REVIEW: ADULT ASSEMBLY REQUIRED, BY ABBI WAXMAN

When Laura Costello moves to Los Angeles, trying to escape an overprotective family and the haunting memories of a terrible accident, she doesn’t expect to be homeless after a week. (She’s pretty sure she didn’t start that fire — right?) She also doesn’t expect to find herself adopted by a rogue bookseller, installed in a lovely but completely illegal boardinghouse, or challenged to save a losing trivia team from ignominy…but that’s what happens. Add a regretful landlady, a gorgeous housemate and an ex-boyfriend determined to put himself back in the running and you’ll see why Laura isn’t really sure she’s cut out for this adulting thing. Luckily for her, her new friends Nina, Polly and Impossibly Handsome Bob aren’t sure either, but maybe if they put their heads (and hearts) together they’ll be able to make it work.

 

 

 

From the very first page of Adult Assembly Required, we begin to meet characters that we will follow throughout. Bookish, interesting characters, including Laura, a new one who stumbles into the bookstore, drenched by the rain. She is immediately drawn into their circle when Polly offers her dry clothes and a place to stay, since her apartment house just burned down.

A newcomer from Manhattan, Laura isn’t sure she is ready for a city like LA, which seems to be filled with cars everywhere. And Laura’s recent car accident has made her leery.

I liked how an older woman, Maggie, has filled her home with boarders, all of whom seem to become part of her family.

I also enjoyed meeting Nina Hill again, a character from a previous book.

A fascinating character study that made me feel like a part of their social circle, this one definitely earned 5 stars.

 

***

 

REVIEW: A FAMILY AFFAIR, BY ROBYN CARR

Anna McNichol knows how to take charge. Raised by a single mother, she’s worked to ensure her three children have every advantage she didn’t. And while her marriage has its problems, she values commitment and believes in “till death do us part.” Now an empty nester, she’s at the peak of her career and ready to seize the opportunity to focus on her future.

But life can change in an instant, and when her husband dies suddenly, Anna’s carefully constructed world falls apart. The mysterious young woman at the memorial service confirms her husband had been keeping secrets, and Anna is determined to get to the truth.

For once, she doesn’t have the answers. Her kids are struggling with their grief, her mother’s health is in decline and Anna needs closure. Faced with one challenge after another, she finds support from an unexpected source. And as she puts her life back together, Anna realizes the McNichols may not be perfect but they’ll always be family, and family is forever.

 

 

As I began A Family Affair, I was immediately immersed in the lives of the characters, but felt especially connected to Anna, the matriarch. Her three grown children all had issues, and it fell on her to resolve them. A husband/father who had been disappointing had to be dealt with after his death. Even the children all had to move on with the help of therapy and their mother.

When Anna turns to an old friend, a man who had been a comfort over the years, she began to realize that there was more between them.

What will Anna find to cling to afterwards? She begins to realize that her own ability to stand on her own has never been in doubt.

I enjoyed the story and the characters, and this book earned 4.5 stars.

***

REVIEW: COUNT THE WAYS, BY JOYCE MAYNARD

Eleanor and Cam meet at a crafts fair in Vermont in the early 1970s. She’s an artist and writer, he makes wooden bowls. Within four years they are parents to three children, two daughters and a red-headed son who fills his pockets with rocks, plays the violin and talks to God. To Eleanor, their New Hampshire farm provides everything she always wanted—summer nights watching Cam’s softball games, snow days by the fire and the annual tradition of making paper boats and cork people to launch in the brook every spring. If Eleanor and Cam don’t make love as often as they used to, they have something that matters more. Their family.

Then comes a terrible accident, caused by Cam’s negligence. Unable to forgive him, Eleanor is consumed by bitterness, losing herself in her life as a mother, while Cam finds solace with a new young partner.

Over the decades that follow, the five members of this fractured family make surprising discoveries and decisions that occasionally bring them together, and often tear them apart. Tracing the course of their lives—through the gender transition of one child and another’s choice to completely break with her mother—Joyce Maynard captures a family forced to confront essential, painful truths of its past, and find redemption in its darkest hours.

