Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake

Posted on January 31, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Anna Quindlen
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 182
Genre: Memoir
Source: Random House Open House

Goodreads: In this irresistible memoir, the New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize Anna Quindlen writes about looking back and ahead—and celebrating it all—as she considers marriage, girlfriends, our mothers, faith, loss, all the stuff in our closets, and more.

As she did in her beloved New York Times columns, and in A Short Guide to a Happy Life, Quindlen says for us here what we may wish we could have said ourselves. Using her past, present, and future to explore what matters most to women at different ages, Quindlen talks about

Marriage: “A safety net of small white lies can be the bedrock of a successful marriage. You wouldn’t believe how cheaply I can do a kitchen renovation.”

Girlfriends: “Ask any woman how she makes it through the day, and she may mention her calendar, her to-do lists, her babysitter. But if you push her on how she really makes it through her day, she will mention her girlfriends. Sometimes I will see a photo of an actress in an unflattering dress or a blouse too young for her or with a heavy-handed makeup job, and I mutter, ‘She must not have any girlfriends.’ ”

Stuff: “Here’s what it comes down to, really: there is now so much stuff in my head, so many years, so many memories, that it’s taken the place of primacy away from the things in the bedrooms, on the porch. My doctor says that, contrary to conventional wisdom, she doesn’t believe our memories flag because of a drop in estrogen but because of how crowded it is in the drawers of our minds. Between the stuff at work and the stuff at home, the appointments and the news and the gossip and the rest, the past and the present and the plans for the future, the filing cabinets in our heads are not only full, they’re overflowing.”

Our bodies: “I’ve finally recognized my body for what it is: a personality-delivery system, designed expressly to carry my character from place to place, now and in the years to come. It’s like a car, and while I like a red convertible or even a Bentley as well as the next person, what I really need are four tires and an engine.”

Parenting: “Being a parent is not transactional. We do not get what we give. It is the ultimate pay-it-forward endeavor: We are good parents not so they will be loving enough to stay with us but so they will be strong enough to leave us.”

From childhood memories to manic motherhood to middle age, Quindlen uses the events of her own life to illuminate our own. Along with the downsides of age, she says, can come wisdom, a perspective on life that makes it satisfying and even joyful. Candid, funny, moving, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake is filled with the sharp insights and revealing observations that have long confirmed Quindlen’s status as America’s laureate of real life.

Ope’s Opinions: This was so much fun to read!! She is an awesome writer. As I am near her age, I enjoyed her perspective on parenting, marriage, and the world around us.

No matter what age you are, you could read and relate to the subjects Anna Quindlen writes about. She has a way of writing that makes you see things from her point of view and yet feel like she sees it from your point of view.

This memoir may be about Anna Quindlen, but it reflects the lives of many women her age.
Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

After I’m Gone

Posted on January 29, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Laura Lippman
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 352
Genre: Mystery
Source: Harper Collins

Goodreads: When Felix Brewer meets nineteen-year-old Bernadette “Bambi” Gottschalk at a Valentine’s Dance in 1959, he charms her with wild promises, some of which he actually keeps. Thanks to his lucrative-if not all legal-businesses, she and their three little girls live in luxury. But on the Fourth of July, 1976, Bambi’s comfortable world implodes when Felix, newly convicted and facing prison, mysteriously vanishes.

Though Bambi has no idea where her husband-or all of his money-might be, she suspects one woman does: his devoted young mistress, Julie. When Julie disappears ten years to the day that Felix went on the lam, everyone assumes she’s left to join her old lover-until her remains are eventually found in a secluded wooded park.

Now, twenty-six years after Julie went missing, Roberto “Sandy” Sanchez, a retired Baltimore detective working cold cases for some extra cash, is investigating her murder. What he discovers is a tangled web of bitterness, jealously, resentment, greed, and longing stretching over three decades that connects five intriguing women: a faithful wife, a dead mistress, and three very different daughters. And at the center is the man who, though long gone, has never been forgotten by the five women who loved him: the enigmatic Felix Brewer.

Somewhere between the secrets and lies connecting past and present, Sandy will find the truth. And when he does, no one will ever be the same.

Ope’s Opinion: Laura Lippman wove a web of family secrets. She kept me reading right to the end.

