BOOK REVIEW: Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner

Sometimes all you can do is fly away home ...

When Sylvie Serfer met Richard Woodruff in law school, she had wild curls, wide hips, and lots of opinions. Decades later, Sylvie has remade herself as the ideal politician's wife-her hair dyed and straightened, her hippie-chick wardrobe replaced by tailored knit suits. At fifty-seven, she ruefully acknowledges that her job is staying twenty pounds thinner than she was in her twenties and tending to her husband, the senator.

Lizzie, the Woodruffs' younger daughter, is at twenty-four a recovering addict, whose mantra HALT (Hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired?) helps her keep her life under control. Still, trouble always seems to find her. Her older sister, Diana, an emergency room physician, has everything Lizzie failed to achieve-a husband, a young son, the perfect home-and yet she's trapped in a loveless marriage. With temptation waiting in one of the ER's exam rooms, she finds herself craving more.

After Richard's extramarital affair makes headlines, the three women are drawn into the painful glare of the national spotlight. Once the press conference is over, each is forced to reconsider her life, who she is and who she is meant to be.

Written with an irresistible blend of heartbreak and hilarity, Fly Away Home is an unforgettable story of a mother and two daughters who after a lifetime of distance finally learn to find refuge in one another.

Before I even begin I have to clarify that I have yet to read something I don't like from Jennifer Weiner. 'Fly Away Home' is another re-readable book by her. It fits the classic chick lit mold without the '...and they lived happily ever after'. Or everything solved and wrapped neatly in a happy little bow. Honestly, either of those outcomes almost always feels contrived and unrealistic.

You know the story. Boy meets girl. Fall in love. Get married. Have children. Work their way up the career ladder, in this instance politics, and achieve their dreams. Good child. Screwed up child. Boy screws up. Girl is heartbroken. Meanwhile good child screws up. Screwed up child finds her way, kind of. Bare bones but an outline we can all identify with. But that doesn't tell the story and it wasn't wrapped up neatly in a bow either. Sylvie and Richard fall in love at college, he follows his dreams into politics. Sylvie manages his career, their lives and home and to some degree their daughters. The good child, Diana, is a doctor, married with a son. She chose her marriage based on not having what her parents had and finds herself unhappy. And the day the news that her dad had an affair with a political aide breaks she's in the midst of her own affair. Lizzie, the screwed up child, is fresh out of rehab...again, and learning how to date sober while babysitting her nephew.

Girl leaves boy to try to decide what she wants from life and her marriage. Good daughter leaves husband but also gets dumped by her fling. Screwed up child gets pregnant and hides it from everyone, walking away from the father because she is scared of rejection. Most of the story is wrapped up in some variation quite neatly. Good daughter and husband divorce but amicably. Screwed up daughter lives with her sister and watches her nephew while reuniting with baby daddy. Girl and Boy talk but no decisions are made as to their future. Though he decides to retire instead of shoot for the oval office.

It's a good story. A great lay in bed on a cold winter day with hot cocoa read or a beach bag book in the summer read. It's not going to make have deep thought provoking thoughts but you might actually think a time or two. It didn't leave me feeling overly emotionally invested but I did feel a kinship for the characters. It's a good book. I can't say it's great. I can't say it's amazing. But I can say I would read it again.

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About Jennifer Weiner

Jennifer Weiner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fourteen books, including Good in Bed, The Littlest Bigfoot, and her memoir Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing. A graduate of Princeton University and contributor to the New York Times Opinion section, she lives with her family in Philadelphia. Visit her online at JenniferWeiner.com.
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Moments of Clarity

I write a lot about being blonde.  Sometimes I worry about perpetuating the stereotype.  A large part of me identifies with the stereotypical blonde that everyone tells the jokes about.  Not because of my hair color, which has darkened with age, but because they fit who I am.  At heart I am a stereotypical blonde.  I’m slightly dingy and always good for a laugh, usually with a snort or two thrown in for good measure.  I’m slightly ditzy and not always able to articulate my thoughts when actually speaking.  I’m slightly klutzy, as in yes I have tripped over color changes in the carpet.  And fallen up the stairs, as well as the traditional down.  I don’t just have deep thought provoking thoughts, they come about in a slightly off centered way.  I can get more meaning from life out of song lyrics, children's books, and conversations with friends than by being philosophical.  That’s not to say I don’t have deep thought provoking thoughts.  I just arrive at the true meaning of things from a different direction than others.  I’m more a detour through the countryside kind of thinker.  If you have read any of my blogs you surely know that by now.

