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Review: Life and Other Near Death Experiences by Camille Pagan

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Dying isn’t funny. Or at least it shouldn’t be. But somehow this wonderful little gem of a book makes it so.

Libby’s perfectly crafted world comes to a crashing halt in the span of less than a day. Not only does she find out that she has cancer, likely very quickly ending her life, but she also finds out that her dear husband is gay.

So she does what any of us would do in that same situation. She quits her job, which she hated anyway. She kicks her husband out and sells their apartment. She purges herself of all her worldly possessions and takes a lengthy trip to the Caribbean. Make perfect sense, right?

She soon finds out, however, that simply crawling into a corner and waiting to die isn’t as easy as it might sound. She has a brother and father who both love her dearly. She finds herself relishing the simple things in life, such as the feeling of warm sand between her toes. She strikes up an unlikely friendship with her elderly landlady.

And then there’s Shiloh, the handsome pilot she finds herself falling for. When he discovers that she plans to give up without putting up a glimmer of a fight, he quickly lets her know that’s not an option.

Make no mistake, this is a romance story. But it’s also a funny story, one about family and bouncing back. It’s a story about not giving up regardless of the curveballs that life inevitably throws your way. The writing is witty and wry, and the characters are so likeable that you almost forget that it’s a work of fiction. A fun, inspiring read!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: Life and Other Near-Death Experiences

Review: If Anything Should Happen by Bonnie Hearn Hill

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If Anything Should Happen is a cute introduction to a new mystery series. It didn’t really seem mystery-series-ish to me, but that could be because Hill is developing background and setting the scene. 

Two radio station friends lend each other emotional support through life’s ups and downs… And when Kit’s mom leaves a mysterious note that opens up a few cans of worms, her colleague is there for her every step of the way. 

The contents of the note thrust  Kit into a decades-old, small town scandal that’s serious business. Someone has already died at the hands of a psycho, and he’s not afraid to do more damage. 

I felt like the plot and subplots were a little disconnected. I didn’t get enough of Kit at the radio station to really know her personality like her colleagues do. I did see her as a daughter, and I enjoyed the exploration of her relationship with her parents. The story was more family drama than mystery, if you ask me. But book two may have a different tone, and I hope to see more of Kit’s talk radio stuff. 🙂 

-calliope

Buy IF ANYTHING SHOULD HAPPEN

Review: Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles

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51C-79dyymLJo Knowles is one of my favorite writers, one of those authors whose books are must-reads for me. So it’s a bit surprising that I’ve just recently gotten around to reading this older story. Such is the life of someone with a TBR list that’s longer than my lifespan is likely to be. But still, better late than never.

No action is without consequences, a lesson that Ellie learns the hard way when she becomes pregnant after “hooking up” at a party. It’s not the first time, but it’s the last time for a very long while. But that one night has repercussions for not just Ellie. Everyone in her inner circle is affected. Her best friend, Corinne, tries to help Ellie through what is easily the most difficult time in her young life. Her friend Caleb finds himself in a tough spot as Ellie’s friend but also a close friend of Josh, the baby’s father. And even Josh himself, an unlikeable character at first who gradually redeems himself.

This is an outstanding book. Because this is more than a story of an unintended teen pregnancy. It’s a story of dysfunctional families, ones that seem good on the surface but really aren’t. It’s a story of teenagers trying to fit in and find themselves. And it’s a story of young people trying to fill an inner void any way they can. Each and every character evokes emotion from the reader. Such is the brilliance of an author such as Jo Knowles. She makes us care about them all.

So this is a story that’s clearly meant for young adults. The question becomes, how young is too young? On the one hand, it’s pretty clear what’s going on in the back of the van at the beginning of the story. And there’s a good bit of drinking along with the fairly casual sex. But I believe these are very real issues facing today’s older teens. And for that reason, along with the fact that the author deals with it in a responsible way, I do feel that this would be an appropriate read for older teenagers. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to read the sequel…

~Thalia

Buy It Now: Jumping Off Swings

Review – Disturbing the Peace, by Richard Yates. 

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Whether it is 1000 pages, or 275 pages, don’t you just love it when an author strings together a brilliant, honest, and raw story?  Well look no further than this book!

I know I’ve done a couple of past reviews on other books by Yates, so it is not really surprising that I love this one so much. However, and this is what is so brilliant about Yates, he continues to surprise me. Just when I think I may know what direction he will take, I am proven wrong. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t Yates being sensationalist (we can leave that to James Frey) – no, this is Yates showing us that he can throw a punch in the most subtle of ways.

One of the many elements of this novel that I love is the guessing game: what is real, what is exacerbated and ultimately what is fueled by a sense of denial, hopelessness and frustration.