The pace of this book was a steady build of interest and intrigue. Getting to know all the family dynamics made the investigation and outcome all the more intense.

The book moved from present to past and from one character to another. Although there were all these changes, I felt like Lippman made it easy to follow. At times the story lulled me into thinking it was just another book about a family and not a murder. Then it would go to a chapter from the investigators perspective – at that point I was reminded where the story was really going.

I followed Laura Lippman down the path of who did it – and I was wrong. The person who did it makes absolute sense and after the fact, I can totally see it. The book did not end at who did it. It was very interesting… you will want to read it.

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

When You Were Here

Posted on January 24, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Daisy Whitney
Publisher: Little, Brown
Pages: 264
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Source: Purchased

Goodreads: Filled with humor, raw emotion, a strong voice, and a brilliant dog named Sandy Koufax, When You Were Here explores the two most powerful forces known to man-death and love. Daisy Whitney brings her characters to life with a deft touch and resonating authenticity.

Danny’s mother lost her five-year battle with cancer three weeks before his graduation-the one day that she was hanging on to see.

Now Danny is left alone, with only his memories, his dog, and his heart-breaking ex-girlfriend for company. He doesn’t know how to figure out what to do with her estate, what to say for his Valedictorian speech, let alone how to live or be happy anymore.

When he gets a letter from his mom’s property manager in Tokyo, where she had been going for treatment, it shows a side of his mother he never knew. So, with no other sense of direction, Danny travels to Tokyo to connect with his mother’s memory and make sense of her final months, which seemed filled with more joy than Danny ever knew. There, among the cherry blossoms, temples, and crowds, and with the help of an almost-but-definitely-not Harajuku girl, he begins to see how it may not have been ancient magic or mystical treatment that kept his mother going. Perhaps, the secret of how to live lies in how she died.

Ope’s Opinion: This is a hard review to write. I started out feeling this book was depressing – considering the subject, I wasn’t surprised. I kept reading – the pace was steady and slow for a while. Halfway through a major secret was revealed – from that point on, I couldn’t put the book down. It sped to the end.

I am not sure how to express my journey through this book. I have so many contradictory thoughts.

On the negative side – it began too slow, the mother going back and forth to Tokyo without Danny felt unrealistic, the mother kept secrets, Danny living in the house after his mother died without an adult present.

On the positive side – Danny’s quest to know how his mother was towards the end of her life, how some of the secrets came out, and the ending.

Overall, I am just not sure about this book.

Rating: Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Big Sky Secret

Posted on January 22, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Linda Leal Miller
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Pages: 384
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Little Bird Publicity

Goodreads: Self-made tycoon Landry Sutton heads to Hangman Bend’s Ranch to sell his land to his brother Zane. Though he’s got cowboy in his blood, Landry plans to return to city life before the dust even settles on his boots. Of course, he didn’t count on falling for Big Sky Country…or Ria Manning.

Ria’s starting to settle into country life herself…until she has a close encounter of the terrifying kind with a buffalo. Turns out the peeping monster belongs to the cowboy next door—and he has her running even more scared than his bison. She wants a home where the buffalo don’t roam, and the men don’t either. Could Landry’s homecoming be her heart’s undoing?

Ope’s Opinion: Linda Leal Miller is very good at developing her characters. She takes the time with each one, so you feel like you know them. She also shows their personalities as they interact with other characters. Ria’s niece Quinn is my favorite person in this story. She is independent, determined and a sweet young girl. I would have enjoyed reading more about her.

Even though it is obvious where the story is going, the journey was fun to take. There were some side roads along the way that you might not see coming.

While I enjoyed the whole process of Ria and Landry falling in love, I did not need the explicit details in their bedroom in the last chapter.

Rating: Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Still Growing: An Autobiography

Posted on January 20, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Kirk Cameron
Publisher: Regal Books
Pages: 256
Genre: Non – Fiction
Source: My daughter

Goodreads: Kirk Cameron is best known for his role as loveable teenage troublemaker Mike Seaver on the award-winning TV series Growing Pains, but his rise to fame and fortune is only part of his incredible story. In this intimate autobiography, Kirk opens up about his early years, his rocket to stardom, his life-changing encounter with Jesus and the hard choices he’s made along the way to live in the Way of the Master. Fans will get an up-close and personal look at what drives the former teen-magazine heartthrob and find out how God and family became the secrets behind his celebrated smile. In his own words, Kirk shares how he’s still growing—even through the triumphs and temptations of his Hollywood career.