I guess I could write about being a single middle aged woman.  I’m almost crossing out of the thirty-somethings in the next year.  Wait, I’ve done that also.  I could write about existing in a plane of chaos that seems to intrigue the universe into handing out more chaos just to sit back and watch the juggling act.  Wait, I’ve done that also.  I have written about the everyday things in life and added my own personal spin to them.  I’m known for arriving at deep thought provoking thoughts through laundry, toilet paper, children and animals.  And then spinning them into something that rings more true to me than philosophy.  I’ve written about lots of things.  I’ve pondered about lots of things.  I’ve shared about lots of things.  But I always come back to blonde.

Of all the categories I fit in Blonde is the one I identify with the most.  I feel as though I fit that stereotype more than any other I also fit in.  Sometimes I wonder if I can make more impact on the way others view the world by filtering this direction.  Sometimes I wonder if my thoughts caring more meaning when filtered this way.  Holy cow the blonde say what?!?  And because it comes from the ‘blonde’ perspective it carries more weight and makes people really think about it more.  As a global society, I’ve noticed that we think for ourselves less and rely on those whom we believe to be somehow ‘better’ than us to to think for us. Or we go the polar opposite and disagree with what anyone more educated than us, having more perceived power than us, have to say because it wasn’t our idea first.   I don’t ever want to be one of those people.  I want to be someone that never stops trying to figure out the world.  I want to be someone that never stops trying to figure out other people.  I want to be someone that never lets others take my thoughts, my ideas, and my power away from me.  And if I have to approach it from the ‘blonde perspective’ to really hear myself and have others hear me then that’s what I’ll do.   

BOOK REVIEW: Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

 In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard's world changed forever—-when Caitlin Somers chose her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomed Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha's Vineyard, a magical, wind-blown island where two friends became summer sisters...

Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin has begged Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go—for the friend whose casual betrayals she remembers all too well. Because Vix wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer. And, after all these years, she needs to know why her best friend—her summer sister—still has the power to break her heart...

I loved Judy Blume as a kid, and teen, and still as an adult.  I first read 'Summer Sisters' many years ago and fell in love with Judy Blume as an adult reader all over again.  Yes it's chick lit.  Yes it's slightly cheesy.  It's slightly unbelievable but it's completely engrossing. 

Victoria and Caitlin have the unlikely friendship between the new popular mysterious girl and the under the radar not exactly misfit but not exactly anybody you notice girl.  You know, the kind of friendship all girls want for themselves at that age.  Caitlin's life is everything that Victoria believes her's is not.  They have a lifetime friendship, despite the ups and downs and ins and outs of lives lived in different worlds.  You know, the kind of friendship most women want for themselves.

Totally chick lit, 'Summer Sisters' is the lifetime of friendship between two girls that grow up together, grow apart together, grow back together, and despite the ups and downs always still care for each other.  Slightly cheesy as reality, despite our own fantasies of lifetime friendships, it still delivers the belief that anything is possible.  Slightly unbelievable in the adventures the girls find themselves in, the experimentation they choose to engage in, and the craziness that is the life of Caitlin. 

'Summer Sisters' should never be confused as a young adult or teen selection.  There is no doubt as you read through their lives that Victoria and Caitlin were written for an adult audience.  Though to be fair, a lot of current young adult books I come across contain an equal amount of sex.  There is a lot of sexual experimentation and experiences. 

At the end of the day 'Summer Sisters' will always fall on my favorite books shelf because Judy Blume grew up.  She took what that I loved about her books as a child and as a teen and tailored those things to an adult audience.  She created characters you could believe in, even when you can't begin to relate to their experiences.  She created characters that, despite never being able to relate to their life, you can see yourself in.  Their struggles and achievements and the life lessons they learn along the way.

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About Judy Blume

Judy Blume is an American writer known for children's and young adult fiction. Some of her best known works are Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Deenie, and Blubber.

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BOOK REVIEW: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

When Siddalee Walker, oldest daughter of Vivi Abbott Walker, Ya-Ya extraordinaire, is interviewed in the New York Times about a hit play she's directed, her mother gets described as a "tap-dancing child abuser." Enraged, Vivi disowns Sidda. Devastated, Sidda begs forgiveness, and postpones her upcoming wedding. All looks bleak until the Ya-Yas step in and convince Vivi to send Sidda a scrapbook of their girlhood mementos, called "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." As Sidda struggles to analyze her mother, she comes face to face with the tangled beauty of imperfect love, and the fact that forgiveness, more than understanding, is often what the heart longs for.

Truth, I've seen the movie.  I'm not sure how, if at all that colored by ideas regarding the book.  To be fair I didn't see the movie when it was at it's height of popularity and everyone was doing Ya Ya things at parties, with the family or with their friends.  It's difficult for me to see a movie after I have read the book.  Predominately because I feel like the movies never do the book justice.  However, 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood', despite the differences between the book and the movie, was done well as a book and as a movie.  Perhaps because I read the book after the movie, it's rare I do it that way.

