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A Few Fluffy Book Reviews

Posted by Ayesha in Contemporary Fiction, Humor

Sometimes, I just need an easy girly read. It’s summer! The beach read isn’t limited to the beach. Here are a few I’ve just read.

wedding night

image via bn.com

 

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella - It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Sophie Kinsella. She’s my favorite chick lit author, and while I enjoyed this book, I didn’t find it as side-splittingly funny as Kinsella’s previous books. With two heroines, it seems that the redeeming qualities and the silly qualities got split up between the two ladies and kind of fell flat. I still found the book funny, but I think there was too much going on between all the plot lines to get one great story out of it. 3/5

saving ceecee

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Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman - This was a quick read for me that was reminiscent of The Secret Life of Bees. CeeCee’s life changes entirely after losing her mother in an accident. She moves to Savannah with her great-aunt, and is immediately surrounded by some eccentric characters. While I found it similar to The Secret Life of Bees, I didn’t find it as strong. The charmed life that CeeCee had found herself in just seemed a little too sugary sweet. Again, I gave this book a 3/5.

the smart one

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The Smart One by Jennifer Close - Close’s sophomore novel explores life after those first few post-college years. there are four women in the Coffey family and we learn the story from each perspective. Life is hard, guys. This book is the epitome of first world problems. Every character has a home, a job (or a valid reason not to work), food, and even the luxury to choose what’s next in life for them. I guess that’s all to say it was a mildly entertaining read, but it’s hard to hear people complain about problems that aren’t problems. 2/5

bernadette

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Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple – This was a book recommended by one of my Weddingbee friends. Through emails, we find out that Bernadette Fox is a recluse who once had a successful career in architecture in Los Angeles before moving to Seattle with her genius husband. Their brilliant daughter, Bee, has the perfect amount of cynicism and optimism from her parents, and decides that she wants to go to Antarctica as her reward for doing exceptionally well in school since kindergarten. Preparations for the trip drive Bernadette to extreme anxiety, and she disappears. This book was hilarious. It grabbed my attention and I found myself wanting to befriend Bee and her weird mom. It’s a great satire on this technological world, and the race to be the perfect, nurturing, involved parents. 4/5

Are there any beach reads you’re looking forward to this summer? What kind of fluff reads do you enjoy?

 

A Pile of Book Reviews

Posted by Ayesha in Biographical Fiction, Brain Dump, Contemporary Fiction

Between reading and audiobooks, I have been flying through some books. And I realized I haven’t slowed down enough to review them. Instead of a dedicated post for each book, I thought I’d group them together in a couple of posts to move things along.

image via bn.com

image via bn.com

Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz - I debated telling you about this one, but I thought I would save you the trouble of reading it. As someone who works in this field, I didn’t enjoy the book at all. The tone of the book is negative throughout and has very little redeeming qualities. There were some things that were better than others, but it also happened to be predictable. I read it because I wanted to see the movie. But the movie was even worse, which I’m sad about because I think Tina Fey and Paul Rudd could save anything. But no, somehow, the movie was an even worse version because it elaborated and created story around all of the worst parts of the book. I do NOT recommend this title. 2/5

image via bn.com

image via bn.com

Son by Lois Lowry - Son is the last book in the The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry. This was a quick read that gave the last main character his complete story. I liked that it gave a little more background into the world that Jonas and Gabe came from, and also explored worlds beyond that grayscale community. Son also has a little sense of adventure that seemed to lack a little in the middle two books. I’m not entirely sure what the point of the series was, but it was an easy read, and I’m glad I finished them all. 3/5

“Wow,” you must be thinking at this point. “Has she read anything likable?” Actually I have, but I had to get the mediocre ones out of the way. On to better reads! 

image via bn.com

image via bn.com

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson - This is one of those books that is always sitting on the “Buy 2 Get the 3rd free” table at Barnes and Noble. It’s always in my basket, and then it never makes it home with me. I listened to it on audiobook, and I’m glad I finally did. This is a story about retired Major Ernest Pettigrew, who lives in the English countryside, and is a very traditional and proper Englishman. The story follows him as he develops a friendship with Mrs. Ali, the widowed Pakistani shop keeper in their small town. He’s not just faced with the difficulty of beginning a new relationship in his old age, but also with the small-minded views that the town, his son, and Mrs. Ali’s family constantly whisper about. I really liked this story, and am glad I listened to it, because the narrator gave the characters such fun personalities. 3/5