Ope’s Opinion: Having watch Kirk Cameron grow up on television, I was interested in his view from the inside. I am also a Christian and was interested in how he got to know God and how it changed his life.

This was well written and easy to follow what was going on. I do not usually read non-fiction, but this one was worth the read.

Rating: Three Chairs – I like this book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

A January Bride

Posted on January 17, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Deborah Raney
Publisher: Zondervan
Pages: 120
Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction
Source: Netgalley

Goodreads: Who can work in a house that’s overrun by contractors and carpenters? Not Madeleine Houser, a successful novelist who gladly accepts the help of her octogenarian friend, Ginny, to arrange for a temporary office in the charming bed and breakfast owned by Ginny’s friend, Arthur. Maddie’s never met the innkeeper––but a friendship grows between them as Maddie and Arthur leave messages for each other each day. To Maddie’s alternate delight and chagrin, she seems to be falling for the inn’s owner––a man who’s likely many years her senior––and who she’s never even met.

Ope’s Opinion: Even though this book is very short, it was a slow paced. I felt like Deborah Raney took the time to let us get to know the characters as they got to know each other. It was an sweet book to read.

My review is like the book – short and sweet and worth the read!

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

The Edge of Normal

Posted on January 13, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Carla Norton
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Pages: 308
Genre: Thriller
Source: BookSparks

Goodreads: In many ways, Reeve LeClaire looks like a typical twenty-two year old girl. She’s finally landed her own apartment, she waitresses to pay the bills, and she wishes she wasn’t so nervous around new people. She thinks of herself as agile, not skittish. As serious, not grim. But Reeve is anything but normal.

Ten years ago, she was kidnapped and held captive. After a lucky escape, she’s spent the last six years trying to rebuild her life, a recovery thanks in large part to her indispensable therapist Dr. Ezra Lerner. But when he asks her to help another girl rescued from a similar situation, Reeve realizes she may not simply need to mentor this young victim—she may be the only one who can protect her from a cunning predator who is still out there, watching every move.

From the author of the #1 non-fiction bestseller Perfect Victim: The True Story of the Girl in the Box comes a novel that draws you into a chilling and engrossing world. With powerfully gripping characters and an ending that is a masterpiece of deception, Carla Norton’s The Edge of Normal is a stunning debut thriller.

Ope’s Opinion: When you read this book, do not forget to breath! This book is so intense you will loose track of time.

I would have thought being introduced to the antagonist so early in the story that it would take the suspense away. It actually worked in the opposite way. Seeing all the points of view made the story move very quickly.

I think this book needs to be made into a movie. The writing was so detailed I could see each scene and character.

I would have given this book five stars if it had stopped about 30 pages earlier.

I am ready to read another book by Carla Norton. She can keep me up late at night any time.

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

Save the Date

Posted on January 10, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Jenny B. Jones
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pages: 320
Genre: Christian Fiction
Source: Purchased

Goodreads: You are cordially invited to the wedding of the year with the most unlikely bride and groom. Save the date . . . and say your prayers.

When funding for Lucy’s non-profit job is pulled, she is determined to find out why. Enter Alex Sinclair, former professional football star and heir to Sinclair Enterprises the primary donor to Lucy’s non-profit organization.

Both Lucy and Alex have something the other desperately wants.

Alex has it all . . . except for the votes he needs to win his bid for Congress. Despite their mutual dislike, Alex makes Lucy a proposition: pose as his fiancee in return for the money she desperately needs. Bound to a man who isn’t quite what he seems, Lucy finds her heart and her future on the line.

“Save the Date” is a spunky romance that will have readers laughing out loud as this dubious pair try to save their careers, their dreams . . . and maybe even a date.

Ope’s Opinion: This book definitely has God at it’s center. It is not preachy, but obvious. It was fun to watch the characters develop their relationships with each other and with God at the same time.

