Party of Two

Party of Two
by Jasmine Guillory 

This rom-com involves Olivia Monroe, a lawyer who has just moved from New York to LA to start a new firm with a long time friend, and Max Powell, the junior senator from California. Of course Max is one of those gorgeous "most eligible bachelor" types.

They meet innocently enough at a bar and flirt a bit and then go their separate ways. Olivia has no time in her busy schedule trying to build and market her new law firm, but thinks a quick fling with the man in the bar may have been fun. She later recognizes who he is when she sees him on a newscast. Max however is very intrigued by this 'mysterious' woman and can't get her off his mind. 

Olivia attends an event which Max is speaking at. He soon learns more about who she is and what she does which of course intrigues him even more. He follows up this encounter with a cake or pie, which becomes a theme for them throughout the book. I recommend not reading this when you are hungry. 

The book touches on some of the social issues we currently are dealing with and is one of the things I really liked about the story.  Olivia and Max are both passionate about helping people through their respective jobs as well as hands-on. 

Being a woman of color, Olivia thinks things through thoroughly before making decisions or commitments. Both her gender and her skin color could work against her if she missteps. She's known it all her life and behaves accordingly. Olivia has her doubts that this relationship could ever be more than a fling. Max on the other hand, has grown up a privileged white male. His actions and words are often spontaneous and not always thought through. While he would be comfortable 'rushing' into things, he's sometimes frustrated that Olivia is not. He does want to be with her in a very permanent way. 

Besides the basic personality differences, working on opposite sides of the country is not easy on a relationship. They see each other only on the weekends and try hard to keep their dating a secret. 'Going Public' is not just showing up together one day, but takes a team of Max's staff to plan press releases and photographers. Fortunately, he has prepped Olivia for that day. 

I enjoyed the story but I did feel like I wanted more drama.  There is an incident and of course the big question is will they make it or won't they, but it felt somewhat anti-climatic to me. For that I am giving this book 3 of 5 shots.  Of course if you know my rating system, that is still a good review. 

SPOILER ALERT!!

This is where I recount the story for my own poor memory... proceed at your own risk

Olivia has an incident in her past which she keeps secret. As a woman and a POC she feels it could make her be seen as less credible in her job. The incident is a high school break in when she was a teen. She has shared this incident with Max. 

Max puts her on the spot during a town hall meeting by revealing this bit of her past. Although not done maliciously, she can't accept that it happened and leaves the meeting. She breaks off with Max saying that his-speak-on-spur-of-the-moment style and her think-it-through style just are not compatible. Max is crushed and responds by sending her favorite cakes until she tells him to stop. 

It's Max's DC roommate, another junior senator and long time friend that helps Max see that he needs to fight and to start with an apology. As a result, Max sends a legal contract to Olivia, appealing to her thorough thinking side, with the seven things he will do to make the relationship work.  She counters, with a similar contract including changes to his. Both contracts to be revisited every August. 

Epilogue: A year later in August they are vacationing in Hawaii where he proposes to her - with champagne and a cake (of course!).

 

The Sewing Machine

 

The Sewing Machine
by Natalie Fergie

So it's been a while since I have blogged about any of the books I've been reading.  I don't really have a reason for letting this part of my reading experience slide, but I do have a reason for beginning it again. 

My memory is just not what I wish it was and the stories slip away from me almost as soon as I close the last page of a book.  With that said, I will warn you that I will at times be sharing spoilers.  But I hope to acknowledge their arrival with plenty of time and space for you to avoid them if you desire.  The spoilers will be to help me remember what I've read, no harm intended. 

The Sewing Machine is literally about a sewing machine, from the time it was constructed and the circumstances around that time, to it's place in the current world.  We follow the people who've built it, used it and restored it throughout the book but never quite sure how they all come together.  

It's an interesting story and it skips from past to present and back again and then suddenly, a new character pops in.  I have to say that threw me off a tad bit. 

The stories of the characters are good but not so good that I was constantly pulled back to the book.  In fact, the main reason I finished the book is to discover what thread (pun intended) was going to eventually connected them.  

I'm giving this a 3 shot rating.  It was "okay" but I don't know if I'd read it knowing it wasn't going to move me much. On the other hand, I don't feel like I wasted my time, either. 

SPOILER ALERT

The sewing machine created in this story was at a singer factory late 1800's early 1900's.  The workers tried to go on strike which failed and caused many to lose their jobs. The woman who tested this machine hid a note in a bobbin before she & her fiance left the community to find new work. 

That machine was eventually purchased by a couple, the woman used it to supplement their income. They kept detailed records of everything made on the machine. At a later time they take in a young pregnant woman who has been disowned by her family and they become her family.  

