THE FRIDAY 56

In this weekly meme hosted by Tonya, at Storytime with Tonya, we get to explore books that we are drawn to because of their proximity to us at this moment.

Here’s how it works:

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

So, here goes:

But there does remain something determinedly scruffy about the area, as though the locals banded together and made a populist proclamation to disdain gentrification.  And this despite the area’s broad leafy streets and huge houses ranging from elegant early Victorian white stucco to the comfortably sprawling Edwardian villas built for middle-class professionals.  p.56

This excerpt is from Fifty Is Not a Four-Letter Word, by Linda Kelsey.

On Amazon, we read this blurb:

Hope Lyndhurst-Steele has it all—a wonderful, loving husband; a great son; a job she loves as a magazine editor; and a lovely house in London. After her much-dreaded fiftieth birthday, everything she has come to rely on disappears. She is dismissed from her job and replaced with a younger, smarmier editor; her 18-year-old son starts dating the single mother down the street; and her husband leaves her. No wonder Hope is in a funk. And there is worse news on the horizon. Her mother announces at dinner that she is dying. How we cope with adversity offers great insight into people. Hope’s method is sleep, food, and huge doses of self-pity until she starts to wake up and realize that her life is not over, and that just maybe being 50 is the right place for her to be. Kelsey, a magazine editor herself, creates a witty foray into one woman’s psyche as she accepts her age and proves that there is, indeed, life and adventure after the 50-year milestone. –Patty Engelmann.

One of the most unexpected outcomes from this game is that a book just sitting there on a stack can be promoted to the “up next” list!

And this one now has my interest piqued!

What about your finds this week?  Hope you’ll stop by, leave some comments, and link back to your post.