The Restricted Section

Garish Gardens Outlandish Lawns

2006-05-26T03:52:00.000-05:00

Garish Gardens Outlandish Lawns: celebration of eccentric american landscaping by Ronald C. Modra

Not too much text is this tiny quirky tome but it sure is chalk full of hilarious photos! This cute little book glorifies all the over the top trailer trash rural fancified yards throughout the U.S. Plastic flowers tucked in tires, flowers planted in beds, peeing water statues, I could go on and on. Go ahead and grab it off the shelf if you see it at the library or bookstore and thumb through it for a minute. It’ll only take you five minutes to run through it and I guarantee you’ll get a giggle or two. -Flourish

Front Yard Gardens

2006-05-24T04:40:00.000-05:00

Front Yard Gardens: growing more than grass by Liz Primeau

I initially read this book about a year ago and picked it up again at the library last month. I loved this book. Liz talks about the ethics of growing just grass in the front yard as apposed to a full fledged garden including an ‘impoverished ecosystem’ and ‘chemical invasion’.

Although the majority of the focus is on northern gardens this book truly has something for everyone. Highlighting gardens and gardeners from North America we catch glimpses of some breathtaking front yard gardens in all sorts of different styles. There are design ideas galore all to inspire us to develop our own front yard gardens to encourage living creatures and socialization with our neighbors. Think about it ya’ll. When you’re walking your dog by a house with an array of plants displaying a ginormas amount of textures and colors don’t you slow down, maybe even stop, drop your jaw and ooh and ah at the bounty? When was the last time you did that at a stretch of grass? The old argument that grass takes less time to deal with in our already action packed 26 hour days falls a bit flat for author Liz and for me too. Having a variety of plants rather than the standard lawn can sometimes be lower maintenance than grass. She makes some convincing arguments to rip out that grass and install a nature loving oasis to bring joy and contentment to all. This book is a keeper. -Flourish

P.S. I guess you guys have figured out that I’ve been on a, hum, vacation for the past month or so. Actually I caught the fever. Spring fever, that is. I wish you could see how lovely my yard is on a quiet morning before the world wakes up.

Catch Me When I Fall

2006-04-20T04:44:00.000-05:00

Catch Me When I Fall by Nicci French

Utterly depressing. I simply could not get through this book. It’s obvious from page two that the main character is a manic depressive. She gets herself into some horrible scraps that seem to go on and on. After a third of the book I skipped to the last couple of chapters to see how it turned out. I usually don’t do this. I usually just move on to the next book without needing to know the ending. But for some reason I forged on and discovered the voice changes to that of the friend and her views of the manic depressive’s behavior. Sadder still is the fact that the main character has learned nothing and is still unable to control her self destructive behavior as she accidentally sets her friend’s in-laws’ house ablaze with fireworks to celebrate her friend’s wedding. Skip it ya’ll, that’s about all I’ve got to say. –Flourish

Night Swimming

2006-04-17T06:07:00.000-05:00

Night Swimming by Robin Schwartz

I had high hopes for this book but I should have had a clue to its ending by the cover. Two hundred and fifty three pound Charlotte Clapp goes to the doctor for her annual checkup only to discover that she has less than a year to live. Having grown up in a small town where nothing much happens she doesn’t want to lie on her deathbed with life regrets. In a fugue state she proceeds to rob the bank that she has worked at for fifteen years and makes off in the dead of night to Hollywood with two million dollars. She meets some interesting characters along the way in the Mississippi Delta and the Big Easy. When she gets to California she buys an apartment with cash and begins her new life, sort of. This is where the plot loses me. I keep hoping that she would continue her trend of doing interesting things and meeting interesting people like she did on the trip out west but this just doesn’t happen. Instead this book turns into one of those fat girls loses a bunch of weight and then gets the guy books. I was disappointed by the predictability of the plot and I found the change to her assumed name halfway through the book and then back again at the end simply annoying. She spends most of her days lolling by the pool covertly staring at the pool guy all the while falling in love with him. She doesn’t even know him and, by the way, he is married. She starts swimming at night and loses 128 pounds. That’s when she gets a makeover including going blonde and then gets her pool guy. Yuck.

Here is how I would have written it: In Hollywood she would meet a funny, down to earth drag queen who would introduce her around to his/her friends and she would be inducted into the club night world where she would become a popular torch singer. After singing to her adoring fans she would go home to unwind by night swimming. Sounds better, don’t you think? The dialogue becomes tedious by the end and the situations after she is caught are simply ridiculous. And that book cover that I mentioned? Her legs are awfully skinny, too skinny, in fact, for a 253-pound person. Overall I would say forget this one. It could have been great but it ends up falling flat. -Flourish

Dead to the World

2006-04-11T05:10:00.000-05:00

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

Sookie hasn’t ever been in this position before. She’s got an ex-boyfriend to deal with and a naked man is running down the road on New Year’s Eve. It turns out that a Witch’s spell has caused vampire Eric to lose all memory about who he is. Naturally he turns up right in Sookie’s path so she’s forced to deal with him. It seems that these are some truly bad Witches that are hell bent on moving into and taking over the vampire’s money making businesses. One of the Weres goes missing then a vampire too. These two very different supernatural beings are forced to unite together against the mutual Witch threat. Oh boy, this is gonna be a challenge! Vampire Bill’s off to Peru to work on his major project for the Queen and Sookie’s brother Jason disappears rather quickly from the story too. Rather too quickly if you know what I mean. Did the Witches take him? The father of one of the many girls he’s been out with? Where is he? Sookie is starting to wonder if she can keep her New Year’s resolution to not get beat up. And Eric just isn’t Eric anymore. He’s a lot sweeter and a lot kinder which is what Sookie really needs right now. But in her heart of hearts she knows that this isn’t the real Eric and sooner rather than later there will be a big ol’ show down between these supernatural beings with the resulting return of Eric’s memory. Alcide is still on the scene along with his supposed ex-girlfriend Debbie Pelt, that bitch who tried to kill Sookie in the last book. We’re introduced to another set of interesting locals living at the crossroads Hotspot. We’ve also got another fun filled cameo from that famous vampire face Bubba.

The complexity of the world Charlaine’s created is thoroughly enjoyable and thought provoking. You never know what she is going to come up with such as odd moments of Sookie’s thoughtful clarity. Sookie stands at the beginning of the battle between the Vampires and Weres against the Witches and she marvels at the fact that she is there at all. She thinks to herself that if she had met the Witches first she could very well have been on the other side of this battle. -Flourish

Officer Buckle and Gloria

2006-04-09T05:38:00.000-05:00

Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann

Safety officer Buckle has a tough time getting his school aged audience to listen to his safety speeches. Then one day doggie Gloria is assigned to him and together they give the presentation. Unbeknown to him Gloria is acting out the horrible things that can happen to you when you don’t follow safety rules. The audience loves the show and it very impressed. Then one day he sees his speech on the news and realizes that everyone has been applauding for Gloria not him. He is dejected and sends her out alone to the next school. No one is impressed. Officer Buckle realizes that working as a team gets their safety message across. What a cute little book. Lovely drawings and how can you not love a dog story? Perfect for young, single digit children. -Flourish

Round-Heeled Woman

2006-04-07T04:35:00.000-05:00

A Round-Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance by Jane Juska

Whoa, now here is a woman who tells it like it is. This is the story of a woman who at the age of sixty-six decides she wants to have sex with men that she actually likes. She puts an personal ad in the New York Times Review of Books and away she goes. This book is not for the faint of heart. This memoir retraces her life and work in a sexual context. She leaves not a whole lot to the imagination so be prepared to get hot under the collar during several steamy passages. She addresses people’s need to be loved and touched even when they get old. This book shares the author’s intimate thoughts and makes the reader truly look at these issues from a different perspective. Human beings who enjoy love and sex will find this book engaging. Mom, I think you would really get a kick out of this book. -Flourish

Decorating on a Dime

2006-04-05T04:47:00.000-05:00

Decorating on a Dime by Christy Ferer

This little decorating book is excellent for tucking into your bag for when you’re stuck in the doctor’s waiting room and you need some creative inspiration. While small enough to fit into your everyday bag it is also stuffed with a lot of groovy ideas. This is not just a book of inspirational pictures as is typical of decorating books. Christy actually gives detailed instructions and a list of supplies for the crafty decorating projects including variations on the original ideas. This tiny tome includes a plethora of ideas so next time you’re in the library keep your eye out for it. -Flourish

Club Dead

2006-04-03T06:21:00.000-05:00

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

It seems that vampire Bill (VB) has been working on something secret that requires him to go on a little trip. Turns out that he gets himself involved with his ex who also just happens to be a vampire which is fairly unheard of in that world. Bill is captured and tortured by a Mississippi group of vampires and guess who has to save the day? You got it, our favorite heroine, Sookie Stackhouse, cocktail waitress extraordinaire from rural northern Louisiana with a bit of a telepathic disability. Thankfully her mind reading works best with humans and not at all with vampires (yet, that is). Sookie goes to rescue VB even though she is hurt and pissed at his betrayal of her. Naturally, she saves the day, but not without a lot of pain and a lot of help. The help comes in the form of Alcide, who happens to be a Were, as in werewolf except that not all Weres are wolves, do you follow? Anyhow, Alcide is a real man’s man or maybe that should be he’s a realy lady’s man. Regardless, he is tough, kind, strong, sweet, and has manners. Sookie could really enjoy that except for her boyfriend, vampire Bill, and Alcide’s ex something, Debbie. That would be Debbie Pelt, shape shifter and all around bitch. I sense a cat (wolf?) fight coming on but not until much, much later.

An amazingly terrific cameo from the Man from Memphis aka Bubba, who is never referred to directly by name since it upsets him. Seems that something didn’t go quite right when he was brought over and this has left him a little off with a penchant for cat blood rather than human. He’s real sweet though and extremely protective of Sookie.

How does Charlaine come up with all this stuff? Just when I think that she’s used up all her surprises there are still yet more. She’s really done a great job of figuring out the nuisances of the Sookie’s supernatural world and she reveals many of them in this book. If I haven’t convinced you by now then stay tuned tomorrow and see if you’ll enjoy the next review. -Flourish

Living Dead in Dallas

2006-03-31T04:38:00.000-05:00

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Vampire road trip! In this second installment of the Southern Vampire Mystery series our heroine, Sookie Stackhouse, small time north Louisiana cocktail waitress hits the skies with vampire boyfriend, Bill, in tow, literally, since he’s traveling in his coffin. They’ve been sent by Bill’s vampire boss Eric, sheriff of Area 5, to see if they can use Sookie’s special telepathic talent to track down a missing vampire. But before that even happens one of her coworkers turns up dead in a local cop’s car outside the bar. Sookie faces a religious anti-vampire group who has captured the missing vampire and winds up locked in a cell herself. You’ve got to tune in to find out how she escapes and how this adventure affects her relationship with vampire Bill. Meanwhile, back home in Bon Temps things are really heating up as well. It seems that her recently murdered gay coworker’s less than discrete gossip about his and other’s involvement in local sex parties may have gotten him killed. Sookie teams up with vampire Eric to see if she can ferret out the killer.

Charlaine’s writing is brilliant. Her writing reminds me a bit of Janet Evanovich’s. They both have plucky, tough female leading characters that are easy to relate to that you find yourself rooting for. They’re also both quick witted and use “creative sexual innuendo” to the hilt! -Flourish

Night Journal

2006-03-29T05:34:00.000-05:00

The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook

From the first sentence of this book I was enthralled, hardly able to put the book down. This was the book that led me to discover that you can indeed read and power walk on the treadmill at the same time. The gym even has these handy dandy little holders that prop the book open for you while you swing your arms and sweat.

This story moves back and forth through time and place in a captivating way. We open with the death of Hannah Bass in Las Vegas*, New Mexico just after the start of the twentieth century. We quickly move forward in time to the early nineties in Houston, Texas where our heroine, Meg, is in her late thirties and is unmarried. Well, she’s not married to a man anyway, but rather to her job. She is an engineer with lots of clients that require pure water for their patients’ dialysis. This is a tough job especially when it rains too much and threatens the breakdown of the purification system. She was brought up by her overbearing grandmother Bassie since her mother’s addictive behavior made mothering impossible. Half the time I just wanted to knock Bassie over the head with how mean she is to people. She is the quintessential grouchy old lady who tells it like it is sometimes to the detriment of her relationship with others. Bassie has spent her life devoted to researching and publishing her mother Hannah’s journals. Hannah captured the heart of the west at the turn of the century and her journals have quite a following, except for Meg that is. Meg avoids reading the journals in a subconscious attempt to thwart Bassie’s controlling nature. But don’t fret because Meg does finally launch into a reading of the journals on a road trip back to New Mexico. At the behest of elderly Bassie they journey there to put a stop to construction on Dog Hill where lies one of the few memories Bassie has of her mother and also the bones of the family dogs.