A story of holding on and learning to let go, Count the Ways is an achingly beautiful, poignant, and deeply compassionate novel of home, parenthood, love, and forgiveness.

I am a big fan of this author and couldn’t wait to dive into Count the Ways. Not only did I love it, I connected with the characters, the story, and felt so many emotions as I read. Even as the last page approached, I didn’t want it to end. And unlike some books, I couldn’t imagine saying goodbye to any of them.

Eleanor and Cam were the kind of couple you wanted to root for, but it was apparent from the beginning that there would be no happy ending for them. I didn’t like Cam for the longest time, annoyed with how he played his “fun” dad role, contributing little to the household in money or actual effort. But when tragedy struck, I also wanted Eleanor to find forgiveness so they could continue.

But since that didn’t happen, the biggest loss, in my opinion, was how he let the children see him as the victim in the tale, and this view of events continued throughout.

Our story unfolds over decades and as time passes, the ebb and flow of life itself is shown to the reader, and I felt the sorrow, pain, and joy of their lives together and apart. A brilliant family story that earned 5 stars.

***

REVIEW: THE FIANCEE, BY KATE WHITE

They had everything they needed for a perfect family vacation: close-knit relatives, a bucolic setting . . . and a murderer in their midst?

Summer’s looking forward to a break from hustling for acting work in Manhattan when she, her husband Gabe, and Gabe’s nine-year-old son arrive at the annual family get-together at her in-laws’ sprawling estate. On the agenda are leisurely gourmet meals, tennis matches, and plenty of relaxation by the pool.

But this year, Gabe’s brother Nick has invited his new flame Hannah, whom Summer immediately recognizes from a few years before. Oddly, her brother-in-law’s girlfriend claims not to know her. Yet she charms the other family members, and after Nick announces that he’s proposed to Hannah, Summer doesn’t have much choice but to grin and bear it.

Then the reunion is rocked by tragedy when a family member is found dead. Though the doctors attribute the loss to natural causes, a grieving Summer fears that the too-good-to-be-true Hannah is involved, even as Gabe dismisses her suspicions.

How far will Summer go to expose the truth? As she investigates just what Nick’s fiancée might have done to keep her perfect image intact, she begins to fear that the first death might only be the beginning . . .

 

 

 

The Fiancee opens with a family celebration and some strange events that lead Summer to begin following clues suggesting that her brother-in-law’s new fiancée might be a murderer. But she finds no support for her beliefs from her husband or any others.

Then another person is murdered, and the similar clues support Summer’s theory, while a few additional details make another family member appear to agree.

When Summer is assaulted by one of the least likely family members, her beliefs are turned upside down.

Will the truth finally emerge before someone else dies? A twisted tale that had me guessing all the way through, leading to a 5 star award.

 

***

REVIEW: WATCH ME DISAPPEAR, BY JANELLE BROWN

 

It’s been a year since Billie Flanagan—a Berkeley mom with an enviable life—went on a solo hike in Desolation Wilderness and vanished from the trail. Her body was never found, just a shattered cellphone and a solitary hiking boot. Her husband and teenage daughter have been coping with Billie’s death the best they can: Jonathan drinks as he works on a loving memoir about his marriage; Olive grows remote, from both her father and her friends at the all-girls school she attends.

But then Olive starts having strange visions of her mother, still alive. Jonathan worries about Olive’s emotional stability, until he starts unearthing secrets from Billie’s past that bring into question everything he thought he understood about his wife. Who was the woman he knew as Billie Flanagan?

Together, Olive and Jonathan embark on a quest for the truth—about Billie, but also about themselves, learning, in the process, about all the ways that love can distort what we choose to see. Janelle Brown’s insights into the dynamics of intimate relationships will make you question the stories you tell yourself about the people you love, while her nervy storytelling will keep you guessing until the very last page.

In Watch Me Disappear, we follow the thoughts and actions of those left behind when Billie Flanagan “dies.” Did she die, though, or did she choose to disappear?

