Goodnight June, by Sarah Jio

Sarah Jio is an author who seemingly appeared out of nowhere...the current 'it' girl of contemporary women's fiction.  I remember playing a book swap game on Paperback Swap (yes, I'm a geek; I already confessed to this), and I was given a choice of several different Jio books.  Who was this Jio person, and how could she have all these titles available without me being aware of her?

Well, I now own about 4 Jio novels, which are sitting on my bookshelves, waiting for their turn at bat.  The first one I cracked open was Morning Glory, my opinion of which could be evidenced by the absence of a review.  I wasn't bowled over.  In short, I thought it was sappy and predictable.  But, I detected something in there - some unrealized potential for a great story.  So, I decided to give Ms. Jio another shot.   Enter Goodnight June.  And yes, the title is a play on that famous children's book, Goodnight Moon.  Which brings me to a small confession...

I didn't grow up with Goodnight Moon.  I never read Goodnight Moon.  Actually, I never even HEARD of Goodnight Moon until I was in my 30's.  (Okay, go ahead now and pick your jaw up off the floor.  I'll wait.  All better now?  Good.)  My point in mentioning this is that the title of this book didn't hold any special appeal to me, as it seems to for so many others.  I think there's a whole list of folks dying to get their hands on this sucker, if only for reasons of nostalgia.   I picked it up mostly because it's a bestseller.

Goodnight June tells the story of a hard-edged NYC banker named June Andersen, who inherits her great Aunt Ruby's cozy Seattle bookstore, Bluebird Books.  Although she has many fond childhood memories of the store (and her aunt), the plan is to get in and get out.  That is, pack it up and liquidate it, in as little time as possible.  But, as you may have expected, those plans are derailed when she starts to sift through the boxes of her childhood.

While taking that journey down memory lane, June stumbles across a series of letters between Aunt Ruby and Margaret Wise Brown, author of the aforementioned Goodnight Moon.  The letters depict a deeply-forged friendship between the ladies, as well as some insight into how the famous children's classic came to be.

One of the main themes in the book is the importance of familial relationships - specifically, the incomparable bond shared by sisters.  Sadly, the common sisterly thread shared by the three central female characters in this story is one of estrangement.  Although the issue between June and her sister is probably easily figured out by any casual fiction reader, it still plays prominently in the book.

Of course, there's also the obligatory love interest thrown in, something I'm generally not a fan of.  I'm not sure why authors think that women's fiction simply *must* have that tall, dark, and handsome element.  In my opinion, I think it only serves to cheapen the tale the author was trying to tell.  There was so much meat of a different nature here that it simply wasn't necessary to throw in a bit of Mr. Right.  It reeks too much of that sappiness I previously attributed to a different Jio book.  Thankfully though, it wasn't a case of overkill, capable of ruining the book's appeal, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying it.  In fact, I may even need to pick up one of those other Jio books soon.  We'll see.

Save the Date, by Jen Doll

This is going to be a tricky one to write. So, let's put it off for a minute, shall we? This is where I'll tell you that I'm obligated to disclose the fact that I didn't purchase this book. Instead, I won it through a Goodreads giveaway. 

Well, crap, that didn't last long, did it? 

When I read the little blurb describing the contents of this book, I was under the false impression that what I would be getting was various wedding stories from hell, similar to what Concierge Confidential is to hotels, and Retail Hell is to, well, retail. That's not exactly the story here, though admittedly that was my own fault. I should have paid closer attention, and read the synopsis all the way through. While there were a few chapters about different destination weddings, drunk bridal parties, etc., for the most part, this read like a Jen Doll autobiography. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it was somewhat disappointing, when I was anticipating getting a few cheap laughs. But, again, I'll take most of the blame for that. In my own defense, however, the title is somewhat misleading, don't ya think? 

I mean no personal offense to Ms. Doll, but there's really nothing extraordinary about the experiences she writes of. Add to that the fact that her delivery lacks a certain spark. The book read more like a research paper, and less like an amusing memoir. In fact, as I was nearing its midpoint, I was downright bored, and eagerly anticipated the buzz of my clothes dryer so I could escape to folding clothes. (There's something wrong with that, I think.)

A more apt description of Save the Date would describe it as Ms. Doll's journey toward relationship contentment, interspersed throughout with various nuptials all over the world. Seriously - nice and dry, just like that. Instead, the word 'hilarious' is tossed around in the description, and I'm still looking for that particular passage. While I may have smiled occasionally, there was certainly no hilarity involved. Also, one of my major problems with the book is that every time I found myself rooting for a coupling to be successful, I would read on to the next chapter, only to discover that she had moved on to the next guy. 