Z

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Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler - After watching Midnight in Paris, and reading The Paris Wife, I became intrigued by Zelda Fitzgerald. I looked up a little bit about her, and found this recent novel. Much like The Paris Wife, this novel explores the courtship and marriage of this famous literary couple. What began as a whirlwind romance moved into a tumultuous public relationship that crossed oceans. Zelda Fitzgerald was a writer and painter. She was supportive of Scott and his career, but had to deal with his ego and creative moods. This book is a work of fiction and isn’t the exact story of these two, but Fowler did a lot of research, and really nails the two main characters’ personalities. With the release of The Great Gatsby and lots of attention on the famous novelist, it’s nice to get a glimpse into the woman beside him. I highly recommend this read, especially if you enjoyed The Paris Wife and Midnight in Paris. I can’t seem to get enough of these 1920s era fictional memoirs. So, if you know of any more, please send them my way! 4/5

 

Have you read some books that you weren’t a fan of recently? What about some really great ones that you want to spread the word about? I’d love to hear all about them in the comments below.

Book Review: The Chaperone

Posted by Ayesha in Contemporary Fiction

I have been on a historical fiction kick lately, and I’m speeding through books with the use of Audible and regular reading. I have some books to review and a few of them are in the same vein as The Paris Wife and Rules of Civility. This next one is the audiobook version of The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty. It was performed by Elizabeth McGovern of Downton Abbey  fame.

image via bn; image via imdb

image via bn; image via imdb

The Chaperone is the story of Cora Carlisle, an upper-class Wichita wife who volunteers to be chaperone to Louise Brooks as she attends dance class in New York City. Louise is a headstrong teenager, with an intellect that is shadowed by her sheer beauty. Chaperoning Louise is not an easy task for Cora, who goes to New York to find out some information about her past. That summer, she not only wrestles with Louise about impropriety, but she also wrestles with herself about what’s right and wrong, and how to carry on with life knowing what she knows.

Louise Brooks, you may know (I didn’t), was one of the golden girls of silent film. She is credited with popularizing the bob haircut. Her life in Hollywood was short-lived, mostly due to her extravagant spending, her tumultuous marriages, and the transition to “talkies.” Her success actually began in the summer she attended dance classes. She was picked up by the Denishawn Dance Company after taking their rigorous classes. She also performed in the Ziegfeld Follies. From Hollywood, she went on to make films in Europe. She also wrote, and I’m sure her memoir, Lulu in Hollywood, served as some inspiration for Moriarty.

image via imdb

image via imdb

While there is someone famous in this book, the story is really about Cora. Cora, married to a kind prominent attorney, has recently become an empty-nester. And with the opportunity to go to New York, she jumps at the chance to explore her background. Cora doesn’t know much about herself, orphaned as a teenager by her farming family, but she seeks to find that out on her trip. She not only discovers mu ch about her family. She finds out more about herself, her desires, and her ideals. Louise tests her patience and drives her crazy so in the hours of Louise’s class, more of Cora’s story unfolds and it’s a doozie.

I really enjoyed this book! McGovern did a great job of giving the characters life without a visual. Moriarty made both characters interesting, but also dealt with the common themes of the era, such as Prohibition and the flapper generation while mixing in some issues that I didn’t even think were relevant to the time. I was surprised at some of the turns in Cora’s life, but I thought it was great to give a woman who seems completely “fine” multiple layers to draw from. I thought her transformation was vital to the story, and I like how Moriarty handled it. I also had fun looking up Louise Brooks and hope to one day read her memoir.

Is there any historical fiction that’s been catching you lately?

4/5

25 Before 25: Camping in the Desert

Posted by Ayesha in Family, Friends, Life, Retail and tagged with

I haven’t really fallen off my 25 Before 25 list, but I am starting to wonder if I’ll be able to do all of it by my 25th birthday. Nevertheless, here’s one big thing off my list.

A couple of weeks ago, E, Bestie C, Bestie’s pups and I made our way to Joshua Tree for a one-night camping trip. We had originally intended for a longer stay, but when it came down to sleeping in a bed Friday night or setting up camp in the dark after a loooooong work week, the bed won. We set out early Saturday morning, the same weekend as Coachella Week 1, to find a camp site, and enjoy a short trip to hike, climb big rocks and see the army of entirely weird, but so cool Joshua trees.

