This has been one of my favorite books this year.

If you haven't finished the book - are you planning to?

Book Review: The Unexpected Everything, Morgan Matson

Title: The Unexpected Everything, Morgan Matson

Print Length: 528 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: May 3, 2016

Rating: 4/5 stars

S Y N O P S I S

Andie Walker’s life is exactly how she wants it.

She’s a top notch student with her sights set on Med School, she has the three best friends a girl could hope for and as far as relationships go – nothing serious or longer than three weeks is necessary.

Always the planner, she has her perfect summer vacation laid out – attending a highly competitive Summer Medical program that will look amazing on her college applications, finding a summer crush (nothing serious of course), avoiding her dad, and enjoying some downtime with her girlfriends. But when a political scandal involving her Congressman father costs Andie her summer internship she finds herself stuck at home for the summer. Worst of all she’s stuck sharing the house with her dad – whom she hasn’t spent a whole lot of time with over the past five years.

With her summer plans completely askew, Andie finds herself doing things she never thought she would - a job as a dog walker? Never would have dreamed of it. Actually enjoying spending time with her dad? Nope, didn’t see that one coming. Cute crush that could actually last longer than three weeks?! You’re kidding right?

As the summer progresses Andie begins to find that maybe life is less about the perfect plan and more about embracing the unexpected – but can she really stop trying to control everything?

M Y  T A K E

Morgan Matson’s book about a teenager who seems to have it all together was entertaining and sweet. Sometimes after you’ve spent quite a bit of time reading darker material you need some light in your book life. This YA novel about a girl and her friends the summer before their senior year in high school was exactly what I needed. Andie and her friends were a relatable group – I enjoyed their group text message chains and the interaction between them, I could see my youngest sister interacting with her friends in the same manner. While tight knit, they weren’t without a little bit of the drama that naturally occurs between friends and I found them overall to be a fun group.

One of my favorite character relationships in this book was the one between Andie and her Dad. From the beginning of the novel, the two of them are not close. Andie has been living as she pleases without much, if any, parental supervision – her dad’s near constant attention to his job as a member of Congress taking away from any relationship they may have. As they begin to spend more time together they’re able to work through some of their issues and ultimately start healing some of the hurt they’ve both experienced.

But probably one of my favorite things about this book is how Andie matures. She learns to be flexible with life – one of the hardest life lessons to learn especially when you strive to control your surroundings. As the novel progresses Andie find that doing what she actually likes is better than what other people would expect from her. There’s a self-exploration element to the story – which I think young adult readers will like. Plus if you like a little romance with your novels – this one has a really cute romantic relationship too.

If you’re looking for a really cute summer read that’s quick and not fantasy – you’ll probably like this.

Buy it on Amazon

Buy it at Barnes & Noble

A B O U T  T H E  A U T H O R

Hi! I'm Morgan. (I've always found the third-person biography thing pretty weird.)

I write YA novels, usually about a girl, a summer, a boy, sometimes a dog, and always lots of coffee and ice cream. I love road trips and traveling, old black & white movies filled with repartee, summers, Starbucks, and fountain diet coke.

I'm originally from the East Coast, but I now live in Los Angeles with my dog Murphy, in a house I wish was closer to the beach

Book Review: The Assistants, Camille Perri

Title: The Assistants, Camille Perri

Print Length: 283 pages

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Publication Date: May 3, 2016

Rating: 4/5 Stars

S Y N O P S I S

What do you do when you're drowning in student loan debt, working your a$$ off for a communications billionaire whose lunch expenses account for the sum of your annual salary?
You redistribute his wealth, obviously.

Tina Fontana has an NYU degree, a job as the personal assistant to Titan Corporation's CEO billionaire Robert Barlow, measly apartment that she can barley afford and is drowning in student loan debt. Obviously she's living the American dream. But when an accounting error produces a check in an amount that would pay off her student loan debt in full - she is faced with the moral dilemma of a lifetime; pay off her student loans and start living her life, or do the right thing and return the check?

So what does she do? She cashes it.

M Y  T A K E

Ya'll - this book is fun! For anyone out there who went to college with dreams of financial and social success only to find that not all college degrees equal champagne brunches and summers yachting through the south of France - this is for you! Robin Hood meets The Devil Wears Prada in this hilarious novel about a rag tag group of women who "redistribute" their boss's wealth in order to make the world of the average working class female just a little bit better.

