The Puppy Diaries by Jill Abramson

From Goodreads: One sparkling summer day, Jill Abramson brought home a nine-week-old golden retriever named Scout. Over the following year, as she and her husband raised their adorable new puppy, Abramson wrote a hugely popular column for The New York Times's website about the joys and challenges of training this rambunctious addition to their family. Dog-lovers from across the country inundated her with e-mails and letters, and the photos they sent in of their own dogs became the most visited photo album on the Times's site in 2009. Now Abramson has gone far beyond the material in her column and written a detailed and deeply personal account of Scout's first year. Part memoir, part manual, part investigative report, The Puppy Diaries continues Abramson's intrepid reporting on all things canine.

I really wanted to like this one. It was an ARC through the Library Thing Early Reviewer program that I had requested becsue it sounded sweet and Scout's puppy picture on the cover is too cute for words. But it just didn't capture me. The way that Jill told the tale just didn't give me the warm fuzzies, it was too accurate/clinical feeling. It may have been better in small doses as she reported in her column rather than all at once in book format. The ARC packet included tow pages of photos and they were as "awww"inspiring as I had hoped the book would be - Scout is one cute dog!

I read this book for the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.





It also counts for some of my other challenges....

40 Love by Madeleine Wickham

From Goodreads: Everyone wins this game of literary tennis, a comedy of manners about envy in which Wickham skewers the nouveau riche. At their country estate, Patrick Chance and his wife host a weekend tennis party. As four couples gather on the sunny terrace, it seems obvious who among them is succeeding, and who is falling behind. But by the end of the party, nothing will be quite as certain. While the couples’ children amuse themselves with pony rides and rehearsals for a play, the adults suffer a series of personal revelations and crises. Wickham’s nonstop action reveals at every turn that matters may not be as they seem, and in the end one thing is crystal clear: the weekend is about anything but tennis.

This was a win from the Library Thing Early Reviewer Program. I love Sophie Kinsella (who uses her alternate name Madeleine Wickham to pen this one) so I was expecting to enjoy it. I liked it a little bit but not very much. With Brit chick lit I expect a plucky female lead who is pursuing career and/or romance, some laugh out loud funny scenes, and a happy ending. This didn't have any of that. The four couples come for a tennis weekend and their lives just unravel. Relationships sour, finances plummett, and friendships are tested. I felt bad for them and at the same time somewhat confused keeping up with who's who among the four couples, the extra guest, the nanny and cook and all their children - that's a lot of characters to figure out in what is supposed to be a "fluffy" book! There are some witty moments but it's such a dark story that it is hard to really laugh out loud. It was entertaining but it just wasn't a favorite for me.

I read this book for the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.





It also counts for some of my other challenges....

Hector and the Secrets of Love by Francois Lelord

From Amazon: Since his first captivating adventure in Hector and the Search for Happiness, Hector the young French psychiatrist has continued to explore the mysteries of the human soul. Having found that love seems virtually inseparable from happiness, he begins taking notes on this powerful emotion. But unbeknownst to him, Clara, the doctor's beloved, is making her own investigations into love. As much a love story as a novel about love, Hector and the Secrets of Love is a feel-good life manual wrapped in a globetrotting adventure, told with the blend of a fairy tale's naïve wisdom and a satirist's dry wit that has won Hector fans around the world.

This one was a win from The Library Thing Early Reviewers program. It was the second in a series so I was at a disadvantage going in but I don't think that is the reason that it didn't "click" with me. I wondered if it was because it was translated from the original Franch and perhaps I don't have the French sense of humor? It was at turns simplistic and then confusing. There were moments, however, when it was witty and I got a sense of what the book might be for those who enjoyed the author's style. And, there were a few characters that interested me enough to want to know what happened to them. So the occasional laugh and the need to know kept me listening until the end but it really wasn't a good book for me.

Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald

 From Goodreads: Knowing she could never be happy in Iran, Tamila Soroush took her mother's advice to "Go and wake up your luck" and joined her sister in the United States. Now, after a spur-of-the-moment exchange of "I do"s with her true love, Ike Hanson, Tami is eager to start her new life. But not everyone is pleased with their marriage, and Tami's happily- ever-after is no sure thing. With an interview with Immigration looming, Tami wonders if she's got the right stuff when it comes to love, American-style. Maybe her luck is running out. Or maybe she'll stand up for herself and claim her American dream.