You know how this book is going to end from the beginning, but is fun to go down the path. At the beginning, Lucy seems to be more clumsy then I felt was realistic. I think the author was trying to show her development in her confidence, but I felt it was a little too exaggerated for me. I guess that is petty.

I am going to pass this book on my daughters mother-in-law. She likes Christian Fiction, like I do.

I will be looking for more of Jenny B. Jones books to read.

Rating: Four Chairs – I like the book so much I know several friends to share it with.

Left

Posted on January 8, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Tamar Ossowski
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Pages: 238
Genre: Drama
Source: My Daughter

Goodreads: Therese Wolley is a mother who has made a promise. She works as a secretary, shops for groceries on Saturdays, and takes care of her two girls. She doesn t dwell on the fact that her girls are fatherless, mostly because her own father abandoned her before she was born and she has done just fine without him.Even though her older daughter regularly wakes with nightmares and her younger one whispers letters under her breath, she doesn t shift from her resolve that everything will be fine. She promises . . . and they believe.

Until the morning an obituary in the newspaper changes everything. Therese immediately knows what she has to do. She cannot delay what she has planned, and she cannot find the words to explain her heartbreaking decision to her daughters. She considers her responsibilities, her girls, and her promise. Then she does the only thing that any real mother would do. She goes on the run with one daughter . . . and abandons the other.

Left is told from the perspectives of Franny, the autistic sister who is left behind; Matilda, the troubled older sister who vows to go back and save her; and Therese, a mother on the run.

Ope’s Opinion: Franny’s voice pulls at your heartstrings. She is realistic.
Matlida’s voice bounces from being mature beyond her age to being very immature – which at her age is normal.
Therese’s voice seems very selfish, until the end and you see her true motivation.

I did not enjoy the fact that everyone had secrets. It is enjoyable to read and figure out some secrets, but this book was overloaded with them. I found my mind wandering some times and others I was frustrated. I don’t know if it was the writing as much as the subject.

The last 40 pages brought everything together and made sense out of the rest of the story.

Rating: Three Chairs – I like this book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Heart On A Shoestring

Posted on January 6, 2014 by opesopinions

Author: Marilyn Grey
Publisher: Winslet Press
Pages: 300
Genre: Contemporary
Source: Winslet Press

Goodreads: BOOK 4 IN THE UNSPOKEN SERIES: COMING 2014!
“Dreaming of the person you want to be is wasting the person you already are.”
Kurt Cobain

A Novel of Self-Discovery

Rebelling against a life of black and white, Miranda Ryan paints the world in a technicolor fever. She spends her free time on park benches, analyzing people from the outside in and creating whimsical stories about their lives. Unbridled and full of life, her ever-changing heart is a revolving door no man can figure out. And she likes it that way. But when Derek Rhodes enters her life, he stubbornly challenges her every move. As she unsuccessfully avoids this opinionated prankster her colors fade to gray and she is forced into a choice . . . to lose the self she knows or the self she has never been.

Derek Rhodes wears the same shade of brown every day and avoids eye contact with strangers, until Miranda walks into his life and splashes his world with streaks of colors he swore he’d never touch. Drawn to her imaginative personality, he finds himself questioning his own cynical nature and flat-lined ideals, only to fall in love and realize the only woman he’s ever let into his heart has no plans of letting a man into hers. Follow them both as they poke and prod and test each others limits on a journey of discovery.

Ope’s Opinion: You do not need to read the other books in the series to enjoy this one. Heart On A Shoestring took me a little longer to get into then the previous books, but it definitely pulled my heart strings as I read it.

Miranda and Derek have a lot to deal with – as I think most of us do. Watching them help each other discover who they really are and who they are meant to be was an awesome ride.

It is so refreshing to read a love a story without explicit love scenes. I would encourage a teen and mom to read these stories and have a conversation after each one. Each story brings new topics up to revaluate your opinion from a different perspective.

Marilyn Grey is an amazing author. I am looking forward to when Bloom comes out. Keep writing and I’ll keep reading!

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

Ope's Opinions

Blogging about books, life, and the beach.

Tag Archives: book review

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake

After I’m Gone

When You Were Here

Big Sky Secret

Still Growing: An Autobiography

A January Bride

The Edge of Normal

Save the Date

Left

Heart On A Shoestring