Bestie C's photo

Bestie C’s photo

We miraculously found a camp-site. It was a miracle because April is the perfect time to go to Joshua Tree. And Coachella was that weekend. And all the Joshua trees from Big Bear to the Mojave Desert had bloomed this year, which is very rare. Unfortunately, for us, they were no longer in bloom when we got there, but also, unfortunately for us, most people hadn’t gotten that memo. The short story is always check the little yellow tag when you see an empty site. It doesn’t always mean reserved.

personal photo

personal photo

With camp set up, we were able to relax a little and enjoy the outdoors. We went on a great hike on the Fortynine Palms trail which starts in a place that looks like everywhere else, but after a couple of miles, you end up in an oasis of palm trees. Some dogs were really into hiking. Some couldn’t be bothered.

personal photos

personal photos

After our lovely hike, which had a nice breeze to it, we discovered that a nice breeze on our hike meant gusty, blow-your-tent-over winds back at the camp site. We placed everything heavy in it, since the sand didn’t really keep the stakes down, and went for another little walk to explore the rocks. Unfortunately when we came back, our tent had still been uprooted, and now almost everything was wet from the cooler falling over inside the tent. We came up with some creative solutions for drying sleeping bags.

personal photos

personal photos

Thankfully, the gusty wind and the sun in a clear sky really dried the sleeping bags quickly. I did have to take a break from the wind and sit in the car for an hour or so to get away from the howling wind. The wind negatively affected our dinner, but there’s nothing like a hot dog cooked over the fire as a backup plan. And as is required, we each had a Reese’s peanut butter cup s’more (the best kind of s’more) before turning in for the night. When I woke up the wind was gone and the stars were shining, I could see the worth of sleeping outside. The next morning was gorgeous and we packed up and headed out for a little more rock exploration.

personal photos

Notice the Joshua tree in the top left. Isn’t it so cool?

By this time, Bestie C and I were ready for burritos and some ice cream, so we started our journey back. E could have explored all day, though. He is truly an adventurer and explorer. Bestie C is also a great camper. She provided most of our gear and the cute dogs to cuddle with. I would say that camping in the desert was a success and it’s certainly a big to-do off my list! My feelings for camping might be growing, but I think that has mostly to do with the people I’m camping with and less with the camping itself. Thanks, Husband and Bestie for helping me accomplish this goal! There aren’t any two people I’d rather go camping with.

ayestriacamps5

Book Review: Middlesex

Posted by Ayesha in Contemporary Fiction and tagged with ,

While I did feel that The Marriage Plot was lacking, I wanted to give Jeffrey Eugenides another chance with his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Middlesex. And I’m so glad I did!

image via bn.com

image via bn.com

Middlesex is the story of the Stephanides family told from the perspective of Cal Stephanides, once Callie Stephanides. From the hills of Smyrna in the late 1910s to the suburbs of Detroit in the 1970s, we find out how every move made by the members of this family have formed (literally) the life of Calliope Stephanides, a hermaphrodite with the chromosomal makeup of a boy, but who has been raised as a girl. This family is every bit normal, but just enough off to create a very special circumstance. His father joined the military, revived his father’s business and moved to the suburbs. His brother started as an inquisitive experimenter, moved to college, and went through a hippie phase. The story doesn’t just follow one family, it also follows Detroit’s growth and changes into a major industrial city. And lastly, the story touches upon that American Dream and how it affects one particular family.

I loved this book! Eugenides leaves no stone unturned in his narrative. Every secret, every possibility, and every feeling is displayed. While the story is told from Cal’s perspective, there’s also an omnipresent narration. We know what Cal’s grandmother felt as she left Greece, what her father felt as he started basic training, and what her mother felt as she pined for a daughter. I appreciated such a complete story. Each character had good moments and bad moments and you could sympathize with most of them. There’s a sensitive human aspect to the story that makes it feel much more like real life, and like the family that lives next door. It’s not at all mocking or silly, but true. I think this is a tremendous read, and I highly recommend it.

5/5

Book Review: Messenger

Posted by Ayesha in Contemporary Fiction, Young Adult

I recently finished the third installment of Lois Lowry’s The Giver Quartet, Messenger.

image via

image via

Unlike Gathering Blue, which felt very separate from The Giver, Messenger begins to tie together the pieces. Matty, the young boy who was Kira’s friend, has now moved on from his home village. He is growing up in a place where people who are perceived weak are given shelter, purpose, and a new start at life. Every person plays their part, and where they have weakness, they also have special strengths and abilities. The person who created this community, Leader, is someone we might recognize. He came to Village with a companion and on a sled.

