Review: The First Husband by Laura Dave

The First Husband
Author: Laura Dave
Published: May 12, 2011
Genre: chick lit
Hardcover: 256 pages
Source: borrowed from the library


My Rating: 3.5 stars


Synopsis (from GoodReads): Annie Adams is days away from her thirty-second birthday and thinks she has finally found some happiness. She visits the world's most interesting places for her syndicated travel column and she's happily cohabiting with her movie director boyfriend Nick in Los Angeles. But when Nick comes home from a meeting with his therapist (aka "futures counselor") and announces that he's taking a break from their relationship so he can pursue a woman from his past, the place Annie had come to call home is shattered. Reeling, Annie stumbles into her neighborhood bar and finds Griffin-a grounded, charming chef who seems to be everything Annie didn't know she was looking for. Within three months, Griffin is Annie's husband and Annie finds herself trying to restart her life in rural Massachusetts. 


My Thoughts:  I picked up this book not because I was looking for something to make me view things differently, but because I was looking for an easy chick-lit book. However, Laura Dave's third novel is unlike anything that I have ever read before from this genre. It's not all sunshine and rainbows for the heroine, Annie, as she navigates through a break-up, meeting someone new and getting married, all within the span of a few months. And while there were some comical points throughout the novel, there are far more serious moments. Dave explores how people who fall in love quickly and marry navigate their first few months of marriage together. And while that alone would be enough to tackle! Just through in a set of twins, a new restaurant opening, and losing a job, and you have a great story.


The best thing about this book were the characters. Annie is a great main character, one who is real and authentic. She is flawed, but not overdone. I thought she was well-written and a realistic person, someone who I could imagine knowing in real life. Griffin, Annie's husband, was another great part of this book. While a typical leading man-type, he is also flawed, but he loves Annie. Nick, Annie's ex, is another great character. While he is supposed to come across as the villian of the novel, I didn't find him to be evil. I found him to be another flawed human being, just trying to figure out his life.


The characters are great, the plot interesting, and the writing superb. I cannot wait to read more of Dave's work in the future.

Follow Friday and TGIF (1-27-12)

Happy Friday everybody! I hope that you are enjoying this last week of January (my goodnes, that went by quickly!) I have lost track of time this month and keep on thinking that there are a few weeks left for me to squeeze in a few more books. But nope, January is just about over. Well, here's hoping I can still squeeze in another book or two in these last few days of the month. Now, onto the Friday fun ...

Parajunkee asks:

Which book genre do you avoid at all costs and why?

There are quite a few genres that I stay away from, but I will limit myself to just one. I avoid YA at all costs. I'm sorry, but I feel like since I am no longer a young adult, it's time for me to move on and read books that are more my own age. I know lots of you disagree with what I just said, but that's what I think!

GReads asks:

Buy or Borrow: Where do your books that you read come from? The bookstore? The library? Do you prefer to own a book, or have it on loan?

Great question! Most of the books that I read come from the library. I love to buy books, but that can get expensive. I do hit up the used book sale that my library has once a year and buy TONS of books then. I do prefer to own a book, but borrowing from the library will just have to do for now!

So, what genre do you avoid? Do you buy or borrow your books? Let me know, and have a great weekend!

 

Waiting On Wednesday (1-25-12)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. Each week, you highlight an upcoming release that you are eagerly awaiting. This week, my pick is: Where We Belong by Emily Giffin (expected publication date: July 31, 2012).

From Barnes & Noble: Marian Caldwell is a thirty-six year old television producer, living her dream in New York City. With a fulfilling career and satisfying relationship, she has convinced everyone, including herself, that her life is just as she wants it to be. But one night, Marian answers a knock on the door . . . only to find Kirby Rose, an eighteen-year-old girl with a key to a past that Marian thought she had sealed off forever. From the moment Kirby appears on her doorstep, Marian’s perfectly constructed world—and her very identity—will be shaken to its core, resurrecting ghosts and memories of a passionate young love affair that threaten everything that has come to define her.

For the precocious and determined Kirby, the encounter will spur a process of discovery that ushers her across the threshold of adulthood, forcing her to re-evaluate her family and future in a wise and bittersweet light. As the two women embark on a journey to find the one thing missing in their lives, each will come to recognize that where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves—a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever.