In the 2000's the child of that unmarried woman returns to his grandparents home to settle the estate. He doesn't know that the people he thought were his grandparents are actually not.  He discovers the notebooks full of details about the items sewn on the machine and becomes fascinated with it and begins to use the machine. This leads him to become friends with a woman who make jewelry from old sewing machine parts.  The book ends when they discover it was this woman's great grandmother who left a note hidden in the machine, which had been saved with the sewing records all those years by the man's grandparents.  

The Night Circus

The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern

Disclosure:  I should never read a review before I read the book or while I'm reading the book.  It tends to influence my own view and subsequent review. Such is the case with The Night Circus. I'm trying to forget what I've read and keep this review my own.

The Night Circus originally didn't call to me but learning that it was high on the list of some of my friends I added it to my list as well. One of those friends  sent me a copy which moved it to the top of my 'to read' list. (Thank you, Victoria!)

The premise behind the story is that magic is real and only real magicians know that it's more than an illusion. Two ancient magicians challenge each other's talent by pitting their proteges against one another in an unnamed, unspecified duel. The winner is the survivor, the loser deceased. 

The platform for the duel in this story is the Night Circus, an incredible traveling circus that arrives and departs without notice and is only open during the hours of darkness. 

The book is full of wonderful characters set in the late 1800's early 1900's.  The circus is not scary and foreboding as one might expect but delightful and very imaginative.  I would truly love the Night Circus to come to my town!

I was drawn back to the story each time I had to put it down, which is something we really want in our books, right? But I found that when I got to the end of the story I was still looking for the great duel between the two proteges. It was clear that they had beat their mentors by both surviving, but for me the climax of the story was a little less than climatic. 

Read this book for some great imaginative settings and the characters we are introduced to.  But know you will be kept in the dark just as much as the two young magicians regarding their challenge. 

I give this book 3 of 5 shots. 

The Woman in the Window

The Woman in the Window (Audio Version)
by A. J. Finn

As the title suggests this book in reminiscent of Hitchcock's Rear Window.  A woman living alone with agoraphobia spends her days spying on her neighbors and counseling others online. Of course she witnesses a crime and tries to convince the authorities that what she saw was real, despite all the evidence against it. There are other factors at play here which include her tenant who rents out the lower portion of her house, her husband and daughter who have apparently moved away, and her online clients. 

I found this story to be suspenseful and as with any suspenseful book, tried to work out what was "really" happening.  

The narrator did a good job with this book but I think I would have enjoyed the
"climatic ending" more as a reader than a listener. It's one of the drawbacks of audio books in my opinion. Either I really connect with the narrator or I don't. 

I liked this book. I give it three of five shots. 

Body Double

Body Double
by Tess Gerritsen

I've been grabbing audio books to listen to in my car recently.  I get rather addicted to them once I start.  Maybe even to the point that I try to think of someplace I need to drive just so I can listen some more. 

Body Double is a Crime/Mystery/Thriller.  Little did I know that it's one of the Rizzoli and Isles stories that the TV series is based on.  I think I may have been expecting another thriller that would have been the basis for the 1984 movie with the same name, Body Double.  

This book starts with a murder in which the victim is a spot on look-a-like for Dr. Isles.  So much so that the investigative team is pretty shocked when she shows up wondering what is going on.  

Dr. Isles discovers she had a twin sister. They were separated at birth and adopted by different sets of parents.  (What a way to make such a discovery!)  Since the victim is killed right outside Dr. Isles' home, the question becomes who is/was the real target?  

The twists and turns in this story and satisfying and unexpected. I give it 3 of 5 shots.  I enjoyed the story a lot but it's not my usual genre. 

 

A Family Affair (Truth in Lies #1)

A Family Affair (Truth in Lies #1)
by Mary Campisi

I picked up this book from the Apple Store as a free book I could read on my phone.  Probably 'free' because it's part of a four part series.  I doubt I'll read parts two through four. 

The story revolves around the heroine, Christine Blackstone, an ambitious young woman who works tirelessly to earn her place in her father's world of finance.  Her father is killed in an auto accident while away on a monthly retreat at his cabin. Thus the scene is set for Christine to discover the woman and child her father spends four days a month with; his "other" family.

She sets out to find who this other family is and what they meant to her father.  She discovers that her father was not entirely the successful business oriented man she knew and adored, but rather a man who loved a simpler life with another woman and their daughter. She tries to make sense of this "new" side to the man she worshiped and reconcile it with the side of the father she knew. 

It was an entertaining read, easy and uncomplicated.  I give it three of five stars.  A book that I liked but will probably not remember in the future or rave over.

Duma Key

Duma Key
by Stephen King

I am the only one who has issues marking an audio book as "read?" I listened to Duma Key on a cross country car trip in December.  I had lots of miles and plenty of time to hear the story in just a few days. 