Matty is waiting to receive his assignment, he assumes he will become Messenger, because of his knowledge of the dangerous Forest. He is able to communicate with other villages and walk through Forest without being attacked. But Forest is now becoming angrier, and no longer wants travelers to come through, including Matty. He is discovering what his special ability is, but it scares him. He is advised to keep his special ability to himself until it’s absolutely necessary that he use it, and he may need it when called upon to retrieve an old friend and bring them to Village before it closes to newcomers.

I liked this book more than Gathering Blue. Right away, it felt more like a book in a series. It was nice to see what happened to some of the beloved characters we’d met earlier. And Matty was the most entertaining character in the previous book anyway. It’s certainly an easy read. it only took me a couple of days. I was only disappointed by the end which is why I had to rate it a little lower. I’m looking forward to the last book in the quartet, called Son. 

I rate this book a 3/5.

Related Reviews:

The Giver

Gathering Blue

Loving Right Now

Posted by Ayesha in Brain Dump, Discounts

Spring is here. The sun is shining most days. I’m ready to freshen up my wardrobe with colors and more relaxed layered looks. Every weekend seems to be filling up with fun outdoors activities, and I’m getting through lots of books because I have much more energy to stay awake and read. So, I thought I’d talk about a few things I’m really loving right now.

Old Navy

Button Crepe Blouse $19.50 and Rockstar Super Skinny Jeans $29.50 at Old Navy

1. Old Navy

I have this blouse in a few colors. They’re perfect for a casual work outfit with heels and jewelry, but also go great with skinny jeans and flats for the weekend. So I’m basically living in them. And the Rockstar Super Skinny jeans are the most comfortable skinny jeans I’ve had in a long time. They’re perfect! I had written off skinny jeans for a while, but these ones are so comfy! I went up a size and got them in Long, and they’re great! And at such a good price, I got a back-up pair too. That’s the other thing, Old Navy’s prices let me try out new styles without spending a ton of money. Plus, there’s a sale like every week, so I’ve never paid list price for any of it.

2. The Audible App

I’ve recently started listening to audiobooks. And the Audible App for iPhone has really made it easy. I used to have to download the book to iTunes and then plug in my phone to add the book in. Now, the app just lets me download it onto my phone wirelessly and delete the download as I’m done with it. It also works with running apps like Couch to 5K, so I don’t have to interrupt anything to be able to listen and work out at the same time.

3. Bloglovin’

Google recently announced that Google Reader will no longer be available beginning July 1st. This created a mass exodus to Feedly and Bloglovin’. I have both, but I prefer Bloglovin’, because I’m more of a list person, and I can understand the “Read” and “Unread” blogs more easily than with Feedly. I also like that it goes directly to the blog, so I don’t have to click through to make a comment or see the layouts that people work so hard on. It’s been great so far! Bye bye, Google Reader.

Other Notables:

Candy Crush Saga, a ridiculously addicting game on the iPhone.

Drug stores with tons of lipstick and nail polish options, even though I only exit with one of each.

Yogurtland, because the delusion of piling tons of fruit on your yogurt makes you feel good about eating dessert everyday

The Croods: I’m 24. I went to go see this with my nieces, and cried three times with my sister who is over 30. Yeah, we’re super cool.

What are you loving right now?

I receive no compensation for promoting these companies. But if you’re out there, help a girl out. 

Book Review: The Family Fang

Posted by Ayesha in Contemporary Fiction

Recently, I’ve been dabbling a little more in audiobooks. With my 45-minute drive to and from work, and about 30 minutes of cardio three times a week, I’ve found myself more entertained with books rather than Top 40 (which actually feels a little more like top 4 right now). It helped me finish The Casual Vacancy when reading it just wasn’t working. So, armed with an Audible account, I added a couple of books I’ve been meaning to read. One of them was The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson.

image via

image via

Caleb and Camille Fang are artists. Their medium is the living world, people in malls, airports, or public spaces with tons of strangers. They like to create chaos and record the chaos. And they are actually well-known within the art world for their work. To help them facilitate their pieces, they have their children, Annie and Buster, AKA “Child A” and “Child B,” contribute to the chaos. As a result, the word “family” and “parents” apply a little too loosely to this traveling troupe.

As adults, Annie and Buster try to move on from their eccentric childhood when their parents used them for their art. Buster is a struggling writer, and Annie is a successful actress. When they both end up back at home, nursing some quarter-life crisis type issues, they’re thrust back into the crazy way their parents live. Their ultimate goal is to get back out in the world and lead their own version of a normal life.