I loved this novel - it was quick, sharp and chock full of pop culture references. What's not to love? Camille Perri's debut novel is hilarious. I thought her characters were well developed and her writing light and fun. In my opinion, it's everything that I would want in a beach read. If you're a fan of chicklit or just looking for a fun book after you've slogged your way through The Vegetarian then this one's for you.

A B O U T  T H E  A U T H O R

Camille Perri is the author of The Assistants. She has worked as a books editor for Cosmopolitan and Esquire. She has also been a ghostwriter of young-adult novels and a reference librarian. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from New York University and a master of library science degree from Queens College. Perri wrote the first draft of The Assistants while working as the assistant to the editor-in-chief of Esquire.

Buy it on Amazon

Buy it at Barnes & Noble

I'm Starting a Monthly Book Club! And You Can Join Too!

I've had the idea of starting a book club for a while now. The thing is, I'm really bad at organizing people and the thought of picking a book for a whole group to read is kind of intimidating to me. So I think I've found a solution - I'm going to start a monthly online book club where discussion can be held right here on the blog and The Book Gawker Facebook Page.

The great thing about this format is that participation is totally optional. If you want, you can read the book chosen for the month and participate in discussion, you can opt out, you can read and not discuss, whatever you want. You do you. Just know, I'll be right here ready to talk about the month's book.

Interested? Great!

Here's how it will work:

My book club review will be posted on the last Friday of each month with discussion questions and my own answers. So the first book club discussion will be June 24, 2016.

Here's how to participate:

Feel free to comment with your own answers to the discussion questions in the comments part of the blog. Or if you have your own blog, you can create your own book club review and discussion and link to it in the comments! You don't need to go off of my discussion questions, feel free to have your own!

So what are we reading?

For June's book, I've chosen the recently released Modern Lovers by Emma Straub.
Buy It On Amazon
Buy It at Barnes & Noble

Synopsis from Amazon:

Friends and former college bandmates Elizabeth and Andrew and Zoe have watched one another marry, buy real estate, and start businesses and families, all while trying to hold on to the identities of their youth. But nothing ages them like having to suddenly pass the torch (of sexuality, independence, and the ineffable alchemy of cool) to their own offspring.

Back in the band's heyday, Elizabeth put on a snarl over her Midwestern smile, Andrew let his unwashed hair grow past his chin, and Zoe was the lesbian all the straight women wanted to sleep with. Now nearing fifty, they all live within shouting distance in the same neighborhood deep in gentrified Brooklyn, and the trappings of the adult world seem to have arrived with ease. But the summer that their children reach maturity (and start sleeping together), the fabric of the adult lives suddenly begins to unravel, and the secrets and revelations that are finally let loose—about themselves, and about the famous fourth band member who soared and fell without them—can never be reclaimed.

Straub packs wisdom and insight and humor together in a satisfying book about neighbors and nosiness, ambition and pleasure, the excitement of youth, the shock of middle age, and the fact that our passions—be they food, or friendship, or music—never go away, they just evolve and grow along with us.

A B O U T  T H E   A U T H O R

Emma Straub is the New York Times-bestselling author of Modern Lovers, The Vacationers, Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures, and Other People We Married. Her fiction and non-fiction have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, and Elle. Her work has been published in fifteen countries.                
Visit her website: http://www.emmastraub.net




I'm excited read along with whoever out there wants to join in! If you have ideas for July's book please feel free to let me know!

P.S. I will announce the upcoming book club title on the last day of each month, so if you do have requests get them in before that.

Happy reading!
-Whit

Four Psychological Thrillers Whose Female Characters Have Few Redeemable Qualities (if any)

Is it so wrong for me, as a reader, want to root for my characters? How about genuinely care about their well-being? I find that the more concerned, interested and invested I am in a character, the more I enjoy their story, and the more likely I am to continue reading.

Lately, I’ve found this very difficult in the Psychological Thriller/Suspense genre. To me, the main characters in these books have been so totally without any positive qualities that I almost quit reading, tossing the book on the top of my DNF pile. While I did, in the end, finish these books, it was not because I was invested in the success of the main character. Rather, it was out of sheer curiosity and a need for closure.

I would like to discuss four very popular, well written, complex, NY Times best-selling novels, a few of which have been optioned for block buster movies, in the thriller/suspense genre whose characters have absolutely no redeemable qualities – and sadly they’re all women.

