Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: July 26, 2016
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Sam and Clementine have a wonderful, albeit, busy life: they have two little girls, Sam has just started a new dream job, and Clementine, a cellist, is busy preparing for the audition of a lifetime. If there’s anything they can count on, it’s each other.
Clementine and Erika are each other’s oldest friends. A single look between them can convey an entire conversation. But theirs is a complicated relationship, so when Erika mentions a last minute invitation to a barbecue with her neighbors, Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam don’t hesitate. Having Tiffany and Vid’s larger than life personalities there will be a welcome respite.
Two months later, it won’t stop raining, and Clementine and Sam can’t stop asking themselves the question: What if we hadn’t gone?
In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty takes on the foundations of our lives: marriage, sex, parenthood, and friendship. She shows how guilt can expose the fault lines in the most seemingly strong relationships, how what we don’t say can be more powerful than what we do, and how sometimes it is the most innocent of moments that can do the greatest harm.
Truly Madly Guilty is about three couples who attended a barbecue and SOMETHING happened. Something BAD. But Moriarty does not tell us what that something is up front. Instead, the clues about the incident are slowly revealed along the way. In the meantime, we learn more about the three couples involved through what their lives are like after the barbecue. The chapters alternate between the present day and the barbecue, with the day of the barbecue advancing just a bit each time before the narration goes back to the present day. The full reveal of the incident doesn’t come until about halfway through the book. The suspense about killed me!
Clementine is a professional cellist and married to Sam, who works at a white-collar job that he hates. Erika is Clementine’s best friend. She’s the ying to Clementine’s yang – uptight and grim. She’s married to Oliver, a quiet sensitive man. The last of the three couples at the barbecue were Vid and Tiffany. Vid is Erika and Oliver’s gregarious neighbor, while his wife Tiffany, is a beautiful woman with a secret.
I could not put this book down. As more and more of the barbecue incident was revealed, my stomach knots grew. I was so worked up about what I thought might have happened that I had to restrain myself from flipping ahead to make sure everything would ultimately be okay. I’m not going to tell you whether they were or not!
Moriarty is a master of suspense and the slow reveal. Her books just keep getting better and better. I’m so glad that that she releases a book every year or so and I don’t have to wait long to get another dose of her. She is still firmly on my list of favorite authors.
Liane actually came all the way to Kansas City from Australia to promote Truly Madly Guilty (I’m assuming she visited other cities in the U.S. as well but I only care about my city!) I was lucky enough to get to go see her with my bestie Nerdy Apple. It was in way back in September and unfortunately I didn’t take very good notes so I’m afraid I can’t give you many specifics. I do remember that:
+ She was hilarious, which is not surprising given that there is a fair amount of humor in her books.
+ She went through infertility treatments. Many of her characters in various books of hers deal with infertility and it’s written about realistically, which as someone who has also gone through infertility treatments, I have always appreciated.
+ Ann Tyler and Kate Atkinson are two of her favorite authors.
+ Jennifer Aniston is slated to star as Alice in the movie adaptation of What Alice Forgot. I searched for more information on this and the only articles I could find were dated 2015 when the announcement was originally made.. I’m guessing production has not started.
+ And as you probably know by now, Big Little Lies has been made into a limited series and will air on HBO THIS SUNDAY!! I have been invited to an advance screening this tomorrow night. I.Can.Not.Wait. I’ll be sure and have a post up about it on Friday.
February 15th, 2017 in
Books |
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The Girls by Emma Cline
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: June 14, 2016
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader. Hidden in the hills, their sprawling ranch is eerie and run down, but to Evie, it is exotic, thrilling, charged—a place where she feels desperate to be accepted. As she spends more time away from her mother and the rhythms of her daily life, and as her obsession with Suzanne intensifies, Evie does not realize she is coming closer and closer to unthinkable violence.
The Girls is the story of Evie, a fourteen year old girl who befriends an older girl, Suzanne, who is a member of a cult that that lives on a ranch in Northern California. It is very obviously a fictionalized version of the Manson Family. I’ve been intrigued by Charles Manson and his hold over his “family” for years so when I heard about his book, I knew I had to read it. Evie’s perspective is of someone just barely on the outside looking in. Suzanne is one of the girls in the cult’s leader Russell’s harem. She strikes up a friendship with Evie and it’s her, rather than Russell, that Evie becomes obsessed with.
Most everything I’ve read about Charles Manson has been focused on how and why he became a monster. Though fictional, this book is about the girls in the cult. Russell is a supporting character. It’s Suzanne that Evie wants to impress, maybe even wants to be. I know I have wondered how Manson could get all those women to blindly follow him and believe the madness he was spouting. After getting to know Suzanne and Evie, I felt like I could better understand the real-life Manson girls as well.