My overall impression is that she was aiming to cover this autobiographical nuptial ground in an amusing way, a la Jen Lancaster, but it just falls flat. While the girl can certainly write, she lacks that snarkiness that Ms. Lancaster wears so well. I don't think you can fake that - you either have it, or you don't. And, I'm sure you can guess which category I'm filing Ms. Doll in.

As I stated previously, my disappointment probably stems more from my misplaced expectations than with any fault in the book. Although, I still think the word 'hilarious' should be stricken from the record. Just sayin'...

Sous Chef, by Michael Gibney

While most people would say I’m an average cook, at best, I willingly (and happily) admit to being addicted to all things food.  Whether it’s a shiny new cookbook with lots of pretty pictures, Bobby Flay grilling meat on a New York City terrace, or a dirty down reality show with wannabes mouthing off to their so-called mentor, I’m fascinated by the culinary arts.  So, when I heard about this new book, Sous Chef, that promises an in-depth look at a 24 hour period in the manic life of – imagine that – a sous chef, I was all in.  I also won my copy from a giveaway on Goodreads.com – winner, winner, chicken dinner! 

As per the blurb on the back of the book, the author, Mr. Gibney, started making his mark on the culinary world as a teen, achieving the position of sous chef at only 22.  One has to believe he knows what he’s talking about.  Unfortunately, at times, I think he’s the ONLY one who knows what he’s talking about.  Allow me to explain…

On the very first page of the first chapter, entitled ‘Morning,’ items such as bains-marie, proofing boxes, and immersion circulator are mentioned.  Excuse me, what?  Mi no comprende.  Let this serve as the first warning that this book may not be for the average Food Network fan.  The kitchen jargon continues from page to page, leaving me clueless on more than one occasion.  Granted, I’m not always the crunchiest cookie, but it’s almost as if the author was trying too hard to showcase his expertise, while forgetting that not every reader has spent a significant amount of time in a professional kitchen. 

If you’re looking for the juicy stuff, there’s a good dose of that, as well.  There’s flirting, drinking, and subsequently puking, but it’s certainly not the main theme of the book, thankfully.  In all, there was a nice balance between the back-breaking reality of the non-celebrity chef, and the everyday drama that unfolds in the life of anyone attempting to balance a demanding job with a home life. 

Overall, I enjoyed the book, though I didn’t love it.  It was certainly a quick read, but that has more to do with its limited pages (185) than with any avid interest.  If anything, it was a little on the dry side, and…while I hate to say this…I felt almost like the author was boasting throughout.  I mean, I get it – chefs work hard.  But, so do teachers.  So do police officers.  So do secretaries.  You get my drift.  You’re preaching to the choir here, Mr. Gibney – MOST people work hard.  Unfortunately, though, the vast majority of us aren’t lucky enough to work hard at something we’re passionate about.  In that respect, you’re a very lucky guy.  Not so lucky are those of us who needed a dictionary to understand half of what you were talking about.

Happiness, thy name is Rainbow Rowell

When you love to read, there are few things as exciting as finding a great new author.  Even better is when you discover that they're really only new to you, and they actually have a few other books you can scoop up right away.  Such is the story of my love affair with Rainbow Rowell.  In the span of approximately one week, I read three of her books - the only three I'm aware of.  (If there are more, please, please, PLEASE let me know!)  Since I've already professed my undying love for Ms. Rowell, I'll keep these individual reviews on the short side.

Let's see - my first exposure came with Fangirl, a story about a girl (Cather) who's obsessed with the well-known Simon Snow book series (*cough* Harry Potter ripoff *cough*), and writes an uber popular fan fiction story about its main characters.  [Sidebar:  Did you KNOW about this fan fiction stuff?  Holy crap - if the internet was around during the time of New Kids on the Block, I probably never would've left my computer.  I'm aging myself, I know.  But, still...awesome stuff, this fan fiction.]  As Cather heads off to face the next chapter of her life in college, she struggles with the changing relationship she shares with her twin sister, Wren, while exploring that wonderful, crazy, demented thing known as first love.  Throw in the usual family drama (an absent mother, a mentally unstable father) and you have something that sounds pretty ordinary.  But, these characters are anything BUT ordinary.  They're humorous, annoying, lovable, irritating, and all those other adjectives that describe your everyday John (or Jane) Q. Public.  In other words, they're enormously human, which makes them enormously endearing.  I miss them all immensely.