The first book, Veil of Roses, had a light hearted chick lit feel but this book was a soap opera. There are back stabbing villians and deceit and romance and ultimatums...it's Days of Our Lives/Guiding Light/TheYoung and the Restless...drama in the family! I could almost see the closeup contemplative head shots as one scene changed to another. That certainly doesn't mean I didn't like it, I enjoy a good opera (I am really sad that As The World Turns has gone off the air - I grew up with ATWT!). There were a few things I didn't like. First was the repeated scenes from the first book. Not a little thought about the past or a quick recap of important events - there was at least one word for word page long scene from the first book included in this one. That example I checked, there were other times I thought she might be repeating but I didn't go verify so am not one hundred percent certain - but I was one hundred percent sure that it was an annoying feeling. I also didn't like how harshly I felt like Ike treated Tami in some instances - it seemed out of character with the ultra sweet guy we fell in love with in the first book. But those two things were it. Other than that, I stayed up late wanting to now how it ends. I really wanted to see the mean girls get their butts kicked - you know, like a knock down cat fight in a water fountain - true soap opera stuff!

I read this book for the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.





It also counts for some of my other challenges....

Helen of Pasedena by Lian Dolan

From Goodreads: Helen Fairchild leads a privileged Pasadena existence: married to a pillar of the community; raising a fine, water polo-playing son; volunteering on the most fashionable committees. It only bothers Helen a tiny bit that she has never quite fit in proper Pasadena for lots of little reasons. And then, out of nowhere, along comes a Rose Parade float, killing her philandering husband and leaving Helen broke, out of her beloved home and scrambling to salvage her once-rarefied existence. Enter Dr. Patrick O'Neill, noted archaeologist, excavator of Troy and wearer of nubby sweaters, and Helen's new boss. Distracted by her incredibly attractive boss, Helen teeters in to her new life which teems with characters. While uncovering secrets about ancient Troy alongside Patrick, Helen discovers more: a new sense of self and a new love.


What a fun book! Not sure how to categorize this - it's not a romance but there is romance in it, it seems more substantial than what I think of chick lit but it is wickedly funny. I thought the humor captured the world of private school moms right on with a great satirical tone that I loved. The romance wasn't heavy handed so it was okay by me, I could have done without it and just wallowed in her experiences as a mother and still enjoyed the book. I was happy to read that there are other books planned by this author along the same vein, I'll look forward to reading them.


I read this book for the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.

Christmas Cake by Lynne Hinton

From Goodreads: With the holiday season drawing near, the ladies of Hope Springs, North Carolina, are making plans for a cake cookbook—a project that will hopefully lift the spirits of a beloved member of their close-knit quartet. But Margaret Peele is downhearted and uninspired now that her cancer has returned. All she wants this Christmas is to visit her mother's Texas hometown . . . and to see their absent friend, pastor Charlotte Stewart, who left Hope Springs to run a battered women's shelter. So impulsive Beatrice Newgarden Witherspoon commandeers a very inappropriate—but comfortable—van to transport Margaret, Louise Fisher, and Jessie Jenkins across the country for a Lone Star State reunion with Charlotte. And over the course of a remarkable journey they will rediscover the greatest Christmas gift of all: eternal friendship.

I read Christmas Cake as one of my books for the Holiday Reading Challenge hosted by Nely at all About N. I had actually received it through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program last year but not in enough time to read it for that Christmas season so it hung out for a year in my TBR pile waiting for the holidays to come back around. (During that time I also came across Friendship Cake and it nestled into my TBR pile as well!). Because the challenge was at hand, I read Christmas Cake first despite knowing I was going out of order. Being out of order did not stop me from enjoying the book; Hinton provides all the background needed to fill in a new reader and she does it in an unobtrusive way that blends in with the rest of the story. Each chapter begins with a cake recipe and then the cake itself somehow gets featured in that part of the story. The recipes all sounded absolutely yummy but, big drawback for me, they were all cakes from scratch - sifting flour, measuring sugar and spices, cutting in butter - this I just don’t do. I am an advocate of the boxed cake mix. I may "doctor up" the boxed mix a little bit but in general, I and my family are happy with them just the way they are. If I dare to make an analogy here, I would describe this book as a boxed cake mix kind of book - it's not a fancy, gourmet read but I was happy with it just the way it was. It reminded me of the Mitford books; small town charm, a gentle pace, an exploration of friendships with bits of humor, religion, and sadness all mixed in.