What makes this book so interesting is the realistic relationships between the related women. This isn’t a feel good book where everything comes out peachy keen at the end, far from it. Yet the strength of the story lies in the way these women relate to one another and how that relationship pervades every part of their lives. They are inexplicably intertwined no matter how hard they strive to deny it. Oh yeah, and there is a bit of romance thrown in the mix too.

Elizabeth does an excellent job of story telling and even manages to throw in a plot twist or two at the end. This is the first of her books that I’ve read but I’ve got a feeling it won’t be the last. If you only read a few books this year, Night Journal should be on that list. -Flourish

* The Las Vegas in New Mexico is pronounced with an “e” sound rather than with the “a” sound. I’ve been there ya’ll and it is quite a pretty little town indeed. Love brought me out there in the early 90s for a higher education scouting trip and I almost ended up attending New Mexico Highlands University. But alas, the love ended and I found myself back home in Florida for the next decade. I’ve gotta admit it was kind of strange seeing snow on the ground in April. That historic Plaza Hotel is there just as it’s described in the book. New Mexico was quite an adventure overall and I highly recommend a road trip or flight there. I sure enjoyed this walk down memory lane. I wonder how my life would have turned out if I’d taken that route…

Dead Until Dark

2006-03-27T05:15:00.000-05:00

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Ya’ll, this is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Our heroine, Sookie Stackhouse, is a cocktail waitress from rural north Louisiana who leads a pretty boring life until one night when a vampire walks into her bar. It seems that in Sookie’s world vampires have been out of the closet for a couple of years. They’ve come forward, admitted they exist, and want to be accepted by the world. Yikes. Sookie is really fascinated by this vampire because she can’t read his mind. You see, Sookie has this little problem, actually she would call it a disability. It seems that she can read people’s minds. Yep, it’s a little strange and she finds it very refreshing that she can’t read Bill’s mind. That would be Bill the vampire. Bill. Right. Anyway, it turns out that the vampires find Sookie’s talent an extremely useful one and under duress she is pressed into service for the vamps. I won’t tell you the rest cause I don’t want to spoil it for you. Suffice it to say that there is a lot of action, a bit of romance, and wisecracking fun.

Sookie is a delightful character who’s got a heart of gold. The entire book is written from Sookie’s perspective with her dry humor as funny as H-E-double hockey sticks. I think it’s fabulous that a white trash rural girl is the star of the show. Speaking of show it seems that HBO has decided to create a show of the book.

Hey and guess what? This book is a Southern Vampire Mystery series! So you’ve got several of Charlaine’s books to enjoy. I liked this book so much that I immediately went to the library, checked out every single one and proceeded to read them all in a week so you may see a review of the other books right here at The Restricted Section real soon. They’re quick, funny, and a world you can immerse yourself in to forget your troubles. -Flourish

Business of Bliss

2006-03-23T05:37:00.000-05:00

The Business of Bliss: How to Profit from Doing What You Love by Janet Allon & the Editors of Victoria Magazine

The strength of this book lies in the inspirational stories of women who succeeded in creating their own business. There is something that will appeal to everyone with all sorts of businesses represented from food to clothes to books. It feels a bit misleading though because the reader only gets a glimpse of the thriving businesses these women have created with only a passing sentence or two about the difficulties that were endured to get to that point. What’s missing from these pages seems to be a description of the women’s hard work and dedication and what inspired them to strive so hard to make their businesses a success. I’m sure that most of us women have dreamed about what it would be like with we had our own business doing exactly what we love. This book is a print manifestation of those day dreams but it’s just that, dreams, without much substance to back it up. There are a few random hints about how to select a business name and how to select staff but I wonder how helpful is their brevity. Overall, it was fun to read about how these women had made it and created a life that included work that was fulfilling and creative. However, this feel good book really isn’t the one to teach you all the necessary details of running a business. -Flourish

Perfect Manhatten

2006-03-21T05:17:00.000-05:00

The Perfect Manhatten by Leanne Shear and Tracey Toomey

So you think you wanna join the ranks of the fun and privileged by summering at the Hamptons this year? You might think twice about this idea after you read this book. Our heroine has just graduated on a full scholarship from Columbia with no idea what to do with her future. She doesn’t have the lucrative financial backing (mega trust fund) to keep her afloat while she looks for a job nor does she have the career connections (daddy) to settle her in a job somewhere. She stumbles upon a newspaper ad for bartending school promising astronomical pay at bartending jobs after completing the course. She falls for it hook, line, and sinker and finds out much too late that the ad was a little inflated. Yet somehow she does manage to end up bartending at the hottest club in the Hamptons over the summer. What she finds out is that bartending is full of moral pitfalls surrounded by drinking, stealing, and drugging. Although she rationalizes her coworker’s and friend’s behavior early on, it takes her until the end of the summer to realize that she is starting to rationalize her own behavior. Thankfully, the close of the summer season sees the end of her self destructive behavior and a return to the sensible person she is. Ah, I forgot to mention that of course there is a summer romance with a richie rich kid thrown in there. Overall this was an enjoyable book. -Flourish

Gift of Nothing

2006-03-17T05:37:00.000-05:00

The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell

I ran across this book in the new books section of the library. Its just a kid’s picture book but it had an interesting title so I picked it up and skimmed through it. What I discovered was a delightful story of a kitty determined to find the perfect present for his doggie friend. But the friend had all he needed so kitty went in search of “nothing” to give him. It seems he couldn’t find “nothing” anywhere until a light bulb went off and he realized what “nothing” was. In the end he gives the gift of nothing and together they enjoy everything.

This little story seems like a great way to introduce children to the idea of enoughness and a way to inculcate the desire to enjoy what you have without having to acquire more. This story relates the idea of appreciating what you have. When a child is blessed with so many things its hard to be appreciative without taking things for granted. This story seems like it would be a great spring board for this discussion with young children. -Flourish

Three Weeks in Paris

2006-03-16T05:24:00.000-05:00

Three Weeks in Paris by Barbara Taylor Bradford (audio)

I have never read a Barbara Taylor Bradford book and I really couldn’t get through this one. It started off interesting with a storyline about an artist in New York but it seemed to move quickly the bedroom scenes without a lot of substantive story line. I had to give up on it after listening to the first CD. I guess I’ve got to me in a much more romantic mood to enjoy her books. -Flourish

Non-Designer's Design Book

2006-03-09T05:46:00.000-05:00

Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams

Let’s say you’re the only one in your family who has any semblance of computers skills. This usually means that your cousin/uncle/mom/boss etc. will come straight to you and ask for your help when they want to create something special for their cousin/uncle/mom/boss etc. There is usually some type of cheery exchange such as “Oh you’re just so good with computers, I just know you can whip up a funny, cute, sentimental, pretty birthday card for my friend (cousin/uncle/mom/boss etc.)” You smile weakly and glance past them hoping to deflect their request by latching onto the next passerby with the intention of asking them a really, really important question that simply must be answered at this exact moment. Unfortunately, no one is happening by just then so you turn back to your cousin/uncle/mom/boss etc. and mumble, “sure, I guess so”, where upon they light up like a hundred watt bulb, squeeze your hand with delight and turn on their heel to stroll away without a care in the world. Now here you are, left with the task of coming up with something creative in a minimal amount of time.

I found myself in this spot several times over the years and I’ve gotta admit that this book has helped me understand enough design principals to have my boss smiling and nodding when handing over the requested document. This isn’t a scary book. It isn’t a long book. It’s short and sweet, with lots of pictures. It’s also easy to follow and understand and will truly help you develop an eye for seeing how thing can fit together on a page to create a pleasing design. By the end you’ll be able to pick out a serif font versus a sans serif. Oh, and you just may be able to create that really groovy card for your cousin’s uncle’s mom’s boss. -Flourish

Julie and Romeo Get Lucky

2006-03-06T05:57:00.000-05:00

Julie and Romeo Get Lucky by Jeanne Ray (audio)

This was a quick and funny little book. Julie and Romeo, both in their sixties, attempt to enjoy an afternoon alone in blissful nakedness when Romeo injures his back in a feat of overzealous romanticism. He spends nearly the entire rest of the book on his back in Julie’s bedroom upstairs. Julie’s daughter ends up on her back in a downstairs bedroom due to pregnancy. All the while a cast of characters march in and out of the story with the constant background of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It seems the eight year has an obsession and a belief that her golden ticket will come true with the lottery. Turns out that she does win the mega millions and the rest of the story is spent on how to deal with the money. It’s a cute, funny story with an interesting twist of a couple of old codgers still enjoying carnal knowledge. -Flourish

Brokeback Mountain

2006-03-03T05:21:00.000-05:00

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

Part of a collection of short stories, Close Range: Wyoming Stories, and recently made into a major motion picture, Brokeback Mountain is the story of forbidden love. I must admit that I saw the movie first and then was curious enough to find out what the written word was all about. I had a sneaking suspicion that it would be better than the silver screen as is usually the case. Cold Mountain is one example. However, I find the story to be on level footing with the film. I’m not a major fan of short stories but partly I was on a mission to try to further understand the outcome of one of the characters. There has been some discussion about Jack’s “accident” with equal support to explain the outcome in the film. The short story clears this up a bit and is well worth seeking out to read. I highly recommend the movie too and would characterize it as epic, with sweeping vistas. Really, what could be better than gay cowboys? -Flourish

Can you keep a secret?

2006-03-01T06:41:00.000-05:00

Can you keep a secret? by Sophie Kinsella (audio)

Sophie's British heroines are always a laugh riot and good for an escapist read. In this romantic comedy of errors our leading lady accidentally spills all her secrets to what turns out to be the multimillionaire owner of the company for whom she works. A tug of war ensues with the two of them struggling to date each other but with obstacles falling in their path generally creating hilarious havoc. The audio is fantastic and worth getting on the waiting list for at the library. My favorite of her books is still the first one I read (isn’t that always the way?), Undomestic Goddess. If you need a book to read on a weekend away this one is a keeper. -Flourish

Me Times Three

2006-02-27T05:42:00.000-05:00

Me Times Three by Alex Witchel (audio)

Perhaps I should have read the hardback version of this book because I didn’t care for the audio. It seemed a bit slow and the story felt like it was dragging on forever. I did like the main character who is smart and interesting, working at her first New York job as a magazine editor. The title implies that this is a breakup book and while that story line is there it was only part of the story. She also spends many pages dealing with the illness and eventual death of her best friend to AIDS. This book was a bit more on the downer side then I expected but is interesting social commentary on 1980s upper middle class self proclaimed American royalty. -Flourish

Goodnight Nobody

2006-02-22T05:35:00.000-05:00

Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner

Where has my mind been this whole time? In my search for the perfect entertaining chick lit I must have run across Jennifer Weiner’s name about nine hundred and forty two times and each time I did I passed over her name and a little rapid fire thought would go through my head that I’d already read her books. Nope, I was wrong. But I could have sworn that I had! I read Goodnight Nobody and thoroughly loved it! It’s one of the best books of the genre. Jennifer’s character is so very real and so loveable. She is you, she is me, she is your best friend. She worries over her weight gain after childbirth, she curses occasionally, and she struggles to retain her adult identity while raising three kids under the age of five. She is delightful and fun and I found myself rooting for her the whole time. This book is a murder mystery set in the perfect suburbs where all the mommies wear ironed clothes, do pilates on a regular basis, and feed their children organic everything. Our heroine has a hard time keeping up with this Stepford Wives world and heck, she doesn’t even want to. This character ranks right up there with my favorite, Savannah Reid from G.A. McKevett’s books. I’m going out to the library tomorrow to see what other of Jennifer’s books I can round up. I hope to see you there! -Flourish

Sisters Mortland

2006-02-20T09:57:00.000-05:00

The Sisters Mortland by Sally Beauman

This unusual novel sucks you right in from the beginning with the story told from the perspective of a young girl during the summer of 1967. She is the youngest of three sisters and we enjoy watching her progress through a carefree summer surrounded by a cast of interesting characters. One of these is an artist painting a portrait of the sisters as a means to pay his room and board. This portrait nearly becomes a character of its own. The story abruptly shifts its point of view to that of a local village boy and friend of the family he carries the story through until the last bit of the book where another of the sisters takes it up. Although initially jarring, these perspective shifts truly help to define the story. There is a secret here. Ok, there are lots of secrets here in a family that tries to do nothing but pretend that everything is alright. I mustn’t give too much away because I really want you to read this one. It’s a mesmerizing story I promise you won’t be able to put down. –Flourish

Flea Market Decorating

2006-02-18T06:03:00.000-05:00

Flea Market Decorating by Better Homes and Gardens

This is one of a handful of decorating books that I have on my bookshelf. I just love looking at this book! Not only is it crammed full of fabulous pictures of inspirational original junk setups and designs, but it also has lots of descriptions and explanations in the text. I replicated the ball and claw curtain rod finials idea myself and loved it. I cut down old wooden broom handles, drilled holes in the ends and screwed on a couple of faux ball and claw pieces that came off of an abandoned table from the side of the road. I chucked the rest and believe me those were the only usable parts on the thing. Can you say “gold toned”?