I cannot wait for this book! I'm a huge Emily Giffin fan and have been waiting for her newest book for quite sometime now! So, what are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Top Ten Tuesday (1-24-12)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. Each week, 

they post a different topic, and you get to create your own top ten list. This week is a freebie, meaning that I can create my own topic or choose an old one. Since I'm not too creative or original, I decided that I would choose a topic that was previously listed but that I didn't participate it. So, this week's topic:

Favorite Book Characters

1) Scout Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird) - I don't know if it's possible to pinpoint what a great character Scout is, so I won't even try to. I do know that experiencing what is happening around her provides for one of the greatest novels ever written.

2) Jane Eyre (Jane Eyre) - bucking every norm for a female character that was written before this book, Charlotte Bronte created one of the most iconic leading ladies ever written. I loved Jane's determination in everything that she did. She was truly ahead of her time.

3) Hermione Granger (Harry Potter series) - I could make a list of my favorite Harry Potter characters, but will only highlight Hermione on this list. She is an example for girls everywhere that it isn't about beauty and looks and that you can be smart, intelligent, and courageous, and still be an amazing person.

4) Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) - what girl hasn't read this book and fallen in love with Mr. Darcy? For centuries, women have been swooning over this brooding, handsome gentleman. Kudos to Jane Austen for creating such a man who has women from different time periods falling in love with this man.

5) Aibileen Clark (The Help) - such a strong woman. Everytime one of her chapters came up in the book, I became so excited because she told what was happening around her with such clarity, it was almost as if I was there.

6) Andrea Sachs (The Devil Wears Prada) - one of my favorite chick lit books with a great main character, Andrea tells her story with hilarity and wit. Her background provides her with the best vantage point to witness the absurdity that is a fashion magazine.

7) Lisbeth Salander (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) - such a badass character! Honestly, I was sucked into these novels because of Lisbeth and trying to figure out what she would do next. 

8) Robert Langdon (The DaVinci Code) - some of you may roll your eyes at this choice, but there's a reason why people are drawn to Dan Brown's books, and it's mostly because of this character. A silent, intelligent man who solves international mysteries. What's not to love about that?!?

9) Barry Laverty (An Irish County Doctor) - a charming young man who is trying to figure out his way in the world and where he belongs. I may not be a doctor in a rural Irish village, but I can identify with so much of what Laverty experiences that it's hard not to fall in love with him.

10) Enzo (The Art of Racing In the Rain) - he may be a dog, but Enzo is one of the best characters that I have ever encountered in all my years of reading. Sweet, charming, caring, curious ... he's everything that you need in a dog, and so much more. As I was reading this story, I couldn't help but cry. It also made me wonder what our pets think of us and how they intuit things (pain, anger, sadness), and are there for us through those rough patches.

So, what's your list this week? Leave a comment and let me know! Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Review: Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington

Alice Bliss
Author: Laura Harrington
Published: June 2, 2011
Genre: contemporary fiction
Hardcover: 320 pages
Source: borrowed from the library


My Rating: 4 stars


Synopsis (from GoodReads): When Alice Bliss learns that her father, Matt, is being deployed to Iraq, she's heartbroken. Alice idolizes her father, loves working beside him in their garden, accompanying him on the occasional roofing job, playing baseball. When he ships out, Alice is faced with finding a way to fill the emptiness he has left behind. Matt will miss seeing his daughter blossom from a tomboy into a full- blown teenager. Alice will learn to drive, join the track team, go to her first dance, and fall in love, all while trying to be strong for her mother, Angie, and take care of her precocious little sister, Ellie. But the smell of Matt is starting to fade from his blue shirt that Alice wears everyday, and the phone calls are never long enough. Alice Bliss is a profoundly moving coming-of-age novel about love and its many variations--the support of a small town looking after its own; love between an absent father and his daughter; the complicated love between an adolescent girl and her mother; and an exploration of new love with the boy-next- door. These characters' struggles amidst uncertain times echo our own, lending the novel an immediacy and poignancy that is both relevant and real. At once universal and very personal, Alice Bliss is a transforming story about those who are left at home during wartime, and a teenage girl bravely facing the future.