Emma Cline’s prose is amazing. I listened to the audiobook and there were many times that I wanted to pull over to the side of the road to jot down a line or two that I thought was particularly beautiful or witty. Unfortunately, I didn’t actually do that and I can’t remember anything specific. You’ll just have to trust me that she’s an amazing author.
I really liked the narrator of this audiobook. Her voice had a dreamy tone to it that was perfect for a book set in the hazy, hippie world of 1960s Northern California. I would love to go back and read it in print just to have a visual in my mind of the wonderful metaphors and similes that Cline uses. I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us next. Because believe it or not, The Girls is her debut novel. Whatever it is, I’ll be first in line.
February 14th, 2017 in
Books |
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This was the week of strep throat. Poor Cash tested positive for it on Wednesday. I had been running a low-grade fever for a few days so after I took him to the doctor, I went to urgent care and asked them to swab me for it. I figured why not? I didn’t have a sore throat but I have no immune system so better safe than sorry. And I did indeed test positive. The bright spot is that oral antibiotics actually worked and the fever is gone now without a trip to the hospital! Cash is all better too. It was his first time being sick this school year. And West and Neve managed not to catch it. *knock on wood*.
The highlight of the week was my mother/son date with West. We went to see Shen Yun, a classical Chinese music and dance company. He’s been wanted to go since he heard about it last year. I was dubious that he would actually find it entertaining but I was wrong. He loved it! I liked it too but I think I liked watching him watch it more.
Lastly, I want to give a shout out to my talented friend Sarah, who made this awesome hat for me! Isn’t it cute?
February 12th, 2017 in
Family |
1 Comment
So by now you’ve all heard about how Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell silenced Senator Elizabeth Warren when she was trying to read a letter Coretta Scott King wrote in 1896 criticizing Senator Jeff Sessions civil rights record. McConnell said, “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”
My husband designed this awesome (if I do say so myself) T-shirt, that you can wear to show that you are persistent too! There are also tote bags, hoodies and mugs with the same design. The shirts and hoodie have a lot of colors to choose from. Fifty percent of the proceeds are going straight to the ACLU. Click here or on the image below to order. Let me know in the comments if you have questions.
February 10th, 2017 in
Books |
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Twisted Sisters by Jen Lancaster
Publisher: NAL
Paperback Release Date: January 6, 2015
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Reagan Bishop is a pusher. A licensed psychologist who stars on the Wendy Winsberg cable breakout show I Need a Push, Reagan helps participants become their best selves by urging them to overcome obstacles and change behaviors. An overachiever, Reagan is used to delivering results.
Despite her overwhelming professional success, Reagan never seems to earn her family’s respect. Her younger sister, Geri, is and always will be the Bishop family favorite. When a national network buys Reagan’s show, the pressures for unreasonably quick results and higher ratings mount. But Reagan’s a clinician, not a magician, and fears witnessing her own personal failings in prime time. (And seriously? Her family will never let her hear the end of it.) Desperate to make the show work and keep her family at bay, Reagan actually listens when the show’s New Age healer offers an unconventional solution…
Reagan is the responsible, successful sister. She’s a TV psychologist on an Oprah type show called I Need a Push and thinks she is pretty darn near perfect. Her sister Geri, on the other hand, is flighty and low on ambition. She’s only a hair-dresser for Pete’s sake. (Reagan’s opinion, not mine.) Why is it that people, including her own family, like Geri so much more?
When I Need a Push is bought by a bigger network, they want to her segment to go in a completely different direction – one that she is not happy with. Her method is to dig deeply with each client and get to the root of their problem. The new network wants her show to be more like reality TV – high drama with the person “cured” by the end of the episode. Reagan knows there is no way she can make this happen. But then her New Age friend Deva offers up a solution.
Okay, Deva’s solution was completely unrealistic, which is fine. I didn’t know this book had magical realism in it but I can roll with it. However, none of the other characters even batted an eye. And this was something that regular people would have freaked out about for sure.
Also, the last half of the book seemed rushed. Reagan didn’t find out about Deva’s solution until that point and once she did, she didn’t need any convincing to use it. Even though it was freaky and unethical. And then it was over before I knew it. I read it on my Kindle so I didn’t have the physical feel of how many pages were left and I was genuinely surprised when it ended.
I read this book when I was in the hospital a few months ago and it was a great distraction because it’s definitely light chick-lit. However, I didn’t like it as much as Jen’s other forays into fiction and it’s definitely not as good as her memoirs. I think die-hard fans will be okay with it and have some fun but if you’re new to Jen, don’t start with this one. Start with her first memoir, Bitter is the New Black. It is hilarious!