A year later, her beloved friends and family are still struggling with that question. Jonathan is writing a memoir of his life with Billie, but the more he digs into what he knew about her and their life together, he realizes that he has more questions than answers about Billie. Who was she really, and did he even know her at all? She has had a history of disappearing from her life, beginning when she was very young. Has she done the same thing again?

Her daughter Olive was close to Billie, but near the end, there were some troubled spots. Now Olive wants to reach her mother just one more time. When she starts seeing “visions,” she is convinced that Billie is communicating with her.

Our story weaves back and forth in time, with more revelations as the moments pass, and just when we think we know what really happened, a final twist seemingly comes out of nowhere. This book I couldn’t put down earned 5 stars.

***

COFFEE CHAT: HANGING IN THERE…

Good morning!  Let’s gather around with our caffeinated beverages to chat about our weeks, our books, and our perspectives.  Join our host at Bookishly Boisterous to see what others are sharing.

Good morning, Blog World!  Let’s grab some coffee and chat.  What a week so far.  Yesterday, I had meals in the dining room all day!  On alternate days, this plan will continue, with one person at a table, six feet away from the next one…but we can still talk!  That works.  I also liked that I could ask for a special item not on the menu, and I got it!  They were in a good mood yesterday.  LOL

• On a dark note, what a horrendous week out in the world, with racism continuing to rear its head, and those “in charge” making all the wrong moves!
• I am trying to calm myself with books and blogging.  And rearranging things, like these shelves.
  

• Today was my post for Books from the Backlog, which I have been enjoying.  Since I started participating, I’ve rediscovered and read a handful of books I had forgotten about.
• I am currently reading one of the books I found a few weeks ago:  A Piece of the World, by Christina Baker Kline.  So far, so good.
• Also this week, I read and reviewed another backlog book:  After Anna, by Alex Lake.
• On Monday, I read and reviewed The Dilemma, by B.A. Paris, the ARC of a book being released on 6/30/20.
• Last week, I received a book for reread, along with the DVD to watch.  I hope to settle in with the movie this weekend: In Her Shoes is a fun movie that I once owned…and had to replace.

• I am missing my family members…sigh.  Even though we are slowly moving out and about (within the community here), the outside world remains “out there.”  But when I notice the places opening up and moving out, and see that infections are on the rise, I curb my impatience…and settle in with my books and movies.
• Meanwhile, I look at this photo of family members gathered together at Thanksgiving.  The last time we were all together.

***

How are the rest of you handling the world as we know it now?  Staying safe, I hope.  Enjoy your books and your home.  I am, as usual, rearranging things.

***

REVIEW: THE GRAMMARIANS, BY CATHLEEN SCHINE

 

The Grammarians are Laurel and Daphne Wolfe, identical, inseparable redheaded twins who share an obsession with words. They speak a secret “twin” tongue of their own as toddlers; as adults making their way in 1980s Manhattan, their verbal infatuation continues, but this love, which has always bound them together, begins instead to push them apart. Daphne, copy editor and grammar columnist, devotes herself to preserving the dignity and elegance of Standard English. Laurel, who gives up teaching kindergarten to write poetry, is drawn, instead, to the polymorphous, chameleon nature of the written and spoken word. Their fraying twinship finally shreds completely when the sisters go to war, absurdly but passionately, over custody of their most prized family heirloom: Merriam Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition.

My Thoughts: The story of Laurel and Daphne, identical twins, shows their lives and its ups and downs, from the extreme closeness of their childhood to the rifts that came in adulthood. The Grammarians was a story about family, about words, about the stories told by the people in a family when they’re trying to make sense of their relationships.

I loved how the big Webster dictionary given to the girls at an early age held pride of place on its own stand and came to represent the important themes of their lives. Almost like another member of their family. In the end, we come to imagine how their lives will unfold and how the rifts will heal, and what will finally bring them together again. 4.5 stars.