My Thoughts: I tend to shy away from coming of age novels, not because I don't like the age range of the characters (most are typically in their teens), but because it's such a different experience for everyone. I find that it can be difficult for an author to truly capture that moment in a person's life because it's so unique that if it's not done correctly, it's just too unreal. In Alice Bliss, Laura Harrington crafts a coming of age novel that is near perfection. Following the title character, we are taken into the small town world of the Bliss family that is turned upside down when the patriarch of the family, Matt, is deployed to Iraq. Not only does Alice have to navigate through her early teens without her dad at home, but she has to do it with my halfway around the world, in a war zone.


The best thing about this story is that nothing is over the top. Nothing is drawn out or unrealistic. I felt like I was reading someone's memoirs about their childhood in a small town. Harrington writes with such clarity and conviction; it's clear that she knows where she is taking her story and every detail adds to the story. There is nothing extraneous added to the story, nothing that is cluttering up Alice's tale. To me, this was just a great novel of a teen growing up with a father who is in the military. And although I never had a parent deployed, I felt like I could identify with Alice at points. There are so many things that she is experiencing that I could remember myself dealing with, too.


I look forward to reading more of Harrington's work in the future and seeing what her future topics will be. If you are looking fora story about military families or a young girl coming of age, then this book is a must read.

Review: Look Again by Lisa Scottoline

Look Again
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Published: April 14, 2009
Genre: thriller
Hardcover: 337 pages
Source: borrowed from library


My Rating: 4 stars


Synopsis (from GoodReads): When reporter Ellen Gleeson gets a “Have You Seen This Child?” flyer in the mail, she almost throws it away. But something about it makes her look again, and her heart stops—the child in the photo is identical to her adopted son, Will. Her every instinct tells her to deny the similarity between the boys, because she knows her adoption was lawful. But she’s a journalist and won’t be able to stop thinking about the photo until she figures out the truth. And she can’t shake the question: if Will rightfully belongs to someone else, should she keep him or give him up? She investigates, uncovering clues no one was meant to discover, and when she digs too deep, she risks losing her own life—and that of the son she loves. 


My Thoughts: I found this book to be a great read and perfect for someone who is a bit of a wuss like me. I like a good thriller/mystery, but nothing too scary. This book was perfect in that it had me guessing what was going to happen next and never wanting to stop reading. Focusing a woman, Ellen, who has adopted a young boy only to believe that he was kidnapped, Lisa Scottoline takes the reader on a great adventure to get to the bottom of this mystery.


For me, the best thing about this book was the premise. I'm sure that we all have seen those "Have You Seen This Child?" fliers, posted at local stores and sometimes in the mail. But have you ever wondered if those kids are ever found? And where do they go? Scottoline explores this idea, following Ellen as she comes to the realization that her adopted son may have been kidnapped from his loving family. Ellen is determined to get to the bottom of the matter. The plot twists and turns and had me guessing throughout. I was surprised by the ending and glad that it wasn't what I thought it was going to be.


If you are looking for a good thriller, then I would definitely check this one out. Scottline has crafted a great novel around such an interesting premise. I can't wait to read another one of her novels.

Follow Friday and TGIF (1-20-12)

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope that you are having a great January and if you are somewhere cold or snowy, that you are staying warm. We just got some snow last night, but it's supposed to be back up in the 40s sometime next week, so it won't be here for very long. Now, onto the Friday fun ...

Parajunkee asks:

What's the craziest thing you've ever done to get your hands on any particular book?

Um, I guess waiting for the newest Harry Potter books is the craziest thing I have ever done. Other than that, I just wait for the books to come out.

GReads asks:

Recommend It: Which book from the last 10 you've read 

would you recommend to a friend?

Out of the last ten, I would recommend Alice Bliss (my review will be up in a few weeks). I typically stay away from coming-of-age novels, but this one grabbed me and I couldn't put it down. A very moving book.

So, what's the craziest thing you have ever done to get a book? Which book would you recommend? Let me know, and have a great weekend!