I truly enjoyed this book.  I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed the characters.  I reminds me a little bit of 'Sex in the City'.  Just go with me for a minute.  I have a friend who loves the show and the movies.  The intertwining of friends lives and the comfort of having friends at hand for the good, the bad, the ugly, the amazing.  I have another friend who said once that she could never be a 'Sex in the City' friend and if that is what was being sought in friendship then to look elsewhere.  The Ya-Ya's are 'Sex in the City' friends.  Always there, good or bad.  Always ready to hold up a friend, or the child of a friend.  Always there for the fun times and the hard times. Friends for life, no take backs.  They carry each others secrets and burdens.  The carry each others joy and laughter.

Friendship like that, today, is rare.  Friendships that span a lifetime are hard to find.  In today's world people are on the move.  We are more globally minded and leave behind parts of ourselves where we go. To stay in one area for a lifetime and be around the same people for a lifetime is something of the past.   Even if one or two stay the chances of four staying is small.  We go to college, we move to the city, we get careers and married.  Your friends from school change to your college friends.  They change to your career friends.  You may hold the friendships from childhood in memory but rarely do they continue in reality.

I think I liked this book mostly for the relationships.  To have those types of friendships is something we all long for, whether we realize it or not.  Someone to trust with your secrets, your heartbreaks, your tears.  Someone to trust with your joys, your hopes and dreams, and laughter.  We all long for someone to have a history and a future with.  And as women this is position that only a girlfriend, or girlfriends, can fill. 

I think, somewhere in writing this review, I've changed from writing an actual review to writing a blog post of thoughts and life lessons.  What I do know is that I believe that Rebecca Wells did an amazing job of creating an amazing cast of women that fills a space that we all long for in one way or another.  She's created women who knew how to care for each other.  She also created an imperfect world where no one is perfect, no matter how much they try or pretend to be.  Everyone is broken in one way or another.  And those women tried to teach us that no matter how good or bad a situation is.  No matter how vulnerable you feel you have to keep going.  Your time will come.  And those that love you will carry you through it all.

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About Rebecca Wells

Writer, actor, and playwright Rebecca Wells is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Ya-Yas in Bloom, Little Altars Everywhere, and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which was made into a feature film. A native of Louisiana, she now lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest.

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BOOK REVIEW: Phantom's by Dean Koontz

They thought it was the work of a maniac or terrorists or toxic contamination -- but then they found the truth, which was worse than anything they had imagined...

'Phantoms' was one of the first of the first Dean Koontz novels I ever read and will forever be one of my favorites by him.  One of the things I enjoy about Koontz's writing is he takes the slightly improbable and shows how it could actually be probable.  It's the prefect blend of science fiction and horror.

A mountain town suddenly missing most of it's residents and those that aren't missing are dead.  However, there is no indication of what caused these deaths or disappearances.  The bodies left behind defy any known method of death. As the investigation gears up the questions become greater than the answers. 

I really enjoyed the storyline of 'Phantoms' and the idea of real historical, even recent history, events and an improbable explanation.  Mass disappearances such as the Roanoke Colony, Aztec cities, the Mary Celeste which I had heard of as well as a few incidents I was unfamiliar with.  The problem with improbable is that no one else has any better theory on what happened.  So is this explanation really as improbable as we try to tell ourselves?  Written in what I call the 'Koontz Style', giving just enough information in each chapter to keep you engaged while at the same time drawing bull's eye circles around the answer.  Hinting just enough to make you think you know what's going on while keeping you in the dark all the same.

The hard part of this novel is the sheer number of characters and the switching voice. Truth, I only have issues with all the characters because I am horrible with names.  I was forever flipping back through what I had read so I could remember who was who.  And then just as you got to know a character and decided if you liked them or not they were gone.  Just gone.  Dead, vanished, gone.  Tough I do appreciate that most of the characters, outside maybe the random fox, I got to know before they were gone.  It was hard to read about the loss of characters that were likeable and sympathetic.  And it was hard to read about the characters that were created to loathed.  I mean, were they really gone? 

There were parts that were not only improbable but also unbelievable.  And those unbelievable parts made the ending of the novel bring down my entire rating of the story.  I do like this book.  And I would recommend it to anyone that likes science-fiction meets horror meets good gravy what if that could be true!?!

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About Dean Koontz

Dean Ray Koontz is an American author. His novels are broadly described as suspense thrillers, but also frequently incorporate elements of horror, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and satire.