All these recipes make this book a perfect fit for Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads. (Which I would have linked up to had I gotten my post up when I should have!)

When the Sun Goes Down by Gwynne Forster

From a Goodreads review: "When the sun goes down on my life, you'll all come apart like ripped balloons." The wealthy Leon Farrell spoke those words to his three children before he passed, but, as always, he underestimated them. While his oldest, Edgar, does seem to be falling apart at the seams, Shirley and Gunther are doing just fine. Shunned by their father after the death of their mother while they were still children, the younger Farrell siblings worked their way through college and into successful careers. Shirley handles PR on board cruise ships and Gunther has built a computer software company that's growing by leaps and bounds. Their oldest brother, Edgar, is the only one that seems to be struggling in the wake of his father's death. It's not that he misses their father, he misses the inheritance that he's sure is coming to him. In his final thumbing of the nose at his kids, Leon died without telling anyone where his will was, including his attorney of over 20 years. Pressed for money to pay off gambling debts, Edgar hires private investigator, Carson Montgomery, to locate the missing document.


I went into this book really wanting to like it, the cover alone is just lovely, but in the end, it was not a favorite. I was at a disadvantage because this book is a sequel and I hadn't read the first one so it felt somewhat hurried as Forster summarized the history of a few key characters in paragraphs that did not do them justice. That would be my major issue with the book - it's a Ken Follett sized story in a Mitch Albom sized book. The story was so good and intriguing - a great premise for the mystery and good pairings for the romance - but the characters deserved more time in the pages for the relationships to develop naturally. To make the pieces fit within the time frame of the story (number of pages/words), Forster had to use too many fantastic coincidences for my taste. The other turn off for me was the way the male characters spoke. When the romantic lead, Carson, is asking the heroine on a date, he says, "A dressy street dress should be suitable for the evening...." and when Gunther is describing a work project, he describes it as "a dilly of a game". I work for the Navy surrounded by hundreds of men, none of them talk like this. I wondered if perhaps Gwynne is not from America, the more formal style of speech made me think of someone for whom English is a second language. Then I visited her website, including her blog, and her voice in that setting sounded much more relaxed and natural. I felt like Forster wanted to tell young Black women that there were sophisticated men out there for them but it ended up feeling like the men were preaching rather than being real. This book was full of promise but did not pan out for me.


I read this book for the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.

Breaking Night; A Memoir by Liz Murray

From the Goodreads description: In the vein of The Glass Castle, Breaking Night is the stunning memoir of a young woman who at age fifteen was living on the streets, and who eventually made it into Harvard.

What a disturbing yet captivating look into the world of homeless youth and families struggling with drugs; Liz Murray's account of her youth is a page turner. Even though I knew she ended up at Harvard, I still feared for her and wanted to keep reading to get to the happy ending. The ending is uplifting and heartwarming but I wouldn't describe it as "happy"; surviving such an ordeal does not leave one unscarred and, of course, only Liz survived, there are still so many familes and youths struggling. Some reviews I read were less satisfied with the story because they had seen the movie first. I'm glad I came into it cold because I enjoyed it very much. Reviewers thought the "movie Liz" was a more appealing character but they don't aknowledge that "movie Liz" was an interpretation while these worsd in the memoir are Liz's real words, her real experiences, thoughts and feelings, her real life. Her real life is fascinating.


I read this book for the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.

So Happy Together By Maryann McFadden

From the author's website: Secrets and dreams…Everyone in the Noble family has them. Not that they’re telling each other. But when they’re lured to Cape Cod by the fabled light, three generations of Noble women find that sometimes it’s the dreams that hold us back, and the realities that set us free.

This book started out a little slow for me but became increasingly more interesting until at the end, I couldn't put it down. At the beginning the characters seemed stock, as if she just pulled them off the shelf - wayward daughter, crotchety old man, slimy salesman - and the big plot twist was absolutely predictable. But then the novel takes a turn, and the author starts to reveal more layers to the characters and they become interesting. I liked the main character, Claire, from the get go. Even when I was not yet hooked at the start, I still cared about her and would have kept reading just to find out how her story played out (not just because I felt compelled to finish the ARC for review!). I like relationship books and this book was foremost about the relationships within this family. But it also had some information woven in about the geography and history of the area and the conflict within the community between commercial fisherman and ecologists. That was mimicked in Claire's possible relationships as one beau was a developer and one was a preservationist. Very black hat, white hat. There was enough of that factual/informational part of the story to make me feel like I learned something but not so much that it felt preachy or heavy-handed. Overall, a great read once it gets going! I gave it four stars on Library Thing.