I also have the stacked luggage as per the cover photo. This is an excellent idea for extra storage. You don’t have to get matching luggage, just go on down to Payne City or the Big Peach or your local antique mall and roam the aisles until you find a marked down, vintage piece of luggage in graduating sizes. Stick with those browns and they’ll all go together just fine. Oh, and make sure there is no interior smell. What can I say? This is one of the most useful decorating books I’ve ever read. Go on down to the library and check it out. –Flourish

Everyone Worth Knowing

2006-02-16T05:11:00.000-05:00

Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger (audio)

I hope Lauren continues to write chick lit. Her characters are thoroughly enjoyable and her writing is excellent. I really enjoyed this book a lot. Our main character is so well developed that you can’t help but feel like you’ve gotten to know her and she’s become your good friend. She’s without a job since walking out of her loathsome banking stint but ends up in the antithesis of party planning in New York City. It’s neat to see an average gal like you or me end up in some fancy smancy high end career and see what she makes of it. She doesn’t cotton to a lot of the nonsense that goes on around there. She’s got a cute little dog, a faux boyfriend, a gay writer uncle, and a romance book club (think Harlequin here). Better even than her first book, The Devil wears Prada. -Flourish

Long Way Down

2006-02-15T06:03:00.000-05:00

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

Four very different people. One roof on a New Year’s Eve night in London. I’m sure you get the picture. Each chapter is told from a the point of view of one of the characters: a early twenties young American whose life feels over because of his band breakup; a fifty year old single mother of a severely disabled son; a teenaged terror dealing with her missing sister; a fallen from grace TV personality. All of these people feel hopeless and ready to chuck it all up and over the rooftop. This is the first of Nick’s books I’ve read although I have enjoyed the movie versions of About a Boy and High Fidelity. He does an excellent job of capturing the voices of these four very different personalities but in so doing caused me to find a couple of the characters a touch irritating. It was a bit like reading a diary so vivid that you nearly feel like you are there. Nick is of my generation and his writing somehow captures the essence and feeling of the time. I may look up his other books too because I suspect that I’d like them even better. -Flourish

Shopaholic & Sister

2006-02-14T05:28:00.000-05:00

Shopaholic & Sister by Sophie Kinsella (audio)

This main character is crazy. I’ve never seen anyone shop without abandon. She meets her long lost sister who turns out *gasp* not to like shopping. The sister is actually a pretty granola groovy gal actually, who does in fact have her own hang-ups. The two are at odds throughout the book but somehow learn a bit from each other through the course of shopping, activist meetings, and one harrowing afternoon in a mountainside storm. I haven’t read any of Sophie’s other Shopaholic books although a guest reviewer discussed the first one, Confessions of a Shopaholic. I really enjoyed The Undomestic Goddess so I thought I’d give this one a whirl. I’m kinda glad I did. I just love listening to those British accents. Lighthearted and lofty, not to be taken seriously, but total hilarity and escapism. If you go into reading this book knowing these things and with the right attitude you will thoroughly enjoy it. -Flourish

Washingtonienne

2006-02-10T06:14:00.000-05:00

The Washingtonienne by Jessica Cutler

Narcissistically overwhelming and certainly no Sammy’s Hill. There are hardly words enough to describe this book tragedy except to say that it is based in actual fact on the experiences of the young author and her sexual and illegal drug exploits in the D.C. area. Turns out that she blogged about all these misadventures and used initials to mildly veil her conquests. I couldn’t figure out if it was just sad memoir or a how to guide for all the gold diggers out there. But the flap sums it up best: “Jessica remains unemployed in Washington, D.C.” This is code that she continues to have sex with older, married men for money, drinks until she passes out or vomits, and pops pills as soon as the sun goes down. I normally wouldn’t waste my time reading a book with a woman’s bra encased bosom on the cover but my library copy came with a large band that obscured the image. Bad writing, horrid story, please don’t waste your time with this one. -Flourish

Lipstick Jungle

2006-02-08T04:03:00.000-05:00

Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell

Another great hit by the author who started the power girl trend with Sex and the City. This book is a fabulous adventure story of three fortysomething working women who rise to power in Manhattan. We see them through over a year’s worth of conflict at home and work but make no mistake about it dear reader, these women are in charge of their lives. They hold powerful jobs that command respect and attention. Because of their status their workload is tremendous, often causing their home lives to suffer. Yet they deal with it. They’ve got the desire to work and succeed and create more than they do to just relax on the weekends. It was quite a different and enjoyable look at the female power elite of the Big Apple. For a change of pace from the ordinary, highly recommended. -Flourish

Month-by-Month Gardening in Georgia

2006-02-07T06:11:00.000-05:00

Month-by-Month Gardening in Georgia by Walter Reeves and Erica Glasser

Believe it or not spring is in the air! A couple of years ago I found myself with a brand new mortgage and a sea of green that needed to be delt with. I had never tended a garden of my own in my whole life, nor had I ever mown my own lawn. This was a whole new experience for me and I was determined to keep that swath of green outside my front door instead of letting it turn to brown. So I went on a hunt down for some sort of book that would help me. It turns out that there truly is a book for just about every type of garden out there. In my case, I settled on this fantastic basic book about gardening in Georgia. Whats so great about this particular book? Well, much as the title implies, it actually tells you on a month by month basis what you're supposed to be doing in the garden or yard as the case may be, a true help for the first time gardener. If you're trying to garden in Georgia, I highly recommend this book. -Flourish

Southern Living

2006-02-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

Southern Living by Ad Hudler (audio)

Did I just enter the Twilight Zone? I had no idea that this story was about Macon, Georgia. It sure was interesting to match up the renamed people and places with their real live counterparts (i.e. Truman Highway was obviously Eisenhower Parkway). The story is told through the eyes of several different Selbyites (Maconites) including the upper crust, well to do Northern Selby housewife, the white trash Kroger worker, and a recently transplanted Yankee straight out of the great white North. Just incase you nice folks haven’t figured it out by now I fit into the latter category which is what made reading this book a bit of a train wreck. After five and a half years of living in this pitiful, tiny, cultureless, southern town, I feel like I’m losing my edge. This book is true ya’ll* (there, you see what I mean!). This is the town that time forgot, complete with old southern ways fancily dressed up as traditions that mask the racism that exists here in the heartland.

Now don’t go thinking that it’s just the white people being raciest by keeping their children out of public school and driving their children daily to the Private (insert church affiliation here) Acadamy. Just try opening the phone book some time to the schools section in the yellow pages! If your kid is still in the womb you better get his name on the waiting list if you don’t want him to go to school with the Africans*. It’s also the black people who consistently separate themselves from the white community. They continue to accept low paying jobs that harkens back to slave days. Living off the government has become a way of life and I have seen more government subsidized housing here than any place I’ve ever lived. They continue to perpetuate this squalor existence rather than seize the opportunity to better themselves with free education, including FREE college paid for by the Hope Scholarship via lottery dollars. Babies are constantly born to these folks and AIDS is epidemic here in the black community.

What is a Yankee transplant to do? It’s tough to make friends here if you don’t a) go to church or b) have children. I’ve got nothing in common with most of the people who are from here but Thank God* there are others like me that I can band together with, or at least bitch about the people around us. What to tell you? If you're from middle Georgia, you'll probably like it. Amen*. -Flourish

*sarcasm

Kindness of Strangers

2006-02-01T05:16:00.000-05:00

The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle

You’ve gotta admire Katrina for taking a risk. Not every author is willing to fictionalize such difficult subject matter as child sexual abuse. She seems to have invested a good amount of time researching her subject matter and indeed there is a long list of knowledgeable folks in the acknowledgement section at the end of the book. The story is told in chapters rotating in point of view from each of the main characters, a mother, her two sons, and a family friend of her youngest son. A child abuse scandal is exposed in a community where such things are unimaginable and the characters are forced to deal with the ramifications. Emotions run the gambit from disbelief to acknowledging the possibility of such horrific things of their friends and finally to accepting the reality of the situation all the while living their daily lives. They thought they had it bad before by having to deal with the recent death of their husband and father but that was only a precursor to the horribleness of the boy who was forced into sex with his father and other random strangers at sex parties.

We experience the deep pain and trauma of this boy and come to better understand the tricks of the mind needed to cope with such atrocities. But it is a bitter pill to swallow and throughout the course of reading this book I had to lay it aside three different times and pick up something lighter to wash away the layer of scum that lay upon my heart from reading the words. This is not a feel good book although by the end I did come to love and root for the characters.

Katrina chose to include the love stories of the characters at the same time this crazy stuff was going on. The shift from reading about the child sexual abuse to reading about the perfectly normal longings and feelings of consenting adults was too jarring and frankly creepy. It’s difficult to switch from disgust and indignation to lust and longing. Yet I understand why she wrote it this way. It is a way to show that we do not live in a vacuum and we are diverse, flexible creatures dealing with the horror while at the same time feeling an attraction for someone new in our life. These things can happen at the same time or at least with in a short amount of time with each other. For example, Katrina shows how difficult it is to come to grips with both as the disgusting abuse photos invade the mind of the teenage son as he struggles to make love for the first time with his girlfriend. Overall, well written but highly disturbing. -Flourish

Otherwise Engaged

2006-01-30T06:11:00.000-05:00

Otherwise Engaged by Eileen Goudge

Two women, best friends since childhood, grow up to lead two completely different lives. One has the family, dog, and Bed & Breakfast, in a small western town. The other has the freelance writing career and all the accolades of Manhattan. Enter adversity and then opportunity. They both switch lives and jobs for six months and record their efforts for all the hungry women in New York to see whether they really are having the best possible life being single, powerful, and glamorous in the Big Apple. Or did they miss the boat when they gave up their high school sweetheart? It’s a thought provoking concept and a well written, interesting book. But I started thinking about Eileen’s motivation. I’m going to have to give away some of the ending here. It turns out that all these women want the family, dog, and the small town life. I suppose that this story is but one glimpse of some fictional characters that both end up with the traditional path but this book didn’t really give the Sex and the City life much of a chance. This is not about going to the city and making it big. It’s about going to the city, making it big, realizing it’s not enough, then going back to where you started. Even with this slant I enjoyed it. - Flourish

Playing James

2006-01-26T05:59:00.000-05:00

Playing James by Sarah Mason

Move over Bridget Jones, there’s a new girl in town, star reporter Holly Colshannon. Ok, maybe she’s not a star since she is stuck covering pet funerals at the local paper, but throughout the course of the book she manages to turn around her dead-end job with a weekly column working with a police detective. Holly is such a dreadfully funny, accident prone character that you’ve just got to love her. Add to that the typical but hilarious minor cast of overbearing parents, outlandish gay photographer, and a love struck best friend and the book rounds out very nicely. A completely over the top, impossible ending but hey, it’s a fantasy, right? Enjoy it with pleasure. -Flourish

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

2006-01-24T06:10:00.000-05:00

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (audio)

This was a sweet little story about four best friend teenage girls who pass around a pair of magical pants the first summer they spend apart. The symbolic pants give them the courage and strength of the group when they are hundreds of miles away form each other, experiencing the character building challenges all teens face. These girls seemed a bit more innocent than the teenagers that I’ve known but I suppose that Ann is looking beyond the exterior and focusing on the thoughts and feelings that accompany teenaged angst. I believe that there was a major motion picture made of this book although I haven’t seen it. If the story stays true to the book then it was probably a winner. The audio was delightful and for some reason I really liked all the quotes throughout the book. If you’re a mother of a teenaged girl or if you were a teenager yourself you will probably enjoy this book. -Flourish

Yokota Officers Club

2006-01-22T06:24:00.000-05:00

The Yokota Officers Club by Sarah Bird (audio)

I didn’t grow up in a military family but it feels like I’ve known lots of people who have. It really is a completely different experience than the typical American kid’s romp through the suburban landscape. Sarah’s book, set in the 50s and 60s, brought to life what it was like to grown up having to move nearly every year to places where everything is foreign including the food and the people. She tells the story from the perspective of the oldest girl in a family of six children but she also manages to weave in a lot of back story extremely prevalent to what has shaped their lives. The characters feel real so that we sense their pain, love, anxiety, joy, and fear. I thoroughly enjoyed reading how all the characters were connected to each other. Easy to listen to although it felt a bit overly long at times. Still it was very enjoyable and worth a trip to the library. -Flourish

Wagner Matinee & A Pair of Silk Stockings

2006-01-20T06:52:00.000-05:00

Wagner Matinee by Wila Cather & A Pair of Silk Stockings by Kate Chopin

Wants, desires, longings and lusts combined with denials, doing without, and putting other people before. This is the heart of the two short stories written at a time when there were no iPods or satellite TV or blogs even. We’re talking early twentieth century here people.