Spoilers ahead, proceed at your own risk

Seven Reasons to Love Gabriel Oak

For some reason when it comes to classic literature there seems to be no man more coveted or admired than Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Women worldwide swoon over him and I'll admit I was one. That is, until I read Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd and was introduced to Gabriel Oak. While there are similarities between the two, ie: rejected first time marriage proposals, an attraction to strong willed women, and a strong/silent disposition, Gabriel Oak stole my heart and will forever (in my opinion) be superior to Mr. Darcy and here's why:

1. He's Calm and Steadfast.

Gabriel Oak is the most steady character in the book. His strength never waivers and he never veers away from doing the right thing. He's counted on for his knowledge, advice and is the only person Bathsheba can truly trust. Even when things aren't going his way - he remains calm and collected.

2. He Takes Rejection Well.

When we are first introduced to Gabriel Oak, he's a bachelor making a meager living as a farmer. While not making buckets of money, he has a business plan and goals for his future - which he details in his first proposal to Bathsheba. She refuses him. Instead of getting all broken up about it, he graciously leaves her alone - and though their paths cross in the future he never bothers her about it again. Thank goodness he's not a needy, whiner.

Book Review: Kitchens of the Great Midwest, J Ryan Stradal

Kitchens of the Great Midwest, J Ryan Stradal
Print Length: 312 pages
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication Date: July 28, 2015
Rating: 4/5 stars


I love books that have multiple narrators whose stories combine in the end to create one rich, multidimensional story that leaves me completely satisfied as a reader.

While sometimes this type of narrative doesn’t always keep my attention (I want to know more about the main character usually and I get tired of jumping around between characters), when done well I find that my favorite books are structured this way. Kitchens of the Great Midwest is a prime example of one person whose life is shaped through the various stories of others. The novel centers on Eva Thorvald, who as a young child has a culinary palate mature beyond her years, and becomes the master mind of a pop up dinner club where reservations are $5000 a plate and the waiting list for a spot at the table is two years long. Kitchens is the story of Eva’s life from infancy through her early thirties told in a series of stories, each from a different character – but whom are all related in some way or another.

Book Review: Vinegar Girl (Hogarth Shakespeare) by Anne Tyler

Title: Vinegar Girl, Anne Tyler
Print Length: 240 pages
Publisher: Hogarth
Publication Date: June 21, 2016

Modern updates to age old tales have been a theme lately. Similar to the Jane Austen project (ie: Eligible), Anne Tyler’s Vinegar Girl is a part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series retelling of Shakespeare’s classic The Taming of the Shrew. I love an update to a classic just as much as the next person and had fairly high expectations for Anne Tyler on this one. She didn’t disappoint.

Kate Battista is obstinate, socially awkward and entirely devoid of tact. But she’s also lonely. Living at home as a caretaker for her eccentric scientist father and dimwitted (yet popular) high school aged sister, Kate finds herself drifting through her day to day activities relegated to the fact that her life consists of preparing the same weekly meals, keeping Bunny away from boys and doing her father’s taxes. Caretaking seems to be her thing, as even this extends to her profession as an assistant at a preschool (I got a laugh out of her interactions with her young charges). Kate, it seems, takes care of everything. So when her father’s lab assistant’s visa is on the brink of expiration, naturally it is Kate whom he looks to as the solution to his problem. Because why wouldn’t his eldest daughter with very few prospects want to marry his brilliant, foreign lab assistant?

Eight Must Have Books for the Fashionable Reader

As children we often exhibit behavioral tendencies that we sometimes carry with us throughout our lives. Take a second and think back to when you were a child. Got it? Great. Now was there anything that you used to do that you maybe still do today as an adult? Here's what I have:

I used to go through three or four different outfits in a day - not because my clothes got messy or dirty - I simply enjoyed changing my outfit multiple times a day.

Sorry mom for all the extra laundry you had to do when I was a kid.

This is something that I still do today. On an average day I'll probably change my outfit three to four times a day. (BTW I now do my own laundry)

#bookconfessions: I Hate Recommending Books and Here's Why...

Book Confession: I hate recommending books to people.