A common theme with Yates is a realization that no matter your socioeconomic status, your relationship/family life or the comfort blanket of a standard middle class existence, your life can be upended in an instant. The scenarios , the demons, who or what is to “blame”, isn’t always apparent; we are human beings and how we cope with various situations, is never a standard, never the same each time. Life is fragile and yet it can survive a lot of beatings.

Do yourself a favor and experience this 275 pages of pure heart wrenching magic.

 

Pegasus.

Disturbing the Peace

Review: A Blind Guide to Stinkville by Beth Vrabel

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  I’m not exactly a YA reader. I like realistic fiction with protagonists my own age – I can just relate better, you know? But A Blind Guide to Stinkville reeled me in. I was laughing in Chapter One. I was invested by Chapter Three. I was bawling my eyes out in Chapter Seventeen… but that’s for later in this review. 

Alice moves across the country and, like the rest of her family, is having a hard time adjusting. Besides the friend factor and the school factor, Alice has some physical challenges that were much easier to handle when everyone in her old town had known her since she was born. In Stinkville, Alice has to learn how to do things without the predictable help of those around her. 

I am SO IMPRESSED with Vrabel’s consistent pace and even-keeled writing. Alice could be barely holding it together, or the girl in the library could have just revealed something astonishing, or a new friend could be just as mean as the old friend just was… and Vrabel writes it all very matter-of-factly, like none of these things are the end of the world. No melodrama, here. No way. And that’s totally refreshing in a world of melodramatic teenagers and melodramatic teenage books. 

I know that when my children read Stinkville, they will accept the characters and their idiosyncrasies without batting an eyelash. They will understand that differences are No Big Deal. And maybe they’ll realize that all the things they’ve been practically fainting about in their real lives are also No Big Deal, because, hey, Alice got through much more challenging circumstances with far less indignity. 

I am also excited for my children to read Stinkville so they might be eager to be more independent, be inspired to find their way around their town (literally and figuratively), and be able to navigate new situations with grace and purpose. 

So, Chapter Seventeen. Well, I had just taken a break after reading the first sixteen chapters, and I was ready to settle in for two wonderful last chapters – my favorite chapters in any book. Beth Vrabel threw me for a loop and wrote something so funny and so heartbreaking that I choked out a laugh and then proceeded to cry my head off. I cried and laughed until I finished the book. I’m a mom, and I get emotional when I read about children struggling – or in this case, overcoming their struggles so well that my heart fills up. 

Everything in A Blind Guide to Stinkville seems so real that I want to say You Can’t Make Up This Stuff. But Vrabel did. She put her imagination together with her experiences to create something so wonderful that I need to read it again. 

Oh, and that Blind Guide that Alice wrote? Stories within a story are brilliant, Beth Vrabel. Add me to your fan club. 

-calliope

Buy A BLIND GUIDE TO STINKVILLE

Review: The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs

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Caroline Jacobs is a doormat. Her teenage daughter Polly is a rebel. When the two make a spontaneous trip to Caroline’s hometown to confront a childhood (ex-)friend, mother and daughter learn a lot about each other. 

I loved the mother-daughter storyline more than any other thread in the plot. The author wrote Caroline’s weariness and Polly’s incredulity with authenticity. I saw myself in Polly – not wanting to let go of an issue until Justice is served – and in Caroline, who was more comfortable just trying to smooth things over. 

I don’t know that I really believed that someone would up and drive several hours to confront a childhood bully, but it was a fun story. I think I would’ve enjoyed it even more if the focus was more on the family dynamics instead of the PTA and former schoolmate dynamics!  

-calliope

Buy THE PERFECT COMEBACK OF CAROLINE JACOBS

Review – The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

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16126596After two books, Hanya Yanagihara has now been put onto my “blind buy” author list. This is my list of authors that I will gladly buy their new book without knowing anything about it. You may remember my previous review A Little Life and how much I gushed over it.  Well, The People in the Trees is Yanagihara’s first book, and for a debut novel, it is absolutely brilliant!

Now, being a debut novel, you can see where the author is learning their craft, and in Yanagihara’s second novel, she most definitely expands upon that craft.   However, Yanagihara’s themes, and how these themes are presented, is a skill that the author seems to naturally possess.

The best thing about this books are the characters.  The main character, Norton, is complex, certainly not likable, intelligent, egotistical, and most of all… human…  We are not going to resonate with him on a superficial level, but really, we all share very similar qualities, and that’s what drew me in to these characters and their stories.   Human nature, and the perception of human nature, really interests me, and it is explored with finesse in this book.   If one person is evil, can they still be a genuine?  If a person is honest, can they still be a liar? What do you consider reliable vs unreliable?  The dichotomy of labels that we put on people based upon their actions, or indeed, what actions we choose to support or vilify, is a fascinating subject.  When you have a situation of intentions vs consequences, which one ultimately “wins”?   All these garbled and incoherent questions/ramblings are the result of reading this intense piece of fiction.   But you know what?  I bloody love it!