Wagner Matinee brings to life a character who leaves her music career behind to marry and move to Nebraska. She returns to the big city a couple of decades later and is moved by the musical experience of an afternoon concert. She is overwhelmed by it and our narrator explains that she will likely not experience anything at all like it when she returns home.

In A Pair of Silk Stockings our main character comes into a tiny bit of extra money that she hoards and meticulously plans the use of for her children’s needs. Then one day when she is especially worn out she stumbles upon some sale priced silk stockings which she is unable to resist. It escalates from there and she ends up spending all of the money on niceties for herself.

Both of these women were in a place of physical and mental exhaustion from years of hard labor and toil. We catch them in a moment when this lifelong chain is broken and they slip into a fantasy world if only for a brief instant. These stories are about the choices we make, our resolve to live with them, and then a life intervention that reminds us of what we had and what we lost. Give them a try and see what life lessons there are to be had. -Flourish

Note: I stumbled upon these two at another blog and decided to check them out.

Mercy of Thin Air

2006-01-19T06:47:00.000-05:00

The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue

Ronlyn gives us an appealing story set in early twentieth century New Orleans and the present day all from the perspective of a ghost. More than a love story between a man and a woman this is also the story of loving yourself enough to go after your dreams and desires. This was especially true for our ghost main character because before she died she was being forced to choose between marrying her love and going to medical school at a time when women just didn’t do that sort of thing. The story moves back and forth in time as we live through the pain of losing a loved one and how our bodies and minds cope with the loss. Ronlyn uses her vivid imagination to explain what the ghost world is like and how the living world experiences it. Overall, a romantic story worth a look. -Flourish

Metro Girl

2006-01-17T05:42:00.000-05:00

Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich

Don’t know how I managed it but this is actually the first of Janet’s books that I’ve read. I’ve gotta say that she lives up to the book jacket! “Creative cussing and sexual innuendo” indeed! Completely over the top with a truly unbelievable ride but wow what fun. Cute, thirty something single woman who can fix engines teams up with NASCAR guy with cars, boats, handcuffs, bad guys, worse guys, and more, more, more. A motley crew of groovy support characters all on a South Florida backdrop. They even drop by Joe’s Stone Crab. Everyone knows how tough it is to get into Joe’s.* Hey, what can I say? This book reminded me so much of home that I could practically feel the salty sea spray on my face and taste it in my mouth. I read it in two days and it was tons of fun. The next book, Motor Mouth, is coming out in October. -Flourish

*When you get there you will have to put your name on the list. No cheating and using your famous name. It won’t put you any further up the line anyway. You will have to wait a minimum of one solid hour for a table but boy or boy is it worth it. You will have the stone crab, of course, but you also must save room for key lime pie. Trust me here, it is the best. Honestly. Don’t forget to check to see if Joe’s is open because stone crab is only in season half the year and I hear tell that the waiters make so much money that they have ranches in South America where they live the rest of the year.

Blessings

2006-01-12T05:36:00.000-05:00

Blessings by Anna Quindlen

Loved it. We see into the lives of two very different people from two completely different worlds. The rich lady lives in a huge house with lots of lovely property and the young male caretaker guy who just got out of jail. Both are good hearted souls that wonder how exactly they got to where they are in life. Enter a newborn infant that causes them both to become even more of who they are. Anna has a fluid writing style and I sailed through this book in just a couple of days. Go on down to your local public library and check it out. -Flourish

Splendid Omens

2006-01-11T05:13:00.000-05:00

Splendid Omens by Robley Wilson

Such a fluid, easy read drove me to the conclusion that, just like the narrator of this story, the author must also be a professor of literature. So convinced was I that an investigation of the author’s background proved me right and I also discovered that he has been praised and awarded by the literary community. This smooth flowing work drew me in right away carrying me against my better judgment down the river current until I hit a bump two-thirds of the way through. Here is a story that begins chalk full of lovely character descriptions and detailed emotional inner workings of the mind and heart. Usually I only read books with female central characters but broke my own rule as I was driven along almost without realizing it. For what, dear readers, do I have in common with a sixty year old white man? But again, the character was made interesting, likeable, heck, even enjoyable so that I started to believe that perhaps this would be an exception like that of the Tim Cavanaugh character in Jan Karon’s books. The difference of course being that Father Cavanaugh is an Episcopal priest and is written by a woman.

I can only say that I was totally and completely duped. I was driven to finish this book so that I could relate my true feelings with the knowledge that I saw it through to its conclusion. But ugh, having to relive this horrific story is like having a root canal and all four impacted wisdom teeth cut out in the same day.

Let me just give you a brief plot summary here. The central character has died and is only seen in flashback. He was a cad. An old, incestuous cad that is, but we don’t find this out until well into the story. He died as he was just about to marry the daughter he had impregnated with his second child. Sickened yet? Well, hold on just a sec because it gets even more twisted and gut wrenching. The narrator, himself an old man, falls in love with this woman only to find out that she is his biological daughter. Confused yet? Well, he spends the last third of the book wrestling his conscious with whether or not to act on his romantic feelings for his daughter. People, is this really a question that should be pondered? Don’t decent humans avoid screwing their children?

This is a simplified version of the plot but it’s really not worth revisiting the whole thing. Suffice it to say that this is a story terrifying in is normalcy. What makes it so impalpable is the seeming ordinariness that surrounds the characters. These folks appear to be average, everyday folks who have actually convinced themselves that they aren’t doing anything wrong. Very Twin Peaksesque and quite sickening to both the stomach and the mind.

A subtler theme underpinning this madness is the implication that women are the cause of all this philandering. The dead central character cannot be blamed for his desires and actions and neither can the narrator. I guess they’ve never heard of free will. Ultimately, he decides not to have sex with his biological daughter and I guess we readers are supposed to throw up our hands and jump for joy that he made the right decision and was able to keep his penis to himself. As if there was ever a choice here! What’s ironic, once again, is that initially this guy is portrayed as a decent, average, ordinary fellow.

Conclusion: One of the worst books that I’ve read in quite a long time and is to be avoided like Mad Cow Disease. -Flourish

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

2006-01-09T10:21:00.000-05:00

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

How many decades has it been since I read this book? Um, I don’t think I’m gonna count them but after seeing the film I decided to go on back to my childhood and give it another read. It begins with Lewis’s heartfelt dedication of the book to his Goddaughter Lucy and ends the hinting promise of more adventures and a resounding “The End”. It was just as fun as I remembered it as a child and I couldn’t believe how closely they followed the book for the film version. The movie was spectacular and shouldn't be missed, but I always prefer to go back to read the original creator's words themselves. It will take you away to a fantasy world were children are powerful and control their own destinies. One major complaint I have about the movie is the terrifying murder scene. Those creatures were hideous and sure to cause children nightmares. Lewis himself said they were “creatures whom I won’t describe because if I did the grown-ups would probably not let you read this book” (p 148, 1970 Collier Books paperback edition). It probably would have been better to tone things down a bit in the movie. Go on and check this book out from your local library. It’ll only take you about an hour to read it. -Flourish

Coal Tattoo

2006-01-06T05:52:00.000-05:00

Coal Tattoo by Silas House (audio)

Wow, listening to this book was like hearing about the descendants from the Sheila Kay Adams’s My Old True Love. Both books relate the love and heartache of southern mountain families, Sheila’s during civil war North Carolina and Silas’s during 50s and 60s Kentucky. It’s still just as difficult to scratch out a meager existence a hundred years later and instead of battling brothers we find families battling strip mining companies. But that is really only part of the story. This book is actually chalk full of delightful character descriptions that center on two very different sisters. We follow the ebb and flow of their relationship and those with the men that are in their lives. A truly enjoyable book that shouldn’t be missed. -Flourish

In the Country of the Young

2006-01-04T06:14:00.000-05:00

In the Country of the Young* by Lisa Carey

I sort of fell in love a little bit with this tortured artist who lost the ability to see ghosts when his twin sister left this earth. He also turned into a bit of a self centered cad, but then, isn’t that the kind of guy we’re always attracted to? Set in an island off the coast of Maine with a bit of fictional history of an Irish immigrant shipwreck from a hundred years ago. The quintessential brooding, beautiful and talented man’s belief in the supernatural at the beginning of the book is very interestingly explained throughout the rest. This was a wonderful book with lots of tastily developed characters until about the last third or so where it seemed to tragically degenerate into a sex novel. But perhaps Lisa has it right. Maybe human motivations do truly come from a deep love/infatuation/obsession and drive the destinies of our lives. Either way, this one is a worth a look. -Flourish

* I picked this book up at a truly groovy little bookstore called Dog Ear Books. Nothing beats the cute quaintness of this place. If your travels take you through Madison, Georgia, you simply MUST stop by and visit!

Backpack

2005-12-20T05:34:00.000-05:00

Backpack by Emily Barr

After 55 pages I had to throw this book off to the side. It wasn’t the writing style that I disliked but rather the main character that I couldn’t stand. She was not just a bit clueless but truly vile. The setting was an interesting one: young girl starts out on her own to backpack across Asia, yet she doesn’t seem to make this decision based on a desire to see the world. It’s more of a desire to escape her current life of alcoholism and drug addiction with a vague, idealistic notion of breeze blown gauzy curtained windows and delightful natives that entice her to those places. That, and of course, a man. She was too much of meanie for me to continue to read about and I suddenly realized after looking this book up online that I’d read another of Emily’s books that also had a sort of vile leading character. I assume that she changes her spots in the end but if anyone has read this one let me know. I guess I should have known better just by lookins at the cover of this book. Too much focus on the female bottom. - Flourish

Use What You Have Decorating

2005-12-18T07:34:00.000-05:00

Use What You Have Decorating by Lauri Ward

This is the book for those of you who have trouble figuring out just exactly what is wrong with your room. The theory is that you’ve already picked out all the stuff that’s in your house so you must already love it but you just don’t know how to make it work for your lifestyle. I learned loads from this book! A lot of the time what you see in decorating magazines has to do with accessorizing a room. You know what I’m talking about, all those cute little tchotchkes that are scattered about the room in the photos looking like they’ve been casually left on the table, draped on the chair, etc. Well let me tell ya what folks, that room was staged by professionals to look that good! This book goes back a step or two by helping you set up the bones of the room before you start accessorizing. Lauri helped me to better understand groovy things like furniture placement, how to avoid the visual rollercoaster, and how to properly balance a room. This little book is a treasure! Run out to your local library today and pickup a copy. Just don’t expect a whole bunch of shiny, flashing pictures like the magazines. This book is chalk full of black and white photographs but the text is really the meat of the matter. You’ll love it. - Flourish

Running and Walking for Women Over 40

2005-12-16T04:00:00.000-05:00

Running and Walking for Women Over 40 : The Road to Sanity and Vanity
by Kathrine Switzer

I picked up this book while browsing the bookstore and sat down to peruse it before heading for the checkout counter. I’m certainly glad that I did because after a few pages I had to throw it off to the side. The author makes “personal notes” throughout the book which I can only say are extremely irritating. She has an obvious slant favoring running and readers get the distinct impression that she only threw in walking as either an afterthought or because her editor told her to. She probably wanted to increase readership to produce more sales. She even has the nerve to make a derogatory comment about overweight women being unable to run properly because their thighs are too big. This is only a paraphrase since I’m unable to give you an exact quote because I left the book at the store. The information seems fairly basic, including timetables for beginning and maintaining a running program. I’ve read similar information in the pages of fitness magazines such as Shape. Overall, skip this one and look for the same information in the cheaper format of popular magazines. -Flourish

To Have and To Hold

2005-12-15T04:33:00.000-05:00

To Have and To Hold by Jane Green (audio)

Although I’ve never actually read a Harlequin romance novel, this book strikes me as what one would be like. Jane writes about the most unbelievable events in women’s lives. This story revolves around a nature loving, thirty something woman, who owns her own highly successful catering business. Her life is completely transformed into a high name brand wearing trophy wife after marrying a man who turns about to be a notorious cheater. Years go by and she is routinely miserable until circumstance lands her in her fantasy world of the country complete with cottage, garden, and doggie.