***

WEEKLY UPDATES: ANOTHER ENGAGING WEEK…

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon,The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

Here we are, halfway through August, and my reading and blogging are almost up to normal.  I read and reviewed three books, and I’m halfway through a fourth one. I wrote four posts.  I had no doctor appointments, but did need to go downtown for a business matter.  On Friday, my #2 son came for dinner on his way to Sacramento…and will come back through on Sunday.  I’m eating some yogurt as I type this, since my granddaughter just took me to the grocery store.  I didn’t feel like going to the dining room, so for those times, I needed to stock up on the items that I can enjoy here.

It’s too late in the day for coffee, but in anticipation of my first cup tomorrow morning, let’s take a peek at some…and at my blog details.  The photo below is a nice reminder of my previous residence…I do miss it.

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOGS:

Tuesday Excerpts:  “The Long Call”

Tuesday Potpourri:  New & Eagerly Anticipated Books

Coffee Chat:  Reorganizing My Topsy-Turvy Life…

Bookish Friday:  “Good Luck with That”

Review:  The Comforts of Home, by Susan HillReview:  My Ex-Life, by Stephen McCauleyReview:  Telephone Line, by Julie Mulhern (Country Club Murders #9)

***

INCOMING BOOKS:

One book came in my mailbox…and I received one NetGalley ARC.  I also downloaded three e-books.

At Home in the World, by Joyce Maynard, a book that somehow slipped away from me during the move…so I had to replace it.  It is definitely a  reread kind of memoir.

Synopsis:  In the spring of 1972, Joyce Maynard, a freshman at Yale, published a cover story in The New York Times Magazine about life in the sixties. Among the many letters of praise, offers for writing assignments, and request for interviews was a one-page letter from the famously reclusive author, J.D. Salinger.

Don’t Go Away Sad is the story of a girl who loved and lived with J.D. Salinger, and the woman she became. A crucial turning point in Joyce Maynard’s life occurred when her own daughter turned eighteen–the age Maynard was when Salinger first approached her. Breaking a twenty-five year silence, Joyce Maynard addresses her relationship with Salinger for the first time, as well as the complicated , troubled and yet creative nature of her youth and family. She vividly describes the details of the times and her life with the finesse of a natural storyteller.

***

Big Lies in a Small Town, by Diane Chamberlain – NG – 1/14/20

***

Downloads:

The Perfect Son, by Lauren North

Telephone Line, by Julie Mulhern (#9 – Country Club Murders)

The Object of My Affection, by Stephen McCauley

***

I’m halfway through The Object of My Affection...and then will tackle some September NetGalley ARCs.

***

That was my week.  What did yours look like?  Last night, I enjoyed a delicious meal of salmon with family.

***

WEEKLY UPDATES: WE GATHERED TOGETHER…

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

 

Thanksgiving week flew by, with family and friends joining me for good eats.  First my #2 son, his three adult children, and three other grandchildren gathered at Yard House for a pre-holiday lunch.  We had lots of good conversation, laughter, and have this photo to remind us of our time together.

On the following day, I joined some friends for a traditional turkey dinner.  As we ate and shared our stories, we reminded ourselves of how many years ago we began these gatherings:  they started way back in the early 1970s.  Some years we missed along the way, but it was great to revisit old times together.

While my week was full of such events, I did finish reading and reviewing three books.  I also enjoyed some Amazon Prime shows, like Season 8 of Doc Martin, and I also began another season of Vera.

I wrote six blog posts…and my three reviews.

***

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOGS:

A Look Back:  Reshaping the Events of Loss

Rainy Day Excerpts:  “Gone So Long”

Tuesday Potpourri:  Gathering Together Books, Family, & Friends

WWW:  A Week of Engaging Books…

Coffee Chat:  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Bookish Friday:  “Night of Miracles”

Review:  The Three Beths (e-book), by Jeff AbbottReview:  The Other Wife (e-book), by Michael RobothamReview:  Night of Miracles (e-book), by Elizabeth Berg

***

INCOMING BOOKS: (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)

Empty physical mailbox!  I did receive one review ARC from NetGalley, and I downloaded four purchased e-books:

Things You Save in a Fire (e-book), by Katherine Center – (NG – 8/13/19)

Purchased e-books:

Emily, Alone (e-book), by Stewart O’Nan

After Nightfall (e-book), by A. J. Banner

The Comforts of Home (e-book), by Susan Hill

The Liar’s Wife (e-book), by Samantha Hayes

***

WHAT’S NEXT?