If you want a book that will make you question things you originally had a different opinion on, reinforce some ideas of yours, but maybe make you consider them from a different angle, then pick this book up.  It is not an easy book at all.  You will need to read fluff afterwards, but these type of books don’t come along often, so take a chance.

Pegasus.

The People in the Trees

Review – The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro. 

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22522805I finished reading this book over a month ago, and honestly, I’m still not sure what to make of it. Is it a work of genius that layer upon layer of undiscovered insight? Or is it a bit of a failure? Well, after a month of letting it sink in, I think I can say it falls somewhere in the middle. Now, Ishiguro is one of my top 5 favourite authors – if I could ever write a novel even an 1/8 as good as The Remains of The Day, or Never Let Me Go, then my life would be complete – and so this review is hard for me to write as I really wanted to love this book.

I suppose I better tell you a bit about the plot. Set in the early years of the Saxons, we follow an elderly couple as they go on a journey to visit their son in a neighbouring village. There is however, a strange mist enveloping the land and this causes everyone to lose their long term memory, that the people believe is being caused by a dragon rumored to be living in a mountain. Throughout this journey, the couple are pitted against many obstacles, including a cantankerous old knight from the days of King Arthur, the above mentioned dragon, and various other people that wish to do them harm.

Hmm… this sounds like a fairy tale you may say? Well, it is certainly told in a similar fashion, except this one delves into much deeper issues. I don’t want to explain each metaphor or what I think the author is trying to say – that’s for you to decipher. However, what I will say is that I think Ishiguro had all of these themes and contemporary issues that he wanted to incorporate into his book, but yet he tended to over crowd it without offering context. Or maybe it was my mind making up these issues and themes?

Even though there were some weak points, two things that Ishiguro does really well are characters and depicting loss and acceptance. This is what ultimately drove up my rating of this novel. Ishiguro is a master at portraying long-term numbness, sorrow and pathetic hope, and this novel is full of that. If you’ve read any previous novels by Ishiguro, then I do recommend reading this one. Certainly not his best one, but a solid 4 stars nonetheless.

Pegasus.

The Buried Giant: A novel

Review: Once Upon a Summertime by Melody Carlson

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Anna is a family girl who takes a job at a value hotel in order to be near her grandmother. Anna doesn’t expect to stay on her grandmother’s couch for two years, though. And she’s frustrated managing a hotel that isn’t in line with her hospitality philosophy. So she finally goes to New York on the referral of a friend and starts working at a chic boutique hotel… where her childhood crush is the manager. And he’s still handsome and charming and kind. And she kind of sort of can’t help falling back in love with him. 

Great plot, pretty good characters, and easy dialogue made Once Upon a Summertime a very nice read. The only thing I didn’t really like was the interaction between Anna and the other girls. The banter was contrived, and the snark was inconsistent. I couldn’t get a handle on Marley – and here Carlson missed an opportunity to let Anna show how strong she was by being an example to, or firmly standing up to, her friend. Besides that, the book is well-written and a joy to read. 

I always love the sweetness of Melody Carlson’s books. I like that she writes main characters who experience a transformation, or who grow due to a life-changing event. Anna goes from thinking about her ideas to acting on them – and in the process she becomes more true to herself. A person is always rewarded internally for living authentically, and in Once Upon a Summertime Anna is also rewarded by those she loves. 

 -calliope

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Review: Lake Como by Anita Hughes

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I loved this book so much! I just saw that NetGalley is offering another Anita Hughes novel, so be on the lookout in early August for a review of Rome in Love. ❤️

*original blog post November 2014*
Lake Como has been on my wish list for months. Yesterday I saw it was on sale for $1.40 so I scooped it up as any book lover would. It’s STILL ON SALE TODAY, and worth every penny & more!

Reading Lake Como was like sitting in the lap of luxury. You wouldn’t know Hallie was born with a silver spoon in her mouth unless you met her grandmother Constance, a well-connected part of San Francisco society. And you wouldn’t know Hallie was related to royalty unless you visited her half-siblings in Italy. She’s down-to-earth and still finding herself among families who have hidden the truth for years.

Anita Hughes introduces the reader to the worlds of cocktail dresses, gala balls, charity events and exclusive restaurants. We see that no matter what the wrappings are, people are still people underneath – with wants, needs, fears, and flaws. In Lake Como we meet Hallie’s potential love interests, her Italian family, and her loving American mother, Francesca. We see Hallie develop her professional life, connect with her half-sister Portia, and experience personal growth.

My heart broke for Hallie and Portia when they endured break-ups with men they thought they’d be with forever. And I almost cowered when the grandmothers barked their orders. But I smiled with contentment when Hughes brought me to the shores of Lake Como, with its dazzling reflections and dancing eddies.

Full of exotic romance, hyped up family dynamics, and luxurious settings, Lake Como is one of my favorite light reads of the year.

–Calliope

Buy it now Lake Como