Before I even finished reading Fangirl, I went on Amazon.com and ordered myself a copy of Eleanor & Park.  This is another coming of age story involving two misfits named - big surprise - Eleanor and Park. Eleanor appears to be going through normal growing pains - not the skinniest chick on the block, her hair is a
bit unruly, and her clothes seem...er...unique.  As the story progresses, you'll see that there are reasons for her personal style choices.  Park, on the other hand, seems a little more middle of the road.  While he's not part of the exclusive 'in' crowd, he's not the class loser, either.  Somewhere over the course of the daily bus ride to school, the two manage to connect over comic books and new age music.  It took awhile for me to become completely sucked into this tale.  For one thing, I thought it went from zero to sixty a little too quickly.  Somewhere around page 150 or so, however, I started to become a little puddle of goo, realizing that I was in *love* with these two people.  I'm simply in awe of any author who can make me able to relate to a couple of teenagers as if I were back in high school myself.  Score another point for Ms. Rowell.

This brings me to the third, and final, book in my new-favorite-author triumvirate.  While the two previously mentioned books were of the YA genre, The Attachments falls into the adult category.  Surprisingly enough, this old broad far preferred the books aimed at the young'uns.  The Attachments tells the story of Lincoln, an IT guy whose main function at work is to monitor (read: spy) the many emails sent by his co-workers during the day, with the goal being to limit its unwarranted use.  Forwarded a joke?  One warning.  Let an f-bomb fly?  Another warning.  You get the gist.  Anywho,
during his nightly fishing expedition, he comes across a conversation between Jennifer and Beth, who discuss just about every aspect of their lives via computer.  Before you know it, reading their conversation becomes Lincoln's favorite part of the day, not least because Beth has the hots for the new IT guy .  You can see where this one is going, and I think that was part of the problem for me.  It was just too predictable.  There were cute scenarios thrown in here & there, as well as a few quirky characters (who wouldn't love vending machine-filling Doris?), but I just wasn't bowled over.  Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed it.  A lot, in fact.  But, when compared to its two step-siblings, this Rowell concoction just doesn't live up to the hype.  Maybe I just enjoyed being back in high school/college too much.  Hmm...

  

A short explanation

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned.  It has been one long month since I've updated my blog.  Yes, I hang my head in shame.  I am a bad, bad, bad, bad blogger.  That said, I've come to a conclusion.  That is, if this blogging thing is going to be successful - in any way - then I need to lighten up a little bit.  I stress over this.  I stress over writing, I stress over reading, I stress over not writing/reading enough.  I stress...period.  And, it needs to stop.

I started this blog because I love books.  I love everything about them - the way the pages feel between my fingers; the way they smell when you fan the pages back and forth; the heft of a scrummy 900 page tome.  In short, this was supposed to be *fun.*  And, it's not turning out that way.  

For that sad truth, I can blame no one but myself.  To remedy the situation, I'm going to make a conscious effort to post more often, but with less content (if that makes any sense).  Sometimes I read a book, and I absolutely fall in love with it.  I can't wait to come here and share it (even if only 4 or 5 people see it).  But, that doesn't necessarily mean I can sit down and write 1,000+ words about the author's use of metaphors or the beautiful imagery hidden within the muddled dialogue.  Things like that send shivers down my spine, and bring on flashbacks from Ms. Carlson's 12th grade English class.  So very, very wrong.  Aside from the fact that Ms. Carlson was eternally high on something, she had a way of turning good books bad, and that's not a nice thing.  

The bottom line is that I want to put less pressure on myself.  If I can't get out a full review on a book, so be it.  Maybe I'll simply write a line or two, stating whether I liked the book or not.  That's okay, isn't it?  I won't be breaking any blogger code, right?  I know it would certainly alleviate some of the guilty load I've been carting around.  One can hope, anyway.  

The Engagements, by J. Courtney Sullivan

This was a book I had been eager to read for some time.  I initially had it in my Amazon cart, eagerly awaiting its release, until the geek gods stepped in at Book Expo America.  I was casually making my way down one aisle or another when I noticed a young woman (the author) quietly signing books behind a curtain.  Yes, boys and girls - I had found my wizard of oz!  I made a mental note to cancel my pre-order, and got on line for my freebie copy of The Engagements! 