This book was interesting. I love to read about different family dynamics. It wasn’t necessarily an easy read, though. I really felt for Annie and Buster, especially Buster, who seemed lost from the very beginning of the story. He seemed to be lost without the direction of his parents, but also lost in the wake of Annie’s success. And as Annie also started to unravel, getting to the bottom of Caleb and Camille was pretty important to me. Caleb and Camille are one unit, and while they mostly agree on their art and lifestyle, I thought they diverged a little bit in terms of parenting and nurturing. I was happy with how the story ended. Families are weird, but isn’t it always a little more comforting when you read about one that’s weirder than yours?

I rate this book 3/5.

Book Review: The House at Tyneford

Posted by Ayesha in Contemporary Fiction, Entertainment

Bestie K’s book was the clear favorite of our book club selections, and that was The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons.

tyneford

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I know quite a few of us are Downton Abbey fans. This book is similar in that it follows a girl in service at a large English home. Elise is different because she wasn’t born into service, neither was she born in England. Elise, the daughter of Viennese bohemian nouveau riche, is also a Jewish girl. Because of her parents’ money, she was able to find a position as a housemaid in the Rivers household at Tyneford, a small beach village, just before the Nazi occupation. Elise, herself accustomed to champagne, rich dinners, and being attended to, now has to learn her place in the big household. She must now be out of sight and mind, and satisfy the most proper Mr. Wrexham. The problem is, she never really can figure it out, especially when she meets the two people of the household, Mr. Rivers, and his son, Kit. And all the while, she holds on to the hope of being reunited with her family.

I loved that I learned something new from this book. I didn’t realize that affluent Jewish families could send their young daughters to England to escape the ghettos and subsequent concentration camps. And it certainly helped that Elise was a spitfire, with strong emotions, and little subservience to her nature. Elise transforms throughout the story, and she becomes much more of an admirable woman with the passing of time and circumstance.

Of course, the story is not without its heartbreak. Set in WWII, there are bound to be losses and tragedy, but everything fit completely into the story. It was a great read. And I recommend it to any fans of Downton Abbey. In fact it’s one of the books listed in Barnes and Noble’s Downton Abbey Collection. 

I rate this book a 4/5.

 

Book Review: Flight Behavior

Posted by Ayesha in Contemporary Fiction, Friends

My book club choice was Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel, Flight Behavior.

image via

image via

I selected this book because Barbara Kingsolver wrote what might be my favorite book, The Poisonwood Bible, and the book that introduced me to the wealth of contemporary literature, The Bean Trees. I know that Bestie C enjoyed her books as well. So, I picked up 3 copies and sent them off.

Flight Behavior follows Dellarobia, a young mother and wife from Appalachian Tennessee, after she finds a large migrating colony of monarch butterflies at the top of her in-laws’ property. Dellarobia is a smart woman who feels trapped by her overbearing in-laws and her husband’s overly pleasing demeanor. She was supposed to get out, go to college, and never look back at the poor town she came from where she no longer had any family. But then, she got pregnant, married young, and didn’t try to leave again. The outlook is quite bleak when the butterflies arrive and attract all kinds of attention that the young family isn’t quite prepared for. Why’d they come to Tennessee? Was this a blessing or a curse?

With the arrival of a research team and an opportunity to intern with them, Dellarobia starts to find the answers to her questions and answers to the questions she hasn’t dared to ask yet.

This story started off a little slowly and a little sadly. But the more I got to know Dellarobia, her precocious son Preston, and her best friend, Dovey, the more I was enjoying myself. Dellarobia has a snarky side that makes sharp observations and tries for irony even though her family doesn’t appreciate her wit or humor. Preston keeps Dellarobia excited about life and learning, and Dovey keeps Dellarobia laughing, even though Dovey has no understanding of how poor Dellarobia and her family really are. I liked seeing Dellarobia develop from a bitter and self-pitying to ambitious and goal-oriented.

I also enjoyed learning a little bit about the monarchs and their migration patterns. It was interesting to get so much information from a novel, which is a testament to how much research Ms. Kingsolver did to make her story believable. I not only learned about monarch butterflies, but I also came to understand how poor some families in America are. Bestie C nailed it right on the head when thinking of her hometown: “There, they have the luxury to think about the future, and in Dellarobia’s town there are so many who are just trying to get through each day.” It’s a story about our consumption of the environment, humans v. animals; humans v. humans.

I am so happy I stuck with this book. Though it was a little long, it was very much worth it at the very Barbara Kinsolver-like  end.

I give this book a 3.5/5.