The first book of Jane’s that I read was Jemima J which had an even more unbelievable plot than this book. But I must admit that I enjoyed reading that book and this one was entertaining too. It was sort of fun to suspend reality for a bit and get caught up in the lives of other people who get derailed from their life goals yet someone manage to find their way back to them. For total escapism this is the book for you. The narration was wonderfully done, easy to listen to and flowed with lovely British accents. - Flourish

Girl Sleuth

2005-12-14T05:07:00.000-05:00

Girl Sleuth by Melanie Rehak

This book is a rollercoaster ride through women’s history in the twentieth century. Melanie does an excellent job of setting the stage for the time period in which our author’s wrote the Nancy Drew mystery series. It was particularly interesting to read the humble beginnings of the series and about its creator Edward Stratemeyer. He was responsible for creating a syndicate that produced, gosh, a bazillion or so fun reads for kids including the Hardy Boys and the Bobbsey Twins. This guy had some kind of energy!!

But the heart of this book surrounds the women authors who brought Nancy Drew to life and the world that they inhabited. For those of you too young to know, that world was one where men wore the pants, went to their day jobs, and earned the household income. Women were rarely in the workforce and almost never in positions of power. Yet times were changing and these women did too and with that change they brought to life one of the most memorable female book characters of my childhood.

For those of you who are academically inclined, there are chapter notes located at the end of the book and also a fairly comprehensive index. If you, like me, grew up with the Nancy Drew mysteries and crave more, more, more, then pick up a copy of this book to find out the rest of the story… -Flourish

Snowed In

2005-12-06T06:18:00.000-05:00

Snowed In by Christina Bartolomeo

Wasn’t sure that I was going to like this book initially but it turned out not to be a cold wet blanket. In fact, it was quite a warm, toasty blanket. Our heroine, Sophie, is a native of D.C. but moves up to Maine for her husband’s job. Apparently Maine is cold. Very cold. With lots of snow. No friends or family around and a husband that works late, a lot, lead Sophie to join the Happy Trails walking group. (BTW, Power walking is a wonderful thing and I highly recommend it!) It turns out that her husband isn’t just at late night meetings but actually up to shenanigans with a work colleague. Don’t worry, our soft spoken heroine lands on her feet and all is well in the end. The easy flow of the writing will send you through this thoroughly enjoyable novel in a hurry, but feel free to take your time and enjoy. Highly recommended. - Flourish

This Dame for Hire

2005-12-03T07:40:00.000-05:00

This Dame for Hire by Sandra Scoppettone (audio)

Move over film noir and dime store novels! Here is a book that takes the classis 1940s detective story and adds a millennium spin. With the U.S. entry into the war women must take over the traditional work roles of men and we find our heroine, Faye Quick, running the A Detective Agency for her boss Woody. Lovely descriptions of fashions, furnishings, and the New York streets filled with cafes, cig shops, and the like. A murder mystery that is solved by our smart, funny, no nonsense licensed female detective.

BTW, if you’re trying to quit smoking you may want to skip this book since it seems every few pages someone is lighting up. But hey, that’s the way it was back in the day when smoking was an endearing quality. The audio book was extremely fun to listen. Highly recommended to female fans of cultural forties. –Flourish

Weekend in Paris

2005-11-29T06:54:00.000-05:00

Weekend in Paris by Robyn Sisman

I’ll have to give this year’s offering from Robyn another try after having read Weekend in Paris. With so much description of the surroundings I feel like I’ve actually been to Paris for the weekend. Having always wanted to visit the acclaimed city I was deeply enthralled with this book. We follow our young, steady heroine as she chucks her job because of her Neanderthal boss and does something totally out of character. She boards a train to Paris and begins a whirlwind of adventure that is almost believable until her long lost father turns up in the picture. But it doesn’t really matter if it is an unbelievable story because it is pure escapism. This is what an impromptu thrill ride adventure Paris should be or at least what it is in my imagination. Her mother even gets in on a little Paris action when she shows up looking for her missing daughter only to end up staying a few extra days with a hunky Frenchman. Pure drivel but what a fun ride! Enjoy. - Flourish

School of Beauty and Charm

2005-11-25T08:24:00.000-05:00

School of Beauty and Charm by Melanie Sumner (audio)

The strangeness of this book may indeed sneak up on you. At first you’re reading along for a few dozen pages hip deep in a Georgia seventies suburban world where things seem oddly familiar. The next thing you know you realize that you’ve landed in a bizarre Twin Peaksesque universe where everything is “normal” which is exactly what makes it so funny (that would be funny strange, not funny ha ha).

Weird, but in a cool sort of way we travel a bit of a twisted suburban nightmareesque adventure of a young girl who accidentally kills her brother and eventually runs away from home to join the circus. We do get to see things from her perspective which makes for an intriguing character study. Here is a book breakdown: first two thirds, Twin Peaksesque suburbs, final third, carny caravan. Although the audio was easy to listen to, it just didn't seem exactly right without being read with a southern accent.

Yeah, I liked it. What can I can? I’ve got an interesting sense of humor. Children of the seventies and those raised in the suburbs are probably the right audience. All others try it at your own risk. -Flourish

Real Life Decorating

2005-11-24T05:06:00.000-05:00

Real Life Decorating by Better Homes and Gardens

Most of the time decorating books look just exactly alike and are chalk full of pretty pictures without any details. It’s obvious that the rooms were detailed by a professional and there isn’t enough information to figure out how to recreate the look. Thankfully, Real Life Decorating doesn’t give off that feel. It doesn’t focus exclusively on designer rooms but rather on real people’s homes. Although some of the homes featured actually do belong to designers, it’s interesting to see how these people put together their homes. There is also quite a variety of styles of both people and homes. No matter how many times I pick up the book it seems like I see something new and different of get some sort of new idea. Go check it out from the library and let me know what you think. -Flourish

Innocence

2005-11-23T05:22:00.000-05:00

Innocence by Kathleen Tessaro

Did you really make the right decision years ago when you decided to (fill in the blank)? This is the central theme. Set in the London of today and of twenty years ago this book was a flashback to my often misspent youth. While visiting from the States to attend an acting workshop our heroine changes the course of her life by falling in love.

This is an entertaining book about introspection and learning to go after what you believe. One of the funniest opening chapters I’ve read in a while, unfortunately this humor doesn’t translate to the rest of the book. The jarring switch between time periods provides no discernable way to know where you’re at until a few paragraphs into it. But this is only a minor irritant rather than a major flaw.

Ghost story or psychological whirling? Either way it works. Recommended, especially if you were a child of the eighties. -Flourish

All That Matters

2005-11-21T07:16:00.000-05:00

All that matters by Jan Goldstein

This is a brief, sentimental story of love between a grandmother and her granddaughter. The author manages to convey a complex story of torment and love experienced by both generations of women in just over 200 pages. Our younger heroine tries to end her misery through pills and alcohol and our older heroine intervenes to show her just how much there is to live for in this world.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable book. Its brevity does not lessen its intensity or its beauty. Moving through its pages was a helpful reminder to be grateful for all the splendor of this world. Overall, enjoy it and then pass it on to other female friends and family. -Flourish

Ain't She Sweet

2005-11-15T05:19:00.000-05:00

Ain't She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

We all remember that b*tch from high school that did us wrong. She was pretty, popular, and had half the boys chasing after her. She was also the meanest snake around and notorious for hurting innocent bystanders, like teachers accused of things they didn’t do. Then one day she is financially forced to return home and must suffer at the hands of those she once tormented. So the story goes with the not so sweet main character, Sugar, who must face the wrath of her former clique, the Seawillows as well as half the small Mississippi town.

This was actually an delightful book. Even though it was all a bit predicable it was intoxicating to watch as the ones who suffered at Sugar’s thoughtlessness exacted their revenge upon her. Sick, I know, yet I couldn’t help but relish it. I enjoyed the plot twists and couldn’t stop myself coming to love the heart of gold main character. Overall, a fun, quick southern belle read. -Flourish

Puppet

2005-11-11T06:39:00.000-05:00

Puppet by Joy Fielding (audio)

My reaction when the final sounds of this book filtered through my car stereo was “Thank God”. You know a book is bad when you start fast forwarding parts of it to try to hurry things along to the end. Opening with a court scene put me off right away as our female protagonist defends a rapist so well that he was found not guilty for all but one of the charges. For some reason I decided to persist with this book and the story line got a little better for the first half. The last half, however, moved slower than tree sap in January! The most memorable example is the author taking six audio minutes to move our two main characters in an elevator from the second floor to the third. Eek. I kept holding down the fast forward button but every time I’d release it they would still be in the elevator on their way to the third floor.

Also, I detest the overuse of flashback. It may be alright to repeatedly use it in a Lifetime movie of the week but it truly has no place in a novel. There are generally two types of flashback, the kind that shows you scenes that happened before the time period in the book and therefore provides insight into the character’s backgrounds. And then there is the kind that repeats scenes that you have already read in the book. This latter type is the kind that simply grates on my nerves and unfortunately is the kind that is used repeatedly in Puppet. I understand that the author was trying to get us into the head of our heroine (?) but really it just didn’t work for me.

Oh, yeah, how many times can an author use the phrase “I don’t understand” in a book? Seemed like a couple of dozen at least. If you’re going to give this book a read do yourself a favor and pick up the hard copy and not the audio book, that way you can easily skip the incessant repetition. -Flourish

English Cottage Gardening for American Gardeners

2005-11-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

English Cottage Gardening for American Gardeners by Margaret Hensel

I stumbled upon this book as a recommendation from someone on the cottage gardens section of Garden Web Forums. Written in narrative style, it was a delight from page one. Several English gardens are featured ranging from formal to casual and in age from relatively new to decades old. The glorious photographs are indeed an inspiration and somehow seem quite achievable when coupled with the description and detailed background information. It was enjoyable to read how normal, everyday folks like you and me created such outdoor delights for all the senses. Makes me think there might be hope for me and my garden yet! Although my eyes glossed over the high falutin’ Latin plant names, there is still enough content here to engage the armchair or master gardener. -Flourish

Confessions of a Shopaholic

2005-11-08T05:29:00.000-05:00

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Undomestic Goddess was the first book I read by this author. Since I enjoyed that one, I figured I would see what this one was about.

First of all, if you don't like to shop or have never felt the urge to buy something that you couldn't really afford, you may find the main character, Becky Bloomsworth, to be a bit strange, as she is deep in debt and still shopping. If you are a shopper then you may sympathize with her because at least she gets a good deal on her purchases.

Back to the subject of debt, Becky tries to get it under control by using a few different tactics, but in the end they all fail except the last one she tries, facing them instead of avoiding them. Don't worry there is some romance in this book. It's just that her take on love is "it's not happening to me." Overall: a good book, maybe not as "can't put it down" as some, but definitely very funny and lighthearted. -Marie, guest reviewer

Savannah Blues

2005-11-04T04:32:00.000-05:00

Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews

Here is one not to be missed. Set in Savannah, Georgia, our heroine, Weezie, is a dumpster diver after the good stuff. She makes her living by picking crap out of Savannah back alleyways trash then reselling them to local antiques dealers. This girl is after my own heart! She is a loveable character made of southern magnolia brass balls who finds her way into a lot of trouble but then uses her smarts to find her way back out again. She has a cute little dog too.