I have no doubt that Mr. King is an amazing, top story teller.  He's written some excellent stories that are not horror stories that have stuck with me for a long long time.  I sort of wish he would write more of those.  The one that comes to mind is a short story that inspired The Shawshank Redemption.  I remember when the movie came out - I was so confused why I already knew what was going to happen. Inevitably, I watch that movie every time it's on, to me it's the story is that good. The movie Stand by Me was also based on a story from that same short story collection: "Different Seasons." It's been a long long time, but if by any twist of fate I still have my copy of that book, I'm thinking I may have to go back and re-read it.  

But I am far off topic here, this was to be a review of Duma Key.  I'm not sure if it's a result of it being an audio version, or my age, or the story, but I didn't get as creeped out by Duma Key as I have in the past by King's novels.  But I did love the story, the otherworldy influences that make the story possible and the heart breaking effects they have on relationships we are rooting for. 

At the center of the story is Edgar Freemantle, who is trying to rebuild his life after a terrible construction accident leaves him disabled and angry.  He should have died but instead he survives, dealing with a missing arm and a brain injury that spurs his anger and ultimately destroys his marriage and the life he's built.  On his doctor's suggestion he moves to Duma Key in Florida, a remote, mostly unoccupied beautiful island (key) to hopefully promote his recovery and rehabilitation.   

He begins drawing and then painting in his new life. Eventually the demand for his talent puts him in the public spot light and it appears may even have a calming effect on the strained relationship with his family.  But there are evil forces at work and his art is actually the vessel for this evil to be released into the world. Edgar can stop painting, but can he stop the evil?

I remember the book being released while I was working for Barnes & Noble in Utah.  It's a hefty story and the audio version was many hours long.  Being as I am not a huge fan of horror stories, picking them up only occasionally, I felt the story could have been easily told in an abridged version.  For this reason I am only giving the book three of five stars. The story was good but the length would have daunted me had I not had a long drive or had picked up the printed version. 

I maintain King is truly one of our best story tellers.  How can a man who makes normally inanimate objects become so terrifying, not be?  

A Dog's Journey

A Dog's Journey
by W. Bruce Cameron

A Dog's Journey is apparently book #2 of A Dog's Purpose series.  I did not read book one, but found this could stand alone. 

I've read some animal books (cat or dog) that I have considered very good but I didn't feel this story measured up. 

The story involves the reincarnation of the main dog character over the lifetime of the human he/she is meant to be for.  It's an interesting concept but it didn't quite work for me.  While Molly/Max/Toby is returning to find or be found by his/her human, the other puppies in the litter don't seem to have the same mission or goal. This leaves me to wonder if this dog is unique rather than the norm. 

The story is told by the dog and therefore does not get very deep into the human issues that make up the book. This leaves me a little wanting for a "meatier" story.  

The main human character of the story is a woman named CJ, picking up when she is a teen living with her narcissistic single mother. The dog at this point is Molly.  CJ's mother is not a dog person and makes life miserable for Molly and CJ in her attempts to remove Molly from their lives. 

Molly next comes back as Max and finds CJ as a twenty-something adult living in New York City. CJ's life is still less than enviable.  Although I am not entirely sure how Max's presence influences CJ's life, CJ does begin to recognize what is good in her life and things begin to turn around. 

Another gap in time and Max returns as Toby.  CJ is approaching the twilight of her life and we find more about how CJ's life has turned out. 

Although the story wasn't as flushed out as I would have liked it did make me emotional in the appropriate places and laugh when the story or dialog called for it.  All in all I give A Dog's Journey 3 of 5 shots.  

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
by Susannah Cahalan

Brain on Fire is a memoir of the author's descent into madness as a result of an unidentified condition.  As her rare illness is finally diagnosed and treated she has a long road ahead to recovery and hopefully return to normal. 

Ms. Cahalan found no explanation for the brain infection that caused her madness, nor was she ever sure that she would recover completely, a process that took nearly a year or more.  In this case, recovery not only refers to the physical issues that she endured but also the return of her former personality and ability to do her job as a journalist.

The disease she eventually was diagnosed with was very rare and the cause unknown.  When she was well on her way to recovering she accepted a work assignment to do an article about her experience.  As a result she brought the condition to the attention of physicians and patients alike, perhaps saving many people, certainly educating and giving hope to more.  Because of the seizures and irrational behaviors, many with the same illness could easily be diagnosed with various psychosis. 

I enjoyed Ms. Cahalan's story although I expected to find her "madness" more horrifying.  Perhaps because she herself could not recall that time and wrote from what she was told, or maybe because it's impossible to know the horror without the experience. 

I think this book is important for it's impact on the medical community and the people who have been or will be affected by this illness.  As a casual read, it's definitely not for everyone.  I give it 3 of 5 shots.

The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope

The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope
by Rhonda Riley

I thought the synopsis of this book was intriguing and was ready for a mystical read.  It was mystical, alright, and maybe the strangest book I've ever read. 