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BOOK REVIEW: Summer's Child by Luanne Rice

THERE'S A PLACE IN OUR HEARTS RESERVED FOR MIRACLES...
From Luanne Rice, the celebrated author of"Beach Girls" and many other" New York Times "bestsellers, comes this powerful novel of a mystery, a love affair, and a bond that cannot be broken set in a seaside town where miracles are made..."
"On the first day of summer, Mara Jameson went out to water her garden-and was never seen again. Years after her disappearance, no one could forget the expectant mother whose glowing smile had captured the heart of everyone who'd known her: Maeve Jameson, still mourning the loss of a granddaughter she had struggled to protect...Patrick Murphy, a dogged police detective obsessed with a vanished woman...and Lily Malone, drawn to the rugged beauty of the Nova Scotia coast and its promise of a new life.
Here Lily hopes to raise her nine-year-old daughter, Rose, far from the pain and loss of the past. Here she will meet a gifted scientist, Liam Neill, whose life is on a similar trajectory from heartbreak to hope. And before the season is over, Lily will find the magic that exists in people we love the best...the everyday miracles that can make the extraordinary happen anywhere.

I liked this book.  I really did...mostly.  'Summer's Child' by Luanne Rice was an interesting fast read.  While I would initially classify the novel as chick lit it also had a touch of intrigue and a touch of romance. 

Set it present day Canada in Cape Hawk, the end of the earth, Lily and her daughter Rose have made their lives there.  As Marissa and her daughter Jennifer arrive things are changing for Rose as she anticipates a major surgery for her heart defects.  Marissa and Jennifer are on the run, so to speak, to escape a husband/step-dad that terrorized them.  A story that Lily understands as she was hiding out when she arrived very pregnant with Rose.  With the support of the Nanouk Girls of the Frozen North Lily had carved a support system of friends for herself and Rose. Marissa and Jennifer are embraced by these same women as their own as well.

The story flowed well and the characters were 'mostly' believable.  Marissa trusted Lily and the Nanouk girls with her own secrets.  I have a hard time believing in a character that has run away from what Marissa has run from and suddenly surrounded by other women she tells them things about her situation.  Having gone so far as to change names and even birthdays I don't see some of those secrets start to unravel on a first meeting.  The mystery twist I figured out before it was revealed but it wasn't contrived or followed a 'formula' so that does not detract from the story for me.  I did feel the romance was a bit contrived however.  I am interested in getting my hands on the next book with these characters to see how it all plays out.

I rated this book 4 stars because there was some parts that felt contrived and and weren't completely believable.  I enjoyed this book however and would read it again.

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About Luanne Rice

Luanne Rice is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-two novels including THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF SISTERS, her first YA novel. Five of her books have been made into movies and mini-series, many have been New York Times bestsellers and two of her pieces have been featured in off-Broadway theatre productions. She divides her time between New York City and the Connecticut shoreline.

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Why, Hello Summer

I've been encouraged/challenged by my good friend over at A Simply Enchanted Life to write a week in review post.  However a title about week in review just doesn't 'fit' for how I tend to write stuff.  I meant to sit down and write this last night but I was exhausted.  Summer has arrived here in Bolivar and I hope it sticks around while keeping the temperatures manageable.  Probably too much wishful thinking in that last sentence!

As most of you know I live in an apartment though not really a 'complex'.  There are a total of 8 apartments in two buildings.  The one I am in is actually the downstairs of the old house that was converted then added on to.  In the summer I am blessed with concrete walls which keeps my place cooler without having to run the air conditioning constantly.  In the winter I am cursed to have concrete walls as it takes so much to ever not be a block of ice.  I am blessed with amazing neighbors (except for the apartments next door as no one lives there currently but I have high hopes that whomever moves in will fit with the rest of our group.)  Yesterday the back neighbors and I met outside with all the neighborhood kids to play sidewalk chalk, ride bikes and scooters, and of course water balloons.  Summer can't arrive without some sort of water fight.

 The rules were simple...I thought.  Kids can only throw at kids.  Adults could only throw at kids.  In theory the adults were saved from getting wet.  Somehow it really didn't work that way.  The girl child and I made cupcakes and it was her first time using the mixer by herself - and she did amazing!  And then I made two of my special pizza's for everyone.  (Chicken Spinach (fresh only) Alfredo Pizza.  I realized once it was too late that I had some bacon in the freezer I could have added.  It was yummy anyway :D  I forgot to grab a picture at the time but I did get a picture of the aftermath. . .

All in all, a little bit of sunburn and total exhuastion later it was an amazing start to summer!  The week leading up to this was busy with late nights at The Day Job and some situations that will take time to figure out.  The normal running back and forth to Stockton and paperwork. . . the reason for my existence. And today I must add a shout out to my parents as they celebrate their 40th Wedding Anniversary.  Love ya Ma and Pa!