The author used to work as a reporter and covered the infamous murder trial of Jim Williams which spawned the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. That was a pretty good book too, by the way, much better than the movie. This book has it all: ex-husbands, fake antiques conspiracies, murder, dogs, antiques, estate sales, all with a Georgia backdrop. If you’re a fan of Turner South’s Junkin’, then you’ll love this book. Overall: not to be missed. -Flourish

Francesca's Party

2005-11-03T05:30:00.000-05:00

Francesca’s Party by Patricia Scanlan

This book must have looked like a good idea when I put it on my to read list. However, I couldn’t get past page 60. The writing style is fine, the pace is ok, the character is interesting. The problem is that the first 60 pages go into detail about a husband who has an affair with a younger woman. The man is portrayed as a narcissistic, clueless baboon without much depth. The female lead is an interesting character but she is not enough to keep me going with this book.

Having endured a similar betrayal in my life I really didn’t want to relive it in this book. Reading is an escape from reality for me. The promise of the book title suggests that Francesca does overcome this knockdown on the road of life but I’m not really in the mood to find out. If anyone has read this one let me know how it ends. -Flourish

Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue

2005-11-02T04:58:00.000-05:00

Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue by Barbara Samuel

We piece together what happened to our main character throughout the course of this book, but it's a soul wrenching experience to get to the healing part of the loss process. Barbara has written a tender story about a mid-forties woman who seeks to rediscover herself after facing a betrayal. There is actually a cast of female characters each with their own chapter intertwined throughout this complex story. Our heroine, Trudy, is a mother, wife, secretary, friend, and neighbor. We see her interact with those in her life and rediscover her new agey side that got left behind decades before due to marriage and children. I found myself rooting for her as I followed her along her spiritual journey.

This author's writing reminds me of that of Elizabeth Berg's. It almost seems too boring and day in the life, etc. But that is what life is really about. It's how we learn to cope in our minds with difficulties thrown in front of our life's path that makes an interesting tale. If you're a woman of a certain age, you'll probably enjoy this one. -Flourish

Undead and unwed

2005-10-31T08:16:00.000-05:00

Undead and unwed by MaryJanice Davidson

What a bunch of nonsense! I really can’t believe that I actually read this book through to the end. Blond bimbo turns into superduper vampire yet retains her ridiculous blond bimbo ways. Turns out she can do lots of things that other vampires can’t and that she is the foretold Vampire Queen.

Human sidekicks include the rich, black best friend and the gay doctor friend while the vampire side provides the hunky tall, dark and handsome (natch) jerk she continuously tries to resist. Lots of colorful language used throughout. A ludicrous romp through the life (death?) of a couture footwear addicted former secretary. I guess I must admit that at times I found this book outrageously funny. But you really must suspend any basis in reality if you elect to pick up this tomb, er, I mean tome. This book is for the younger Ann Rice fans who want a laugh and interesting sex scenes. If you don’t fit into this category, please, skip this book. -Flourish

Ivy Chronicles

2005-10-26T04:55:00.000-05:00

Ivy Chronicles by Karen Quinn (audio)

Who knew that the world of application to New York’s private schools was so cutthroat? Apparently, lying, cheating, stealing, marrying, bribing, and even murder are all standard procedure to secure your little four year old a spot in a top private school. It seems that these baby ivies lead directly to the big, college ivies and this motley cast of characters is bound and determined to get their little tykes a place. Our lead character, Ivy Ames, suffers the setbacks of losing her job and catching her husband in the bathtub with another woman “and they were both naked”. She is then forced to deal with raising her two daughters alone without a job when she hits upon the idea of becoming a private school consultant, promising her clients acceptance into the private school of their choice and stooping below nearly every decent moral value.

This comedy of errors was a very funny romp through a segment of society of which I’m unfamiliar. When I relayed the plot to Blotts however, she assured me that the world of private schools is indeed a truly competitive one everywhere. Wow! I’ve been living in blissful ignorance with my public school education and state school college degrees. Karen gave me an array of colorful characters to enjoy and laugh at, although many of them seemed standard caricatures rather than fully developed ones. But with a cast so large who has time to delve into everyone’s psyche? Naturally, everything works out in the end but don’t let that stop you from reading this book. BTW, the audio was nice to listen to but I would recommend that you actually read this book. The audio version just seemed to go on and on and I could have gone a lot faster and probably enjoyed it a bit more if I’d read the hard copy. Overall, a quick, funny read that is a bit over the top and outlandish. - Flourish

J.A.P. Chronicles

2005-10-20T04:53:00.000-05:00

J.A.P. Chronicles by Isabel Rose

I can usually tell whether or not I will like a book based on the first few pages. Just going by the title I wasn’t sure if this was going to be one that I would enjoy or not. As it turns out it was indeed an interesting adventure.

The story focuses on our successful documentary filmmaker heroine who’s 10 year Jewish summer camp reunion is upon her. It turns out that those weeks year after year were nothing but a torture test for a bookworm girl who didn’t fit in with those athletic types. Let’s face it; those girls made her life a living hell, with one girl standing out in particular.

We float back and forth between each girl’s story and get a glimpse into their lives both past and present. Our author makes no excuses as to why these girls acted horridly to our heroine, but rather offers up an inside look into the mind’s of these Jewish American Princesses. Most of their lives were so unbearably awful that it was like watching a train wreck that I couldn’t pull my eyes away from. Yet it was somehow satisfying to read that money doesn’t solve all the problems of the world.

BTW, what was up with the size of that pink slipper on the cover of that book? That massive boat tittering at the top of a wave of boxes had to be a size 12 at least, maybe even a size 13!

Overall this books gets a thumbs up as a quick read about a group of grown up girl campers whose lives went in many different directions. -Flourish

My Old True Love

2005-10-18T05:30:00.000-05:00

My Old True Love by Sheila Kay Adams (audio)

Books that are thoroughly enjoyable have deeply developed characters that I come to love and care about. I want to know what happens to these folks and hope all the way to the last page of the book that things work out ok for them. Sheila has written just this type of book!

This deep character study is set in southern mountains before, during, and after the northern oppression war. A strong, female voice is given to Arty, who spends the book trying to understand and love her family, mainly her adopted son. She is sometimes a distant observer and other times she is right in the thick of things. Occasionally she seeks to sway the situation but often she is powerless to affect the outcome of family dynamics, love triangles, and the War Between the States.

These are country people ya’ll, living in the time of great strife and political upheaval when it was already tough enough to scratch out an existence on the land. Yet their provincial ways and crass toughness provide the backbone and character that allow them to survive and thrive in a sometimes hostile environment either of their own making or that of others.

Music is indeed a central theme to life as this tome is sprinkled with old mountain folk songs that are sung by the narrator. Indeed, the writing is written in a very harmonious style that seems to float along on its own melody. With a somewhat surprise twist of an ending, this story is a keeper. Try to get it on audio if you can because Kate Forbes’ narration is a joy to hear. -Flourish

Living Large in Small Spaces

2005-10-07T04:08:00.000-05:00

Living Large in Small Spaces: Expressing Personal Style in 100 to 1000 Square Feet by Marisa Bartolucci

This has got to be the number one best book I’ve ever read on making the most of your small space. Um, did you catch the subtitle on that book? Yes, they really do mean small! Intsy bintsy places with 100, 200, 300 square feet if you can believe it! These aren’t the same old boring hide stuff under the bed ideas either. We’re talking true, new, innovative ways to make more space like beds on a pulley system to bring it up to the ceiling by day. Or how about a rectangular blond wood box that opens to a home office complete with a cutout to accommodate the apartment window? Some of these pictures you will just have to see to believe. And boy howdy do they ever have pictures. Lots of words too, so you can be inspired both ways.

No matter what size living space you have we all wish that we had more. I’ve garnered many and various ideas from this thick little book and I’m still going back over it to see what I missed. Probably one of the best features is that the homes are those of real people. Sometimes the spaces are designed by professionals but sometimes not and it’s seeing how people live in these small spaces that I find interesting. If you're a fan of HGTV's Small Space, Big Style, then you'll love this book.

Go on and run, don’t walk, down to your local library and pick up a copy of this book. You won’t be sorry, I promise. -Flourish

Any Place I Hang My Hat

2005-10-05T05:45:00.000-05:00

Any Place I Hang My Hat by Susan Isaacs (audio)

Here’s another novel with a smart, interesting, strong woman as the central character. Amy Lincoln works for one of those periodicals that don’t have pretty pictures but rather lots of words. Journalists are given time to go more in depth into the story and in fact she does indeed work for In-Depth.

This book is all about finding your own place in the world both in the physical sense and the emotional one. Our thoroughly enjoyable main character grew up on the poor side of town but landed a reprieve in high school by way of a full scholarship to one of the hoity toity girls’ boarding schools. All her life she’s figured out how to fit in no matter where she was and what kind of people she was with. Yet this chameleon sensibility keeps her from a true feeling of belonging anywhere. This spurs her on to track down the mother who abandoned her as a baby. The reader can do nothing to protect our heroine as she attempts to shield herself behind intellect, convincing herself that she only wants to find her mother to find out her medical history. Her ex-convict with a heart of gold dad is a pretty groovy character too, and naturally there is the quintessential love interest tiff thrown in as well.

This was one of those listen in the car audio books for me. Some may say that the story moves too slow but I would disagree. It was sort of comforting getting into the car, coming back to the same pleasurable character over and over again.

Although a bit wordy at times, overall this is an enjoyable character study that I’m glad I read. -Flourish

Solo

2005-09-16T04:51:00.000-05:00

Solo by Emily Barr

Our cellist heroine claims to have built her career more on her good looks and blond hair than her musical abilities. However, I kept thinking the whole time, 'but she must have talent if she is playing the London Palladium'. This book's odd beginning subtly changed over the next couple hundred pages from a woman empowering herself to one of lost power and reclaimation. Although a quick, fluid read, I often wondered where this book was going. She leaves her husband during a performance and then goes on to try to refit her life into what she thinks it should be. A deep, dark, hidden secret from her past and a would be stalker send this woman into a tailspin causing her to reevaluate her life.

I'm still not sure that I liked this book. I think I may have but how do I know? Was it predictable? Yes, somewhat. Yet, the initial romance that I thought was the core of this story transformed into a voyage of self discovery for the our heroine. Perhaps it is only the main character that I didn't like but the story that I appreciate. I did truly admire her self awareness although I loathed her narcissistic as H-E-double hockey sticks attitude.

A note about the cover: this is not the same book jacket as the book that I read. I picked up this tome as I was browsing the stacks of the local library and it is strange that I couldn’t find an example of that cover at the online bookstore. The cover of the book that I read had a cartoon drawing of a woman with a cello. Odd that it was a brunette woman with a cello since the main character repeatedly mentions that she is blond, but I digress. I doubt seriously that I would have bothered to pick up this book if the cover as shown here was my choice. I don’t relish books that show off women’s derrieres as a selling point. -Flourish

Shadows at the Fair

2005-09-14T03:47:00.000-05:00

Shadows at the Fair: an antique print mystery by Lea Wait

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes at an antiques fair? Apparently antiques are murder! LOL Our recently widowed main character sets up her antique prints booth at one of the most prestigious fairs on Memorial Day weekend. This murder mystery series is a bit on the predictable and boring side but we do get a glimpse of behind the scenes at an antiques fair. A swift read, the author begins each chapter with a description of an antique print and its value. The book jacket explains that the author owned an antique print business for 25 years.

I have a bit of an ethical dilemma with the whole antique prints business that was only somewhat mollified by the book. Dear readers, do you know where these prints come from? Books. Yes, books are chopped up to get a hold of these prints so that they can be resold for a bigger profit. Our author explains at one point in Shadows that sometimes books are damaged with missing pages which renders them less valuable to antique book dealers. That’s when antique print dealers get their hands on them. I wonder what other means antique print dealers obtain prints? Any ideas?

This was an enjoyable read even though the plot was somewhat predictable. A strong female lead whose college teaching job doesn’t really pay all the bills (gee, really?) now that her husband has passed on, she earns extra cash at antiques shows. An interesting cast of supporting characters with various subplots that could pan out interestingly in the long run. I’m going to read at least one more book in this series before I make up my mind whether or not to read them all. -Flourish

Southern Fried Divorce

2005-09-12T04:02:00.000-05:00

Southern Fried Divorce by Judy Conner (audio)

Right up there with the top three funniest books I've ever read, if you're a southern woman get yourself down to the bookstore and buy this book. Yes, dear readers, I said get down to the bookstore, not the library. This is a book you're going to want to keep forever. I grabbed this audio book off the library shelves because it had a brown dog on the cover. Little did I know that this true life story would center around the little brown dog and that ex husband of the author. And what a true story it is! Initially I found Cynthia Darlow's reading voice too gravely as if she'd just finished smoking a pack of cigeretts. I'd just thrown aside another audio book, Ruby River, that she was narrating because I was having a horridly busy week at work and I couldn't follow all the characters in it. However, her voice grew on me after I made it through the first CD.

