Wedding Bells at Villa Limoncello

A delightful story set in a Tuscan village. Isabella lives in London. She loses her high pressure job as an interior designer to corporate downsizing. While searching for a job, her best friend asks her to organize a wedding in Tuscany. The scenes described are breathtaking, the food described makes your mouth water, and the easy pace of life definitely makes one envious. Will she be able to pull off this wedding?  How will her life change because of this experience?  A delightful summer read.

* I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Paris Secret

Valerie was a child sent to live in England when Germany invaded France. When she is old enough, she is told that her family ran a bookshop in Paris. She answers an ad for a bookseller in Paris. The owner is an old man, who of course is her grandfather. It takes a while, but she learns the story of her mother and father. This story is short, but sweet. I wonder how many stories like this are there related to the war.

Go Set a Watchman

Jean Louise, formerly known as Scout, has returned from NYC for a visit. She is now 26 years old and her brother, Jim, is deceased. Her high school sweetheart, Henry, is practicing law with her father, Atticus. She is strongly drawn to this town, but loves the cosmopolitan nature of NYC. She understands how different the north is from the south.  In this book, we see that Atticus has feet of clay. Will she stay or will she go?

To Kill A Mockingbird

Have you read To Kill A Mockingbird?  I must be one of the only people on the planet who hadn’t. My daughter says she read it while in school at Sacred Heart in the 6th grade. I don’t remember reading it in school. Or did I?  It’s always been on my Book Bucket List. Well, today I can check this one off!  It’s a compelling, but disturbing, story of life in the south regarding race relations. I can see why this is a classic. Everything about this book is so well done, the plot, character development, history, etc. I’m going to continue on to the sequel, Go Set a Watchman.

You’ve Been Volunteered

Jen Dixon is back this year as third grade class mom.  Just as her first bob, Class Mom, the author keeps us laughing at the hilarious situations Jen gets herself in. I just love the emails!  Every time she fires up the computer, I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to read it. I can’t imagine what it must be like as a class parent getting these. Big changes are in store for the family in this book.  What impresses me most of all about this writing is that it’s a family rooted in love, compassion and caring. Even Jen’s interactions with others seem to come from a place of love. A delightful summer afternoon read.
* I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Unhoneymooners

Olive’s twin sister, Ami, marries Dane. Ami, Dane and most of the wedding party get ill from the buffet at the reception. They can’t go on their unrefundable honeymoon.  Olive and Dane’s brother go in their place. Problem is, they despise each other. As you can imagine, it’s a rocky start, tough times for all and a happy ending. 

The Summer Cottage

Adie Lou grew up spending summers at her grandparents cottage on Lake Michigan. By the time she gets divorced from her cheating husband, she has inherited the cottage. She turns it into an inn and begins a new career as an innkeeper. Will she be successful and find love again?  Life is good. 

The Book of Hot

Memoir?  This book interested me because it is about a single woman my age. I now understand that “hot” means that she is pursuing a sexual relationship with a man. The first half of the book was about getting her body ready for her quest. The second half was about her conquests. The book contains many details and I enjoyed the description of Santorini in Greece.  

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

Free Food for Millionaires

I read this book because I adored Pachinko. This book is also about Korean immigrants. This time to America. They struggle to live by their Korean values while fitting into American society. Casey Hahn is the daughter of Korean parents living in New York. Education is very important. Parents work very hard to give their children the best possible education. Casey graduates from Princeton. She wants to work on Wall Street because that is where the money is. However, her true passion is much more creative- millinery. The friends and lovers she has in this story enhance the story. I enjoyed this book, but not as much as Pachinko. 

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters

Their mother has died and left a letter to the 3 Shergill sisters including an itinerary for an adventure to disperse her ashes. It takes them to places that were meaningful to her. Rajni is escaping turmoil at home. Her 18 year old son is marrying an older woman who is pregnant. Jezmeen’s acting career is floundering. Shirina lives in Australia married to a man devoted to his domineering mother. She is pregnant, but it is a girl. The adventures are life-changing. They learn to like and trust each other again renewing that unbreakable sister bond. A delightful read.

The Bride Test

I enjoyed the first book in this series. Esme received a proposition from a woman she met in Vietnam. Come to America for 3 months, live with her highly functioning autistic son. If at the end of 3 months she doesn’t want to marry him, she can return. The part that was hard for me to believe was that she left her small child behind. Trials, tribulations and happily ever after. The heartwarming part is that Esme grows, finds her father, becomes independent and receives an education. This would be a good beach read.

A Woman is No Man

It often saddens me when a person condemns a whole culture or religion based on the actions a few. I have often wondered if we took the time to really understand different cultures, would we have world peace?  I have often heard that the Islamic religion is about peace, love. I am the first to admit that I know little about the Arab culture or the Islamic religion. 

This book focuses on the lives of several women of Palestinian decent. Isra has dreams.  She wants a better life than her destiny, but most of all, she wants to be happy. She reads the book One Thousand and One Nights over and over and dreams of love.  She dreams about getting an education, but as girls of her culture do, she is forced to marry before age 18. She lives with her husband, his parents and his siblings in Brooklyn. She shames the family by giving birth to 4 daughters as only sons are valued. The culture is oppressive to women.  How can she change life for her and her daughters?

This is a powerful debut novel for this author. I learned so much about this culture, their values, their pride.  I understand them a little better. I had a student this semester that wears a hijab. I wondered today what aspects of her life resemble that of the women in this book. I pray she has more liberties than they do and just the fact that she is allowed to get a college education gives me hope. Some books are life changing, some books develop your sense of compassion. This one does that.

From Scratch

Tembi spends a semester abroad in Florence. She meets Saro, a chef, but is not interested in a relationship. For Saro, it’s love at first sight. She discourages him, but he doesn’t give up. Her semester ends and eventually he follows her back to the US. They marry in Florence several years later. His family rejects her because she is not one of them, she is black. Eventually they reconcile. Saro develops and lives with cancer for 10 years. In this time period they adopt a daughter. After his death, she returns every summer with their daughter to Sicily. Over the years she becomes one of them. This memoir is a story of love, loss, reconciliation and belonging. 

When We Met in Cuba

If you read Next Year in Havana, you met the Perez family.  This is the sequel. Beatriz is out to avenge the death of her brother, Alejandro. She meets and falls in love with a senator. Fidel Castro is in power. Beatriz works in various capacities for the CIA.  How will this play out?  Will she and the senator live happily ever after?

The Peacock Emporium

A different type of book for this author. I truly enjoyed learning about the English countryside and the class system. 

Vivi thought she would marry her teenage sweetheart. He fell for Athene, a flashier, looser girl who marries him, grows restless and leaves him for a salesman. Vivi ends up marrying Douglas and they have 2 more children in addition to the child Athene left him, Suzanna. 

This book is predominantly about Suzanna. She always felt different, as though her father felt different about her compared to her brother and sister. Her marriage is boring. She opens a shop, makes friends who changed her life. Forgiveness, reconciliation and fulfillment.