I realize that for someone who reads as often as I do that this is a very strange aversion. Usually people who read and write love to share their favorites with others, it encourages a sense of community and people tend to like that. But I dislike being put on the spot – and as a book blogger I’m inevitably asked for a recommendation which consequently leads to me breaking out in hypothetical hives and a cold sweat and here’s why:

Book Review: Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield

Title: Eligible, Curtis Sittenfield

Length: 512 pages

Publisher: Random House

Publication Date: April 19^, 2016

Rating: 4/5 stars

Countless retellings of Jane Austen’s classic, Pride and Prejudice have been published, made into movies or miniseries specials, but none are so fun and smart as Curtis Sittenfield’s, Eligible, which offers a modern day take on Austen’s original rom-com. Liz Bennet is a brash, quick witted woman living in New York working as a writer for popular women’s magazine, along with her sister Jane, who is a yoga instructor, both rapidly approaching forty and still single (much to their mother’s chagrin).  

When their father’s ailing health brings both eldest Bennet sisters back to their childhood home of Cincinnati, they arrive to find their home in disrepair, the family’s finances askew and the younger Bennet sisters unemployed and ignorant to their family issues. Kitty and Lydia are too preoccupied with their social lives consisting of cross fit, manicures and paleo dieting to help their parents and Mary is a professional student, completing multiple degrees, and her only social activity consisting of mysterious Tuesday night outings, where she goes she won’t say.

Chip Bingley is fresh off a season of a popular TV Reality dating series, Eligible, where he infamously refused to propose to either woman at the end of the show, and has relocated from Los Angeles to the mid-west for a position as an ER Doctor in a Cincinnati Hospital. Accompanied by his friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, a proud and aloof neurosurgeon, he encounters the Bennett family at a Fourth of July barbeque hosted by their co-worker, Dr. Lucas – I’m sure you’re seeing where this goes…

Friday Reads & A Goody for you

Happy Friday!

Congratulations, you've made it through another week and it's time for the weekend!

A couple of highlights from this week:

I changed up the look on the blog! Crazy, I'm still working on the graphics and tweaking a few things, but so far so good.

Barnes and Noble played #90sabook on Twitter and it was hilarious. Some of my faves were "Harry Potter and the Virgin Who Can't Drive," "Clarrisa Explains It All The Light We Cannot See," "Back to Goodnight Moon" and "The Pager of Dorian Gray." There were a lot of good ones, so check it out on twitter if you need a laugh.

Five Romances that Will make you Cry (and I love them all)

If you're anything like me, you love a good romance novel every once in a while (or all the time). While I definitely prefer my characters to all end up happily coupled off and living blissfully ever after, that is not always realistic or the best way to end a story. Sometimes the best stories have the saddest endings or not the ending you wanted for the characters. Below are five of my favorite romance novels that are beautiful love stories even though they didn't end up the way I wanted them to. Curl up, grab your tissues and maybe warn anyone in the house that it is very likely you're going to ugly cry - and it's best they leave you alone. Or lock the door so no one can take incriminating photos. Because I probably would.

New Release Tuesday: The Summer Before the War, by Helen Simonson

Title: The Summer Before the War, Helen Simonson

Print Length: 496 pages

Publisher: Random House

Publication Date: March 22, 2016

Rating: 4/5 Stars

I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy of this charming novel by Helen Simonson. Set in 1914, the summer before the outbreak of the Great War, we meet the inhabitants of Rye, a small town in Sussex England who are more focused on the perfect summer weather and garden parties than the rumored war on the continent. It is to this idyllic country town that Beatrice Nash arrives just as life for everyone is about to change.

New Release Tuesday: Burning Down the House by Jane Mendelsohn

It's new release Tuesday!
This week the much anticipated novel by Jane Mendelsohn, Burning Down the House is available on kindle and in print.

From Amazon:
"In cinematic, dazzlingly described scenes, we enter the lavish universe of the Zane family, from a wedding in an English manor house to the trans-global world of luxury hotels and restaurants—from New York to Rome, Istanbul to Laos. As we meet them all—Steve’s second wife, his children from his first marriage, the twins from the second, their friends and household staff—we enter with visceral immediacy an emotional world filled with a dynamic family’s loves, jealousies, and yearnings. In lush, exact prose, Mendelsohn transforms their private stories into a panoramic drama about a family’s struggles to face the challenges of internal rivalry, a tragic love, and a shifting empire. Set against the backdrop of financial crisis, globalization, and human trafficking, the novel finds inextricable connections between the personal and the political."

This sounds to be an interesting novel, I'm adding it to my list of new releases to check out. Have you read it? I'd love know what your thoughts were.

Buy it here.