|
Coming from a conservative Brady Bunch household where her mom cooks every meal and church is attended in Sunday best every week, Mary Jane wasn't prepared for the chaos of the Cone's household. She is hired to be their five year old's summer nanny but ends up managing all their lives. In return the Cones and their secret patient guests open up her world and fill it with laughter, music and freedom. For some this is a sweet trip down the memory lane of our childhoods and for others it is insight into a time that left little room between the conservative middle class and the free thinking, rock loving, fight for your rights liberals. My favorite character (which was difficult because they are all perfect cast) is Izzy whose innocent take on the adults around her is infectious. Pick up the groovy book, get out your 70's vinyl and get ready for a wild trip. This is the perfect read for anyone who loved the zany antics in NOTHING TO SEE HERE or enjoy coming of age stories served with a healthy dose of humor and compassion. A Lead Read for good reason - this will be big. 5 Tiger Beat stars 
0 Comments
Daniel is slowly losing his life to a degenerative disease called SMA. He needs help to do most things we take for granted and it is only going to get worse but in spite of this he is one of the most optimistic and positive people on Earth. Working from home on the computer as a Customer Service Rep for an airline with one of the worst records, he is used to a steady dose of abuse. His days are going to get worse as soon as he sees a young woman get into a car - a woman who is now missing. He does whatever he can to find her or her captor and in the process begins a dangerous journey. This book starts off funny and uplifting and then smacks you in the head. An empowering book for anyone with challenges and a great reminder to the rest of us not to let the disability get in the way of seeing the person behind it. It is also a love letter to the Southern college football way of life. Will Leitch has created characters and a story that is sort of a love match between Pat Conroy and Fredrik Backman. 4 1/2 stars  If I only read one RomCom a year it will be a book by Emily Henry. She offers us a complicated relationship full of hiccups and lovable characters who seem like they are never going to get what the reader already knows - that they are perfect for each other. Poppy and Alex are two sides of the same coin. Best friends when they were younger and vacation buddies for years. Poppy works for a travel magazine so their trips are to exciting places and on the company card but this year is different. She books a trip to where Alex's brother is getting married and is secretly paying for it. What could possibly go wrong in Palm Springs at the height of summer? Fun, lighthearted and a refreshing spin on When Harry Met Sally and My Best Friend's Wedding. 4 1/2 stars  Antonia (Toni) has a boatload of talent and a desire to make it big as a rock star without the help of her famous parents. Her big break is right around the corner in a temp gig filling in for a band member on hiatus in a hot new band and a chance to partner in a recording studio. It comes with a cost - her ex boyfriend works with the band and she needs to raise a bunch of money to buy into the studio. This is a romcom with a distinct rock soul and lots of paparazzi. There is much to delight lovers of DAISY JONES AND THE SIX as well as romance readers looking for an edgy story. It will also hit the right notes with the young adult audience. 4 stars  Mount Olympus is home to the gods. Olympus Texas is home to people who act like they are gods - The Briscoes. They cheat, they lie, they love who they want without a care to who they hurt along the way. And, like the Greek Gods they have no patience for mortal problems or emotions. June is a mom with little in the way of maternal instincts. Her husband Peter's offspring is running around town and he thinks no one will notice. Their children are no better. March is back in town after having an affair with his sister in law and a shooting stirs up resentment in the town again. No marriage is on a solid footing. They are a damaged family destined to make the same mistakes without a clue as to how to change. This brought back echoes of another dominant Texas family - Edna Ferber's GIANT. 4 stars  Alice is grieving the loss of her husband throwing all her energy into expanding her new love - beekeeping. An "accidental" meeting teams her up with a wheelchair bound teen searching for meaning with his life. Adding to this merry little band of misfits is Harry who is running from his past and responds to Alice's ad but he is terrified of the bees. Together they will take on a big pesticide manufacturer and fight for the bees. They will also get a lesson in family and community. Sweet story with feel good characters found in books by Fredrik Backman and Fannie Flagg. 