Judy recounts with southern hilarity the many misadventures that ensued with that ex husband and the brown dog. I found myself laughing out loud during several scenes and at one point I actually insisted that Blotts listen to one particularly laughable moment. Judy is the sister of famed author Jill of Sweet Potato Queen's Book of Love. Actually, I'm not sure how famed she is because I'd never read her although I'd vaguely recalled hearing the title mentioned a couple of times. Blotts had not only heard of the Queen but had read her book and said she was extremely laugh out loudable.

This book is set in the Big Easy. That's New Orleans for those of you not in the know. This is how I choose to remember a fantastic city as it struggles to survive after a devastating storm. -Flourish

Dog Breath!

2005-09-10T06:17:00.000-05:00

Dog Breath!: The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis by Dav Pilkey

hal·i·to·sis n. The condition of having stale or foul-smelling breath.

Dav may be best known for his Captain Underpants series but I love Dog Breath! best. This is one of the funniest small kids' books I've ever read. Dog Hally lives with the Tosis family but her breath is so horrible that they come to the devastating decision that she must go. That is, of course, until she saves the day and her family's home by breathing on and knocking out the burglars. The delightful pictures and simple story of love will entertain readers from the age of two to one hundred. Highly recommended. -Flourish

Not a Girl Detective

2005-09-08T04:26:00.000-05:00

Not a Girl Detective by Susan Kandel

Did you know that there were several people who wrote under the name of Carolyn Keene for the Nancy Drew mystery series? What’s really enjoyable about this book is the author takes some interesting literary fact and weaves a hilarious fictional plot around it. Our returning main character Cece Caruso writes biographies for a living and in this second installment of the series we find her working on the elusive authors of the famed mystery series for girls. This book is chalk full of interesting characters including her two best friends, a rich collector who ends up dead, and some fanatical Nancy Drew fans. It’s entertaining to glimpse the main character’s love for vintage fashion and art. Reading this book was like getting to relive some of the high jinks of my youth. Come on now, admit it. You know, just like me, you loved reading those Nancy Drew books as a kid and then started seeing all manner of mysteries that needed solving around the house: Case of the Napping Dog, Case of the Evil Homework Giving Teacher, etc. This book is an easy read that will take your mind off the long, hard day you had at work. If you, like nearly every other girl in the U.S., grew up reading the Nancy Drew books then you’ll love this book. -Flourish

Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed

2005-09-06T04:28:00.000-05:00

Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed by Nancy Atherton

The main characters are quite delightful although this book was a bit more staid than the first two in this series. Where else can you enjoy a ghost character that shows up as swoopy handwriting in a blue journal? I must have a thing for books set in Boston and the English countryside. This book takes us on an English cross country trek through some scenic old houses. If you’ve read the first two books then you’ll want to follow it with this third book in the Aunt Dimity series.

I’ve failed to mention in my book reviews so far of this series that one of my favorite reoccurring characters is Lori’s pink stuffed flannel bunny Reginald. Anthropomorphized to high heaven, he is a great little comic relief and cute as a bug in a rug! -Flourish

Don't think pink

2005-09-04T03:48:00.000-05:00

Don’t Think Pink: What Really Makes Women Buy: And How to Increase Your Share of This Crucial Market by Lisa Johnson

Why do I pick up these marketing to women books? Why? I never enjoy them. I usually end up throwing them across the room in a fit of disgust or anger. Unless they’re library books of course, :), then I place them gently into the return box and turn my back. I’m usually pretty good at duping myself into believing that this book will be different. Of course, I say that every time and when it’s several months between the last time and the latest time I tend to forget my usual response.

So I pick this book up because it’s written by a woman and because the title and subtitle imply that there is some sort of new information here that could be useful. I tell myself, and others, that I read these books in order to thwart the advertisers at their own game. I like to think that I’ve figured out their angles so that I can nod knowingly and judgmentally at the television screen with eyes narrowed and a tisk on my lips. Yes, that’s partly true I guess, but this time around I’ve got an ulterior motive.

Blotts and I have been not very hard at work developing a product idea we had targeting a group of women that we know best. I ran across a mention of this book one day and in a fit of passion, and market research of course, I proceeded to locate one and read it. Sorry ya’ll but I didn’t quite make it to the end. The world of marketing still thinks that they can compartmentalize people into categories that will increase business revenue. Written for a generation X audience, this thirtysomething author makes an attempt to explain who women really are and what women really want. Some of what she says makes sense, even though I don’t really want to admit it. Overall, if you’re in the business world and you will have female customers, you might want to read this one over. -Flourish

Holes, redux

2005-09-02T17:33:00.000-05:00

Holes by Louis Sachar

Blotts, I just want you to know that I don’t have any idea what the heck you were talking about when you said that this book was laugh out loud funny! I was practically crying over that poor innocent boy who got sent out to the detention camp. And all because of his no-good- rotten- pig- stealin- great- great- grandfather! :) You recommended reading it at red lights so I figured I’d start out in the bathroom and see where I end up. I guess I should mention that this 1999 Newberry award-winning book was written for children.

Poor Stanley! Having to live with a curse of bad luck all because of his no- good- rotten- pig- stealin- great- great- grandfather. I just wanted to slap that warden! There really was a method to the madness for all that hole diggin'. What a neat parrallel story with the past too. A quick read, a fun story, and a moral or two to boot, Holes will delight its audience of most ages. -Flourish

Town that Came a Courtin'

2005-09-01T04:19:00.000-05:00

The Town that Came a Courtin' by Ronda Rich

Another Georgia belle does good. You’ve gotta love a book that actually uses the word conniption. Now when was the last time you read that word in a book? This true southern romance couldn’t be any sweeter with sentences like “I feel like I’ve been drinking unsweetened tea for years and tonight you added the sugar”. The wordy start quickly dissipated as I got sucked into the story of a Georgia author on a book tour. Our heroine is from a small country town that is chalk full of hilarious stories complete with eccentric characters. Her book tour stop in tiny Bliss, Mississippi leads to an adventure filled romance that is an entertaining whirlwind. Delightful supporting characters that you will probably recognize from your own small town experience including two loveable dogs. No nasty talk or scenes of overt sex and it even gives mention to the fellow upstairs. Totally unbelievable, completely predictable, sappily sweet, but true romance all the way, if you’re a girl from the south this is a book not to be missed. -Flourish

Aunt Dimity and the Duke

2005-08-31T04:19:00.000-05:00

Aunt Dimity and the Duke by Nancy Atherton
The second of the Aunt Dimity books surprised me a bit. I was expecting the continuing story of Lori Shepard, but found instead the back story of Emma, Lori’s friend and next door neighbor. It was actually quite groovy to see how Aunt Dimity was interwoven in other people’s lives before she came into Lori’s. This is a gothic romance with a modern twist and just enough of a ghost story thrown in to keep the ball rolling. You’ll enjoy it.

By the way, there are several books in a series that I read. I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand the thought of reading books out of order. It always makes me feel like I’ve missed out on something. To solve this problem I’ve written out a list of books in order which you can check out here. -Flourish

Magic Treehouse #5: Night of the Ninjas

2005-08-30T16:33:00.000-05:00

Magic Treehouse #5: Night of the Ninjas by Mary Pope Osborne.

Well, if anyone (other than Flourish) had told me that my six year old won't- sit- still- longer- than-5- minutes-or- pay- attention-to- anything- not- on- the- TV child would listen, enthralled, to a chapter book, and remember what we read over the course of a week, and beg me to read an extra chaper every night, I would have said they were crazy. But that's exactly what happened, thanks to Mary Pope Osborne and her magic treehouse. The Magic Treehouse series introduced us to Jack and Annie, who find a magic treehouse full of books. If they open a book, they can go to the place it describes. They visit dinosaurs, knights, pirates, and in the episode we read, ninjas. My son learned that the ninjas lived in ancient Japan and that they had a high appreciation for nature. He LOVED this book, and I plan on getting the entire series. We read a chapter or two each night and finished this book in about 6 days (there are 10 short chapters). I am so glad that we found the magic treehouse! These books are wonderful and I would recommend them for kids ages 5-8. - Blotts

Vanishing Acts

2005-08-29T05:17:00.000-05:00

Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult (audio)

Was he right to take his four year old daughter away from her alcoholic mother, disappearing for 28 years? This is the central question of the book that is summarized quite succinctly when the character of Andrew says that the reader has already made up their mind. Either you think he was right or you think he was wrong.

Jodi has written a compelling book about breaking the law in order to protect your innocent child. She delves deep into the minds of the participants by telling the story in the voice of the four main characters. This is a very interesting story about love and loss and the lies that we tell ourselves in order to have peace of mind. This enjoyable character study deals with some hard boiled ethical questions. Starting in New Hampshire and traveling to Arizona we follow the life and loves of Delia Hopkins who, ironically, earns her money through search and rescue of lost people. We also see glimpses of Mexican and Native American culture as well as the horrors of the American jail system.

I recommend against listening to this book on audio. The tempo is far too slow. I nearly gave up on it a couple of times but I’m glad I persevered because the story was a very good one. The narrator reading Fitz’s voice grated on my nerves. I figure this book is best read visually rather that auditorily. -Flourish

Style on a Budget

2005-08-27T05:49:00.000-05:00

Style on a Budget by Emily Chalmers
The thing is, the cover of this book states "Emily Chalmers with words by Ali Hanan and photography by Debi Treloar". This begs the question, who is the author of this book? I guess Emily is the designer who put the rooms together.

This book is pretty typical of decorating books available today. There are lots of colorful pictures that inspire you to embrace trash to convert to treasure. Color is definitely the name of the game as the designer must enjoy working with it. This book was ok. Some pictures have a European flair to them and are nice to look at but the text isn’t really anything that I haven’t read before in other decorating books. It’s full of advice such as evaluate what the room will be used for, but then it doesn’t tell you how to set up the room to best accommodate those needs. The tips sidebar in each section does have some cheap, handy dandy ideas. Overall, check it out from the library and enjoy the pictures. -Flourish

Under the Lake

2005-08-26T17:18:00.000-05:00

Under the Lake by Stuart Woods

Wow was this book ever one long, bumpy ride. I picked up this paperback because it’s assigned to the developmental reading class and I was curious to know what it was all about. You’ve got to admit that it’s pretty tough to find a book that’s an easy read that is exciting enough and interesting enough to appeal to a wide variety of dispassionate, nearly illiterate, first generation college students. Yet this book may indeed fit the bill. Alcohol, misery, murder, drugs, sex, incest, undercover journalists, this book has got it all!

Written before the normalization of cell phones we find our main character escaping his life by moving to a remote Georgia mountain cabin and attempting to ghost write a book. Ghost is the key issue here as they turn up unexpectedly as everyone carefully avoids discussing what is under the man made lake. The excitement only intensifies as he hooks up with a journalist on the lookout for someone dirty. A little bit of everything rolled into one it’s an interesting story that will kill an afternoon for you in a fun way. -Flourish

I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason

2005-08-25T03:44:00.000-05:00

I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason: A Cece Caruso Mystery by Susan Kandel

Did you grow up watching old Perry Mason reruns on TV? Or were you of an early generation that grew up reading Erle Stanley Gardner novels? If either of these is true or if you just love a good female mystery with a bit of vintage fashion thrown in, then this is the book for you.