Currently Reading:  Under My Skin (e-book), by Lisa Unger

Then I plan to grab books that call to me…

***

That was my week.  What did yours look like?  I enjoyed this Pomegranate Press Martini while waiting for my family to arrive at Yard House.  It was delicious!

***

WEEKLY UPDATES: HOLDING ON TO HOPE…

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

 

Cooler days make for cozy nights curled up under favorite throws.  But outside, and lurking not that far away, are the wildfires.  And the smoky air that is part of our lives these days keeps us on alert.  Even though the wildfires are in other parts of the state (for now), we are hypervigilant..constantly aware of what could come.  Every part of our country has had disasters of one kind or another this year, and it is hard to fend off the sense of foreboding.

Reading, binge-watching shows and movies, and trying to connect with family and friends…these activities are signs of our hope and optimism.  I had an excellent reading week:  three books read and reviewed, and each one was a page turner.  I finished watching House of Cards Season 6 ( which I found disappointing, sigh), and yesterday, I started watching The Kominsky Method, starring Michael Douglas, Alan Arkin, and Nancy Travis…among others.  I enjoyed it so much that I’ve watched all episodes but one.  I saved that one for today.

Today is my eldest son’s birthday!  I won’t tell you how old he is, since that would age me as well.  LOL.  He is across the world in Prague…and I miss him and his wife Gabi.  Here they were three years ago when they visited.  So long ago!

I want to see Widows at the neighborhood theater…today, perhaps.  A great cast that includes Viola Davis and Liam Neeson, among others, “Widows” is the story of four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities.

I need to distract myself…and inside the theater, I’ll feel connected to something other than the frightening events in our lives.

Now…let’s grab another cup of coffee…and take a peek at the details of my week.

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOGS:

Sunday Potpourri:  Treats, Reading, & Shoes…

Rainy Day Excerpts:  “The Family at No. 13”

WWW Wednesdays:  A Great Week So Far…

Coffee Chat:  Anticipating Pumpkin Day!

Bookish Friday:  “The Three Beths”

Review:  Her Pretty Face (e-book), by Robyn HardingReview:  Three Days Missing (e-book), by Kimberly BelleReview:  Winter in Paradise (e-book), by Elin Hilderbrand

***

INCOMING BOOKS-(Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon):

One book that I purchased came in my physical mailbox!  Then I received a NetGalley ARC.  I bought two downloaded books to round out my week.

Becoming, by Michelle Obama

NetGalley ARC: Release Date – 2/5/19

The Winter Sister (e-book), by Megan Collins

Downloaded Books (Purchased):

Night of Miracles (e-book), by Elizabeth Berg

The Family at No. 13 (e-book), by S.D. Monaghan

***

WHAT’S NEXT?

I flipped through my ever-present notebook today, hoping to find just the right “up-next books”…and it was hard to select them!  I have quite a few that I want to read, and soon.  But here’s a start:

Under My Skin (e-book), by Lisa Unger

From New York Times bestselling author and master of suspense Lisa Unger comes an addictive psychological thriller about a woman on the hunt for her husband’s killer.

Then…how about this one?

The Three Beths (e-book), by Jeff Abbott

A psychologically intense and emotionally gripping new suspense novel about a daughter’s desperate search for her missing mother-one that may lead her closer to home than she ever anticipated.

***

So…that’s my week:  intense, cozy, and anxious…let’s focus on the cozy.  What did yours look like?  I usually share lunch or dinner foods, but today I’m feeling like breakfast.  I enjoyed French Toast one morning while I was running errands.

 

***