Now, a fair warning to all who are reading this:  I already gave my copy of the book away to a friend.  Therefore, I'm writing this review strictly from memory.  (ie - this could get ugly, and rather silly).  That said, the book was...umm...err...good.  Yes, it was good.  The end.

Aww crap.  That's not going to cut it, huh?  Hmm...let's see.   The tale is told via a few different story lines (Three?  Four?  Same difference, really).  Each group of characters is dealing with different stages of engagements and marriages (and those blinding sparklies that go with them).  There was a major flaw here, though.  The characters (with few exceptions) sucked.  There were several moments when I caught myself literally rolling my eyes, and wanting to throw the book in the trash.  Whether it was the french woman who made it abundantly clear that Americans are the scum of the Earth, or the borderline-psychotic mom who wouldn't let her toddler daughter play with a dastardly Barbie (lest she get any false ideas about beauty), these people made me want to puke.  Combine that with the fact that the chapters were way too long for my liking, and you'll see why  I actually had to *work* to get through it. 

I'm happy to report, however, that the effort was worth it.  Without giving too much away, you'll see that these separate story lines weren't just randomly thrown out there.  There was no neat little red bow at the end, a la Jodi Picoult, but I would venture to guess that there will be more than one shiny little light bulb sparking over your head about 3/4 of the way through.  

This was a solid effort by a perfectly lovely author, who (whom?) I truly enjoyed meeting.  In fact, her previous books, Commencement and Maine, will likely make their way onto my 'to-read' list.  If I was going to be uber-critical, though (and why wouldn't I be...being from Jersey and all?), I would say that the despicable characters were a major drawback.  I know I mentioned this once already, but trust me - it's worth repeating.  Don't get me wrong here - not all of the characters were awful.  But, I found myself placing everyone into one of two schools of thought - I either hated them, or I was indifferent.  Blech.  Who on Earth wants to spend time with people you either loathe or couldn't care less about?  In this particular case, though, believe it or not, I say suffer through it.  I guarantee you, it will be less painful than listening to Great Aunt Tallulah and Uncle Tonoose fighting over how the stuffing should be made, while inadvertently spitting on the turkey you were waiting to eat.  As we all know, sometimes you have to get past the unpleasant surface stuff to get to the soft, gooey center.

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion, by Fannie Flagg

Several years ago, when I re-discovered my local library, one of the first books I checked out was by Fannie Flagg.  Aside from the homey cover image depicting small town America, I was intrigued by the author herself.  Could this really be the same woman I remember watching on tv when I was a kid?  I mean, really...how many Fannie Flaggs could there BE??

After discovering that, yes, this author and the actress were one in the same, I settled in for a read that lived up to its nice, cozy cover, and never looked back.

It's been a few years since I read one of Ms. Flagg's books.  Admittedly, I couldn't tell you whether that's because she hasn't written any, or if I just missed them.  But, when I got that taunting 30% off coupon from Barnes & Noble in my inbox, The All-Girl Filling Station 's Last Reunion just jumped right into my cart. 

As the book opens, we meet Sookie Poole - a name that teeters a bit too close to that Jersey shore trash if you ask me, but maybe I'm just a bit too sensitive, as a life-long Jersey girl.  Anywho, Mrs. Poole has just successfully married off her third daughter and is looking forward to some peace and quiet at home when a letter arrives for her mother, Lenore, a drama queen who lives just two doors up.  The contents of that letter will shake up everything Sookie once thought she knew about herself.

What transpires in the next 300 pages or so is a journey back and forth between the present and the early 1940's, when war was wreaking havoc on this country and all its citizens.  The men are disappearing into the folds of military life, leaving the women on the homefront to keep the family businesses running (hence the book's title).  As Sookie tries to solve the mysteries surrounding her own identity, we're introduced to a colorful cast of characters, including several female World War II pilots, called WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots).  Google it - interesting stuff there, folks!

Ms. Flagg's books are, quite simply, good reads.  They're filled with insane antics that will have you laughing out loud, while you grab your box of Kleenex in preparation for your heart to crumble on the next page.  She manages to fill her stories with characters both unique and familiar, making you wish you lived in whatever fictional southern town her mind has whipped up.  (Although, when she's throwing around names like Marvaleen and Edna Yorba Zorbra, you *do* have to question what she's smoking.)

In short, this Yankee is a fan.  And, the fact that I learned a little bit of WWII history in the process is just gravy.