Susan has written a completely lovable, imperfect character in fortysomething Cece Caruso. A biographer by trade, our character has panache for vintage fashion unlike that of any other character I've read in fiction. It truly helps that one of her best friends runs a vintage clothing store. Cece is writing Erle Stanley Gardner's biography but ends up in her own mystery along the way. There are plenty of amusing supporting characters to delight as well. What a fun read! -Flourish

Aunt Dimity’s Death

2005-08-23T05:27:00.000-05:00

Aunt Dimity’s Death by Nancy Atherton (audio)
The first book in the Aunt Dimity series was quite enchanting! Our heroine Lori Shepard was stuck in a depressing rut when she discovered the Aunty Dimity stories her mother told her as a child were actually true! It seems that Aunty Dimity was a real live person who has left Lori an inheritance provided that she can recall, in detail, Aunt Dimity’s stories. The lessons learned are valuable in many ways and bring our main character an understanding of life that will carry her forward throughout the series and may remind readers what is important in life. Look for a little romance thrown in against a beautiful, serene English cottage background. A ghost story to delight! -Flourish

Pads for Pets

2005-08-21T06:05:00.000-05:00

Pads for Pets: fabulous projects for your furry, feathered, and ‘phibious friends by Elizabeth Quinn
Dogs, cats, mice, toads? This book has sample homemade homes for a vast menagerie of animal friends. A couple of them are a bit out of my league both budget and skill wise but most fall somewhere in the realm of possibilities. I can totally handle a pet bed made up of stuffed socks all sewn up together. What’s really cool about this book is that it gets you thinking about all the different ways that you can adapt their designs to your own taste and imagination. Most of the materials are cheap and readily available. I especially liked the bird lover’s duplex made out of a tall pole, a pair of binoculars, and two pencils. Clever! Tasty treat recipes for pets and good photographs make this book one to seek out at the library. -Flourish

Madame Bovary's Ovaries

2005-08-19T05:30:00.000-05:00

Madame Bovary's Ovaries: a Darwinian look at literature by David P. Barash and Nanelle R. Barash

This book may be a little on the dry side for most of our readers but it is indeed a compelling look at literature from a nurture vs. nature perspective. Fairly academic in nature, Ovaries is well documented and provides references for many of its illustrations. Following classic examples such as Shakespeare’s Othello, Austen’s Pride and Prejudice as well as more modern ones like Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary and Puzo’s Godfather.

This was an interesting book that encourages you to examine some of your favorite literature from a different perspective. We already know that Bridget Jones is looking for the ideal mate but this book spells it out as a physical trait of survival. You may or may not agree with the authors' conclusions but it sure makes for an interesting read! -Flourish

Lost

2005-08-17T04:31:00.000-05:00

Lost by Gregory Maguire
Since I couldn't find Wicked: the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West in my local public library stacks, I brought Gregory’s third book home instead. Early pages mention J.K. Rowling and muggles, middle ones are made up of constant fantasy literature references of the sort that we grew up with, and the entire book ends with the word “disillusion” (which frankly put a huge grin on my face). These reasons make this book quite enthralling. Though this is the first of Gregory’s books that I’ve read, it was a complete delight, impossible to put down. The lead character isn’t exactly a saint, in fact, you could almost call her a b*tch, but truly she is a fabulous heroine. Perhaps she's enjoyable because she appeals to my millennium southern belle largess. Regardless, she is a refreshing alternative to the blue eyed, blond haired sissys that star in many novels. Spanning Boston to London and finally to northern France, this literary ride is worth every moment. Did I mention that this is a ghost story? Try it, you’ll love it! -Flourish

When the Wind Blows

2005-08-15T15:40:00.000-05:00

When the Wind Blows by James Patterson. Reading this book was like listening to one of my all-time favorite songs being played terribly off key- in a word- FRUSTRATING!!! Why the frustration? Because James Patterson created a fantastic storyline, and wrote an incredible first chapter, and then threw his brilliant beginning away! He jumped from third person narration (which worked really well), to first person narration (which was terrible, as he was writing from the female perspective. It sounded like a man trying to think like a woman... and it ruined what would have otherwise been a great character.) The narrative shifts were bad enough, but when you toss in the crude language and grotesque scenes of violence and add the constant television and pop culture references, you end up with a real disappointment. What a shame! This story could have been a great one: children are genetically engineered to fly, science goes too far, lives are ruined and futures hang in the balance... like I said, a great plot. Unfortunately, readers cannot live on plot alone. -Blotts

Flea Market Finds & How to Restore Them

2005-08-15T04:15:00.000-05:00

Flea Market Finds & How to Restore Them by Caroline Atkins
Blotts, I’m going to have to thank you for giving me this book. Turns out that your bane is my blessing and the book you tossed out that landed in my hands has come in handy. Initially appearing to be one of those nice to look at decorating books, this one actually has some highly useful text to accompany the pretty pictures. The chapters are broken down into practical categories such as wood, glass, textiles, etc. There is also a fabulous index to help you figure out where things are.

I cracked this book ready to do battle on all the junque we drag home from the thrift store, rubbish bins, and in my husband's latest case, a recent excavation of a former homestead being prepared to receive a new house. Eight bottles later we were left with filthy, cloudy glass that didn’t want to come clean until (enter cue music) this book gave an excellent, cheap solution. Bottom line, this book is a keeper and would be an excellent and pretty reference book for your shelves. - Flourish

Mermaid Chair

2005-08-14T05:03:00.000-05:00

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd (audio)
Fresh off finishing The Secret Life of Bees I hurriedly put my name on the library waiting list for Sue’s new book. What a disappointment this book was. She uses the same plot devises but with a slightly different story even down to using physical icons. The mermaid chair is equitable to the black Madonna statue in Bees. I simply could not enjoy a storyline about a married, middle aged heroine suddenly wanting to have an affair with a monk because her youngest child just left home. I enjoyed Bees so much that I was truly disappointed in Mermaid and had to stop about half way through.

Another fatal error I made is to listen to the audio book rather than read the physical book. The reading was truly awful. Sometimes the narrator used a southern accent and other times she didn’t. At first I understood that it was because she was telling the monk’s story and the woman’s story separately. Huh, I guess the monk wasn’t allowed to be southern. Regardless, the rhythm was never quite right and I would recommend that the reader come on down here to Georgia and sit at a Nu Way Weiner counter, enjoy a Coke and an award winning hot dog and just listen to conversations around her.

You may enjoy this book if you meet all of the following criteria: 1) You have not read The Secret Life of Bees 2) you are southern 3) you read the physical book and avoid the audio book like the plague -Flourish

White Oleander

2005-08-12T17:27:00.000-05:00

White Oleander by Janet Fitch. Janet Fitch's first novel became a huge hit after Oprah read it. Oleander sold something like a zillion copies, and then was made into a movie. I didn't go see the movie, though, because I could not stand the idea of watching this story played out on the big screen - I think it just would have been too painful to watch. Astrid, herione of Oleander, is forced into the foster care system after her mother is sent to prison for murdering an ex-lover. Astrid's life, both before and after her mother's arrest, is terrible, and her story is absolutely heart-wrenching. She suffers every form of abuse I can imagine, at the hands of everyone charged with caring for her. It actually hurt me to read this book. Don't get me wrong - Fitch is a talented writer and I stayed up late to finish the story. Oleander is a suspensful page turner; but it is dark and disturbing and some of the scenes are flat out haunting. I applaude Fitch's creative, decriptive style, and her ability to suck her reader into a vivid world that feels real to all the senses, but I would not recommend this book to anyone who is overly tenderhearted (as I am). - Blotts

Eragon

2005-08-12T16:22:00.000-05:00

Eragon (Inheritance Trilogy #1) by Christopher Paolini. I have to tip my hat to Christopher Paolini. He was a teenager when he wrote Eragon, and he writes better than most of the adults I know. Submitting a book at any age takes courage and conviction, and I think Mr. Paolini's accomplishment is an incredible one. Eragon tells the story of a boy and his dragon, and the destiny they share. I absolutely loved the beginning of this book - the scenes where the egg is lost, and then found by Eragon (who thinks the egg is a stone), the discovery and hatching of the baby dragon - were all great. I really wanted to hear more about the history of the dragons, but alas, that part of the story was cut short. Maybe there will be more backstory in the next installment (Eldest), due out soon. Then again, part of me does not want to read Eldest, for fear that it will be as predictable as the ending of Eragon. I hate to say it, but after the dragon hatches, the story gets a little short on character development and big on journey, (which is probably OK with most readers.) For me, though, character development and many-layered storytelling are important, and these things were missing from the second half of this book. It's definitely worth reading, though, and there are some great moments. I bet that the writing will become even better as the author gets a little older and wiser himself. -Blotts

Undomestic Goddess

2005-08-11T04:03:00.000-05:00

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
Known for her Shopaholic series, Sophie has written a thoroughly enjoyable thirtysomething, single woman book set in London and the Cotswolds. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I found it to be funnily entertaining. Our workaholic corporate lawyer heroine shellshockly walks out of her job and into that of a domestic servant’s. It’s amusing to watch her learn new householdy skills and rediscover herself and all her capabilities. Naturally she finds love along the way but that part of the storyline is quite secondary to the fact that she finds herself first. A couple of somewhat predicable surprises thrown in don’t detract from the humorous plot. Set your cell phone to vibrate and turn your Blackberry off because you’ll breeze through this one in no time. - Flourish

Forget Perfect

2005-08-10T18:34:00.000-05:00

Forget Perfect by Lisa Earle McLeod with JoAnn Swan Neely. I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa McLeod a couple of months ago, and I must say that she was absolutely marvelous. She has a great sense of humor and a fabulous personality and they shine brightly throughout this book. This is a "how to guide" for women who do too much, too often, for too many people, and hold themselves to an unrealistic standard of perfection. The truth is, we can't do it all right all the time, at least not without losing our true selves. This book will make you laugh, realize the importance of hanging out with your friends, rethink your priorities, and hopefully, appreciate yourself a little bit more. Reading this book is like sharing a cup of coffee with a comedian, a teacher and a life coach. Buy copies for all the women in your life! - Blotts

Butterfly House

2005-08-09T03:30:00.000-05:00

The Butterfly House by Marcia Preston
A quick read that had me shivering throughout but not from fright, oh no, from cold. I guess I should have gotten a clue about that from the snow ensconced house on the cover. This mediocre book is set in Canada and Oregon and tells the story of two sets of mother daughter relationships. Watching these relationships unfold was the saving grace.

One particularly annoying thing is the fact that the book is told completely in the past with the main story set in the early nineties and the flashbacks occurring in the seventies. Now don’t get me wrong here, I don’t mind a bit of flashback every now and again to shed illumination on the players but there was a wee tad too much for me in this tome. I totally get why it was important to set the main story in the nineties as well. The advent of technology in the last ten years must be a fiction author’s worst nightmare. I can just image having to write a story around it while readers ask themselves aloud “why doesn’t she just Blackberry him?” or “I’ll just give him a jingle on his cell”. Setting the main story in the early nineties allows the author to use plot-furthering devices such as letter writing and the white pages. Overall, if you’re a butterfly enthusiast or thoroughly enjoy mother daughter relationship novels then this book is for you. - Flourish

Paradise Fields

2005-08-08T02:15:00.000-05:00

Paradise Fields by Katie Fforde
This is one of those books that you start reading and really hope the writing will improve after a few pages. But it doesn’t. You know in your heart of hearts that it won’t. The best thing to do at this point is to chuck it back into the “needs to go back to the library” stack. An interesting plot line that could have been a fun story in the hands of a different writer but the boring minutia coupled with the plot predictability forced me to stop reading after thirty or so pages. I won’t bother to pick up any of her other books unless someone gives them a glowing recommendation. -Flourish

Year of Pleasures

2005-08-07T03:45:00.000-05:00

The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
Elizabeth delivers a very sweet story about a recently widowed woman who moves to some random town to start over again. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I really enjoyed it. The writing style was almost subtle in its attempts to explain the story in a way that really gave me pleasure. There was no in your face attitude as with so many of the books written today. I guess you could argue the result is a very boring book, but you know what? Sometimes boring is good. This was a story about everyday life and everyday problems and how ordinary people deal with them. This book was a quick, refreshing read that is recommended for those folks who want to slow the pace down a little. - Flourish

No, David!

2005-08-06T20:59:00.000-05:00

No, David! by David Shannon. I'd like to meet David Shannon one day. Anyone who can write a book that my son BEGS me to read to him is, in my opinion, an unequivocal genius. And this book is my little boy's absolute favorite. There are just a few words on every page- this story is mostly told in the gorgeous and hilarious illustrations. David gets in all kinds of trouble, but is always reassured that his mother loves him. Every little boy I know has shared at least a few moments in common with David. Highly recommended as a "read out loud to me" book for ages 2 to 7- this one is a keeper. (I also recommend David Gets In Trouble.) -Blotts

Secret Life of Bees

2005-08-06T03:58:00.000-05:00

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (audio)
What a delightful story of a young southern girl’s life set in the 60s. Fourteen year old Lily Owen starts out in Georgia but ends up in South Carolina following her long dead mother's path. She finally meets some interesting folks that eventually care for and love her. The enjoyable audio book's narrator actually sounds like a young southern girl. An interesting background plot point is the undercurrent of equal rights for black folks and the abolition of Jim Crow laws. A handful of disturbing scenes of mental and physical abuse at the hands of her father but overall this book is a heartwarming coming of age story. What can I say? I love sappy, sentimental books. Bottom line: if you're a southern women you will most likely enjoy this book. - Flourish