As the Caffeinated Reader I am going to do something I've not done before, I'm going to use a latte as my alliteration for this book.

I've ordered an iced vanilla latte.  Just the thought of drinking it makes me smile with anticipation.  But when I take my first sip it's just not quite right.  I don't taste the sweet smooth vanilla flavor I was expecting.  But the milk and coffee are good and cold and I keep drinking, hoping maybe the vanilla is at the bottom and I'll reach that flavor I'm looking for.  Unfortunately, it never materializes.  I've had my iced latte, good rich coffee and ice cold milk, but it never gave me what it promised, what I really wanted when I ordered it.  In the end it was just a latte.  I am disappointed and let down.

I was disappointed when I came to the end of this story.  The writing was good, but the story alone wasn't enough to keep enthralled.  What kept me returning to the book was my desire to know who Adam was and where he came from.  

**Spoiler Alert** 

The reader never finds out. 

The synopsis of the book referred also to Adams daughters possessing some of his supernatural gifts. Up until very nearly the end of the book, there wasn't anything about the daughters having any unusual gifts.  Another synopsis compares the writing/story to The Time Travelers Wife and the Story of Edgar Sawtelle.  I find this funny because I loved The Time Travelers Wife but hated Edgar Sawtelle. My dislike of Edgar Sawtelle somewhat mirrors what I feel about Adam Hope. The ending was such a let down it over shadowed whatever redeeming qualities the story had along the way.

I won't suggest you overlook this book and move on. I've read a few reviews since completing it and many more loved the book than felt the way I do.  So it's one I have to say you must read for yourself and come to your own decision.  

The story begins shortly after WWII in a southern state where a young girl has taken on the responsibility of running her deceased aunt's farm. During a severe storm she discovers a naked man submerged in the mud.  His features are distorted and vague, his skin appears scarred, discolored and lumpy.  She believes he is a returned wounded soldier, wondering how he came to be where she found him.  

She takes the man into her home and nurses him to health, all the while wondering how he is healing and changing so fast, until she realizes 'he' is now a 'she' and looks identical to her.  

The story is of their life together as two women and then after he changes back into a man and marries her.  They have children and seem to be a normal couple.  But his strange past haunts her.  She does what she must to protect him and her family from questioning eyes. 

I can't give the story more than 3 of 5 shots.  

The Recipe Club

The Recipe Club
by Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel

I should have reviewed this book right when I read it, rather than five months later.  I can't give you the details of my experience, but I do recall my thoughts. 

I picked this book up as a bargain book while waiting for my daughter to get her hair done.  I finished it the same day.  It was an easy read, the story being presented by letters and then emails, each containing a recipe.  

It's the story of two girls who begin a recipe club as children that continues into adulthood.  At some point, they relationship falls apart and they are estranged for many years.  I believe it was the death of one woman's father that inspires the women to reconnect.  Their emails reveal their past and a few twists that brought the women to this point, and still sending recipes.  

I didn't find the recipes worth the time to read them.  As children I more or less expected that, but as adults they didn't seem to get any better.  The book was a quick read but I felt the main controversy, without the details they didn't yet know, worthy of the chasm it caused. 

I gave the story 3 of 5 shots.

The Beach Trees

The Beach Trees
by Karen White

The story presented in The Beach Trees is a murder mystery reaching back several generations.  Revealed in two voices, the first Julie, who learns through her current situation that it is possible to build your future on the foundation of the past although it may not seem stable to do so.  The second voice is Aimee who tells her story of the past hoping it will provide clues for mysteries in the present.

I found the story slow to get into.  Too much unnecessary detail for me.  However, the references and descriptions of post Katrina New Orleans and Biloxi was very interesting and enlightening.  Julie didn't understand why so many people would rebuild after such devastation and as one who doesn't live there, I understand that.  But as the stories unfold and we meet more people who chose to stay and rebuild it begins to make sense.

The current day mystery is why Monica, a woman who is deceased when the story begins, left New Orleans, her childhood home, and her family and never made contact with them again.  Therein lies my main criticism of the story.  Because she is dead when the story begins it's unlikely that we'll ever uncover her reason, but when it's finally revealed I found the motivation lacking in believability.

Lastly when we get to the point of tying it all up in a pretty pink mystery solved ribbon I was confused.  I'm still not sure exactly who did what, but it could be because I was reading the end in the wee hours of the morning.  Unfortunately, I don't care enough to go back and re-read it.

The beach trees, for which the title of the book comes, are trees that were killed by hurricane Katrina and yet remain standing.  An artist was commissioned to turn the dead trees into sculptures. Another artist donated his time and talents to carve more trees.  Out of the devastation comes beauty.  You can learn about and see the sculptures here.

I give Beach Trees 3 of 5 shots.  It was good but I'm ready to move on.