4 stars  A couple unable to have children become foster parents to a cluster of irresistible misfits. Agnes arrives unable to do little more than grunt and understand that she is allowed to eat at a table. She is supposed to be there only a few days but manages to make herself a part of this family forever. As a small undernourished six year old Agnes has only known unkindness but once she lands on the Moscatelli's doorstep their lives will all be changed forever. Parents Dahlia and Lou teach by example so that the kids know that even at the darkest point of the kids lives they will always have someone on their side. This is a timeless story of love and compassion that is beautifully told and leaves you begging for more about the Moscatellis. Beware, this book is a heartbreaker that will have you finishing the last page with a deep sigh and sniffle ,and wondering what the next chapter will be like for all of them. This book will appeal to anyone who wants deep characters who have had a hard life without losing themselves or their humanity. Fans of Willy Vlautin and Andrew Graff's RIVER OF STARS will find much here. 4 1/2 stars  Willy Vlautin creates a window into a world not many of us know. His characters never fall wholly into the sinner or saint category but you always root for them. They are ordinary people who find themselves in a bind and we always want someone to help them. Lynette is a prime example. She is 30 years old and far from perfect but so close to realizing the dream that has consumed her for the past three years. Working herself to death at three jobs (not all of them doing something that her mom would approve of ) she is ready to buy the house that she, her mom and her developmentally disabled brother Kenny have been renting. Just when she is so close, her mother pulls out and uses the saved money to buy a car leaving Lynette in the lurch scrambling to come up with the rest of the downpayment. What she does in the next few days she may not be proud of but she is desperate. Battling with depression and other demons she has fought so long to control she goes back to collect what is owed her. Flashbacks explain why she makes some of the choices she does. This is a lyrical, bittersweet look at working class people who are doing well enough to not qualify for help but still not well enough to grab the American Dream. If you are new to Willy Vlautin, this will make you a fan for life and if you are already a fan you will be looking for someone to pass the book to the minute you finish it. 5 heartbreaking stars  A family hidden in a Harlem brownstone for generations can afford to keep living there despite gentrification due to the pieces of caul they sell for a tidy profit. It is said that babies born with a caul are special and pieces of the magic caul can heal the sick, help women get pregnant and more. The family matriarch rules with an iron fist keeping what happens behind their door a secret. Hallow is the youngest with the caul and is the first to rebel against her sheltered life. She begins to question whether or not she is really part of the family and her role as others actively try to bring down the Melacons for their unorthodox trade. Themes of family dynamics, the gentrification of New York, the morality of organ selling and adoption are all at play here in this debut told without judgement. Just like the decay that sets into the brownstone and the family itself - secrets always come up to the surface. This will appeal to a wide audience such as fans of Jacqueline Woodson, James McBride as well as THE CITY WE BECAME and WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING. I also listened to the audiobook which is perfectly narrated. 4 stars  Welcome to the high stakes, sleepless nights, chemical enhanced world of these children of immigrant parents of Asia. The number one goal is to give your child every opportunity and infuse them with whatever it takes to be the best in school so they can get into the next level of best schools so they can be the best job and make their family proud. Neil is pushing himself as hard as he can trying to live up to his parents expectations but he is not in the 99% which makes him open to a miracle. The miracle is found in his friend's mom and her interesting sideline of blending stolen gold into a magic elixir that promises to sharpen mental focus. Years go by and Neil is now a history grad student but he gets pulled back into the old business to help Anita's mom. This clever debut is a sarcastic look at the American Dream and the ambition and drive of these new Americans to have their children succeed. Funny in a bittersweet way, this book is solid gold for readers of the immigrant experience with a bit of magic added for good measure. 4 stars  |
I love to read good books and share the new books that are available and those that are coming soon
Adult Genres
General Fiction Historical Fiction Thriller / Mystery Fantasy / Sci-Fi Non-Fiction All Adult Genres Other Genres Young Adult Genre Kids Books Genre Follow Kim
Review Archives
June 2021
|
RSS Feed