Reviews of Jen’s memoirs:
Such a Pretty Fat
Pretty In Plaid
My Fair Lazy
I Regret Nothing
Reviews of Jen’s novels:
If You Were Here
Here I Go Again
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February 9th, 2017 in
Books |
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Ink Flamingos by Karen E. Olson
Publisher: NAL
Release Date: June 7, 2011
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Dee Carmichael, lead singer of the hot pop sensation that was the Flamingos, is one of Brett’s most dedicated customers – or was. Dee has been discovered dead in her hotel room, surrounded by ink pots and needles. And a tall redhead matching Brett’s description was seen leaving the crime scene. Now Brett has been branded the prime suspect. This can’t be good for business.
Meanwhile, a blog has been showcasing Dee’s deadly tattoo. Things get worse when pictures of Brett start appearing on the site. Turns out, someone isn’t merely following Brett, but impersonating her all over town. Now she must act fast to find out who’s out to get her before the killer puts the dye into dying once again…
My tattoo. I am a bad-ass.
Ink Flamingos is the fourth and last book in the Tattoo Shop Mystery series, a cozy mystery series set in a Las Vegas tattoo shop. I didn’t know when I read it that it was the final book in the series – I didn’t even know it was part of a series! To be honest, the reason I chose this book is because the word “flamingos” is in the title and I love flamingos. I even have a flamingo tattoo myself! A flamingo tattoo is integral to the plot of this book. Anyway, even though Ink Flamingos is part of a series, I had no trouble jumping right in and figuring out who all the characters were. It definitely can stand alone.
When tattoo artist Brett Kavanaugh’s famous client Daisy (Dee) Carmichael turns up dead, Brett takes it upon herself to find her killer. After all, someone is impersonating Brett and making it look like she’s the killer. Brett’s brother Tim is an actual police officer on the case and Brett’s interference into his investigation is frustrating him to no end. I got the sense that this isn’t the first investigation she’s inserted herself into.
This was a well-crafted mystery with several red herrings that kept me guessing up until the end who the killer was. There was also some romance thrown in for good measure. I don’t read a lot of cozies but I liked this one enough that I’ll probably read the other three books in the series – even though they don’t have the word “flamingo” in their titles!
February 8th, 2017 in
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The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Paperback Release Date: March 25, 2014
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. In The Interestings, Wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge.
The kind of creativity that is rewarded at age fifteen is not always enough to propel someone through life at age thirty; not everyone can sustain, in adulthood, what seemed so special in adolescence. Jules Jacobson, an aspiring comic actress, eventually resigns herself to a more practical occupation and lifestyle. Her friend Jonah, a gifted musician, stops playing the guitar and becomes an engineer. But Ethan and Ash, Jules’s now-married best friends, become shockingly successful—true to their initial artistic dreams, with the wealth and access that allow those dreams to keep expanding. The friendships endure and even prosper, but also underscore the differences in their fates, in what their talents have become and the shapes their lives have taken.
Wide in scope, ambitious, and populated by complex characters who come together and apart in a changing New York City, The Interestings explores the meaning of talent; the nature of envy; the roles of class, art, money, and power; and how all of it can shift and tilt precipitously over the course of a friendship and a life.
Ethan, Ash, and her brother Goodman, Jonah and Cathy are five privileged friends who have been attending Camp Spirit-In-The-Woods for years. It’s a camp for artistically gifted kids and the friends only half-jokingly call themselves The Interestings. One summer, they accept a girl new to the camp into their little circle. Julie, renamed Jules by the group because it sounds cooler, is there on scholarship. Her father just died and she needed a distraction.
The six teens are the best of friends, even keeping in touch and visiting each other throughout the rest of the year. As they grow up and outgrow camp, their friendships are tested. Members betray other members. Some find success as the artists they wanted to be, while others must choose, or settle for, different career paths.
The Interestings raises several interesting questions. (See what I did there?) What is a friend’s obligation to you if they are significantly better off financially than you? What should your expectations be? Is it ever okay to keep secrets from a friend? What about your spouse? If one member of the group hurts another, should the remaining members shun him or her? Or is it none of their business?
The characters are well-developed and multi-dimensional. I think I both loved and hated each of them in turn. Well, there was one that I didn’t ever like. You’ll know which one when you read it.
I love it when a novel has great characters that I get to follow from their youth into middle age or beyond. The Interestings is one of those sweeping stories.