I read this book for the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.

The Geography of Love by Glenda Burgess

From the author's website: Love is always a leap of faith...

There are magical moments in life that part time and change everything. That moment came for Glenda Burgess when she met a charming and enigmatic stranger. But with the undeniable spark came the discovery of a tragic and disturbing past. Despite this, she embarks on a passionate affair that becomes a second chance at happiness for both of them until a cruel twist of fate turns their world upside down.

The Geography of Love is a powerful and moving exploration of a woman's life, of love tested by unthinkable circumstances, and of our ability to love and trust no matter what the odds. It is also a poignant love letter to a woman's great love, a man who had lost so much yet taught her to see every twist and turn that life offers as an adventure and an opportunity.

My feelings about Geography of Love are ambivalent. I like memoirs, I like dysfunctional families, and I like a good cry now and again - this book was all of those. But it was also a love story and the love story part of it was just a bit much. Like... "as his bare chest glistened in the light"...., he says, ..."Being with you feels like an open horizon." Please. No man I know talks like that. No man I know glistens in the sunlight (BTW - I really wanted that from the movie version of Edward but didn't get it. See, even Edward doesn't glisten.) Maybe this is just the "tired working mother of three about to celebrate her twenty year anniversary" blues but that's not the kind of love I know and thus it was hard to connect with this couple.

My ambivalence also comes from the fact that this is a memoir, so these are real people, how can I criticize her memory of this great love? Who am I to say, "It's too much."? I felt I ought to like these people. I wanted to like this story, and in a way I did. There were these glimpses of really interesting things like her scrappy mother and his dubious past. It would be that pulse quickening, Oh now it's getting interesting!, moment. But then it would pass and we'd be back to drinking wine and laying heads in each other laps.

The journey through cancer was exquisitely, painfully detailed. Every woman my age has someone they care about fighting this battle and reading through it was emotional. But it was a good kind of ache because it was real. Unlike the syrupy romance sections, the gritty sections captivated me and kept me turning pages

I read this book for the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

From the author's website: Strength in What Remains is the story of Deo, an African immigrant who survived the genocide in his home country, Burundi, near Rwanda. The first part of the story alternates between Deo's past in Burundi, and his more recent time spent in New York City. These parts are each in turn horrific and hopeful. As Kidder describes Deo's challenges in each location we can compare and contrast the parallels like having to sleep outdoors as part of the culture in Burundi and then as a homeless person in the city.

The second part of the book is in Kidder's voice as he and Deo revisit the places of Deo's past. The story really slowed down for me here. The first part of the book was a challenging read emotionally and a somewhat confusing read with the switching back and forth but I was so fascinated that I stuck with the story. In the second half, the challenge became sticking with it even when my mind wandered, the story was still good but somehow having it filtered through Kidder it seemed to lose it's sense of urgency.

Even with the loss of momentum at the end, Strength in What Remains was a satisfying read. This is a good story and an important one to tell. It adds to our knowledge of what man is capable of - both the evil of the genocide and the compassion of those that helped Deo to heal.


I read this book for the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.

Short Girls by Bich Minh Nguyen

Short Girls is the story of two sisters, Van and Linny, and how they are each defined in some part by their Vietnamese heritage. The book contrasts the sisters - Van who is studious and determined versus Linny who is flirtatious and fashion conscious, they are the age old good girl/bad girl, except that the book is too good for the author to leave it there and they are both fleshed out with great detail. As the book alternates viewpoints between the sisters, we learn their stories and see their relationship evolve. There is also the contrast between their parents, first generation immigrants, and the daughters who were born in the States and are essentially American but can still feel like outsiders. Each parent has their own way of handling their immersion in America and the differences there provide some of the book's more lighthearted moments.

I enjoyed Short Girls. Once I started I didn't want to put it down because I wanted the whole story revealed. Nguyen writes with a very authentic sounding voice about the experience of being considered foreign in your own home; it made me curious about her as a person. I had all my questions answered at her website - http://www.bichminhnguyen.com/. The site's Q&A with Bich was interesting reading and now I am eager to get a look at her memoir, Stealing Buddha's Dinner.


I read this book for the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.