I'm So Happy For You

So glad to be done reading this book.

It was a quick read, but not a GOOD read. It was melodramatic and just not the kind of "chick lit" that I have enjoyed in the past. The story was ok. I mean there are a lot of women out there with 'friend-enemies". However this plot was just too much. I found it to be predictable and boring. It is not something I would recommend. I read this for a light summer read for book club.

Read August 2009

Such A Pretty Fat

I feel like finally a book has been written that explains what it is like to LIKE yourself.. but maybe not the way people expect you to.
This book made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions. Jen's trials with her size an self worth are right on target for me. I think that it took a while for the book to hit on losing the weight, however when it did.. it was a quick page turner for me. I wasn't fond of the footnotes. I tend to read them first when I would turn the page. However they were funny in some instances. This is the first book I have read by Lancaster and I plan to read some more of her work.

Read August 2009

Chocolat

This was one of the strange times where I have seen the movie before I read the book. I liked the movie, yet I loved the book. I think the author, Harris, really caught me up in the 'voices' of each character.
This is the story about an outsider moving into a small town in France. The locals are curious however the town Priest is not happy about her arrival. The Priest seems to be trying (in vain) to get his parishioners to like him and come back to god. He views the woman and her child as sinners and possibly a witch. He believes that unless she is run out of town, the town will be come tarnished and indulge in immoral acts.
Vianne is a strong single mother. She is a business woman as well as a friend. The way that she is described and narrates her story through out the book you really get a sense of who she is as a person. In many ways she becomes a friend to the villagers and to the people passing through the town.
I think that the story is a quick read. I am glad I read the book after the movie. The movie is different from the book, yet both are a fun and fast story.
Read July 2009

Big Cherry Holler

We are back in the Mountains with Ave and Jack. This story takes place 8 years from the end of the last story (Big Stone Gap).

We learn even more about Ave, Jack, their families and how their marriage works and what is holding them back from happiness. This story really develops Ave into an adult woman who still has not completely 'found herself'. We learn about the dynamic of a family that is wounded and still struggling to be living in the present.

Once again the readers get to go on a journey with Ave to Italy. The way that the author, Adriana Trigiani, describes these different area's really take you deep into the countryside of Italy as well as the Mountains that Ave grew up in.

I love these books. I am a big fan of Adriana Trigiani and really appreciate her story telling abilities!

Read July 2009