February 7th, 2017 in
Books |
2 Comments
The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher: Orbit
Paperback Release Date: April 28, 2015
Publisher’s Description:
Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her “our little genius.”
Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh.
The Girl With All the Gifts is one of those books that I can hardly say anything about without spoiling it and giving up the big twist. I mean, look at the publisher’s description. It hardly says anything either! I can’t even tell you which sub-genre of thriller it falls into but it is definitely a thriller from beginning to end.
Why is Melanie taken from a cell every morning with a gun pointed at her head? The answer to this question is the biggest surprise in the book. Clues are given but I never would have guessed what it was before it was revealed.
What can I tell you? I can tell you that this book is scary, creepy and haunting in all the best ways. I can tell you that it takes place in the future and has great world-building but I can’t tell you anything about that world.
I know my review is short and cryptic but I hope it’s enough to convince you that you must read this book.
February 6th, 2017 in
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This was a pretty low-key week. The absolute highlight was graduating pulmonary rehab. I have very poor lungs for a variety of reasons. I’m hospitalized for pneumonia at least twice a year. The latest theory from my doctors is that my Crohn’s disease is the most recent cause of the inflammation. This is after being in the hospital for over two weeks in November. I even spent Thanksgiving there! I came home from that stay with instructions to wear oxygen whenever doing any activity more strenuous than just puttering around my house – so shopping, going on an outing with my kids, etc. I was super uncomfortable every time I left the house with my portable oxygen machine because I felt so conspicuous. I even scared a baby on an elevator and made him cry!
My doctor ordered pulmonary rehab for me, which is basically physical therapy for the lungs. It was eighteen sessions long and we mostly focused on cardio to build up endurance. Pulmonary rehab is usually for people with COPD. My class consisted of me and five to seven crusty old male ex-smokers in their late 70s and early 80s. I fit right in. Halfway through the program, I was able to ditch my oxygen machine during the day. I still have to wear it on the treadmill and when I sleep at night but that’s fine. I’m down to only one-liter on the treadmill and I hope to get it down to zero soon.
When you graduate, they play Happy Trails over the speaker system and you get a certificate. This is me with the fabulous RN and exercise physiologist that I worked with. There is also a respiratory therapist that monitors you.
I spent this weekend watching Oscar nominated movies. More on that later – I’ll be doing at least on Oscar post soon!
What have you been up to? Tell me in the comments or link up a post.
February 5th, 2017 in
Uncategorized |
4 Comments
To Burp or Not to Burp: A Guide to Your Body in Space by Dr.Dave Williams & Loredana Cunti
Publisher: Annick Press
Release Date: October 11, 2016
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Dr. Dave brings his first-hand experience with two flights on the Space Shuttle and three spacewalks on the International Space Station to the kind of “gross” questions that intrigue and amuse middle schoolers: How do astronauts use the bathroom? What happens when they pick their noses? What kind of underwear do they wear? Why is burping in space dangerous? How do they get water? (Answer: advanced systems treat and purify liquid waste, turning it into drinking water – bottoms up!). He also explains the science behind the strange physical phenomena astronauts experience, such as floating in midair, getting taller, and losing bone density (hint: it all has to do with microgravity).
By simplifying complex concepts with age-appropriate language and featuring actual photos of astronauts like Dr. Dave in space, quirky cartoon illustrations, fun fact sidebars, an index, and further reading suggestions – this jam-packed guide will keep young readers learning both in and out of the classroom, whether they’re aiming for the moon or studying the stars.
To Burp or Not to Burp: A Guide to Your Body in Space not only answers questions that kids may have about life on the International Space Station (ISS) but it answered mine too! Come on, haven’t you ever wondered how astronauts go to the bathroom in space? I had a general idea but this book gave me the complete low-down! It also explains eating, basic hygiene, and sleeping, among other things. My favorite part was learning that when you want to take a nap in space, you basically just close your eyes and drift off to sleep because you’re already floating, which is really comfy. I would love to be able to do that!
This book is written in simple language that kids will have no trouble understanding. It has a great mix of both illustrations and real-life photographs from inside the ISS. And it actually wasn’t AS gross as I thought it would be. Kids and parents alike will love this behinds-the-scenes look at life on the ISS.
I’m pleased to be able to givaway one copy of To Burp or not To Burp to a lucky reader with a US mailing address. Just fill out the form below. I will take entries until 11:59pm CST on February 16, 2017 Good luck!
(I received a complementary copy of this book for review.)
For more reviews of books for children and teens, check out Booking Mama’s feature, Kid Konnection, posted on Saturdays. If you’d like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children’s books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, you can go to her site to leave a comment and your link .
February 2nd, 2017 in
Books |
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