Review: "Life's a Beach" by Claire Cook

From Goodreads: Cook returns with another sparkling romantic comedy that's reminiscent of Must Love Dogs in all the right ways, but very much its own animal—about a relationship-challenged single woman, her quirky-to-put-it-mildly extended family, and the summer the shark movie came to town.
Life's a bit of a beach these days for Ginger Walsh, who's single at forty-one and living back home in the family FROG (Finished Room Over Garage). She's hoping for a more fulfilling life as a sea glass artist, but instead is babysitting her sister's kids and sharing overnights with Noah, her sexy artist boyfriend with commitment issues and a dog Ginger's cat isn't too crazy about. Geri, her BlackBerry-obsessed sister, is also nearly over the deep end about her pending fiftieth birthday (and might just drag Ginger with her). Toss in a dumpster-picking father, a Kama Sutra T-shirt-wearing mother, a movie crew come to town with a very cute gaffer, an on-again-off-again glassblower boyfriend, plus a couple of Red Hat realtors, and hilarity ensues. The perfect summer read, Life's a Beach is a warm, witty, and wise look at what it takes to move forward at any stage in life.

My Thoughts: I mainly picked this book up because it is by the author of Must Love Dogs. Must Love Dogs is one of my all time favorite chick flicks so I figured I might like this book (also it was free nook download so that was added encouragement to read this book). Unfortunately it kind of fell flat. It follows a formula similar to Must Love Dogs: a forties woman looking for love and direction. I thought Ginger was super immature, needed to get over herself and was overly dramatic. Her father and her nephew were the saving grace of the book. I kept hoping that she would reach an 'aha' moment regarding her career but not a lot happens in that area. The father character was ridiculously funny and scatterbrained and Riley, her nephew was adorable and precocious. The book was short and super easy to read but if you are looking for something new and exciting, this isn't it. 3 stars.

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Review and Giveaway: "Distant Signs" by Anne Richter

Synopsis: Distant Signs is an intimate portrait of two families spanning three generations amidst turbulent political change, behind and beyond the Berlin Wall. In 1960s East Germany, Margret, a professor’s daughter from the city, meets and marries Hans, from a small village in Thuringia. The couple struggle to contend with their different backgrounds, and the emotional scars they bear from childhood in the aftermath of war. As East German history gradually unravels, with collision of the personal and political, their two families’ hidden truths are quietly revealed. An exquisitely written novel with strongly etched characters that stay with you long after the book is finished and an authentic portrayal of family life behind the iron curtain based on personal experience of the author who is East German and was 16 years old at the fall of the Berlin Wall. Why do families repeat destructive patterns of behaviour across generations? Should the personal take precedence over

Mailbox Monday (49)

It's time for another Mailbox Monday post! Once again I could not resist the cheap ebooks that Amazon and Barnes and Noble were promoting this week. I really need to stop! I already have more than I can read. I also was able to spend a little time browsing at the library and I came home with a nice stack of books. These days, I hardly ever get to spend time at the library by myself for more than a minute or two so it was wonderful to have time to just wander and see what I could find. Purchased (for kindle): The Color of Secrets by Lindsay Ashford The One I Was by Eliza Graham House of Bathory by Linda Lafferty Purchased (for nook): One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams From the Library: The Messenger by Daniel Silva The Ripper's Wife by Brandy Purdy Hotel Moscow by Talia Carner Brazen by Katherine Longshore What books did you get this week?

Mailbox Monday (78)

Happy Sunday everybody! September is over and I can hardly believe it. It seems as though the month has flown by. Now I'm excited for fall and all of the upcoming holidays. October is the start of my favorite time of year and I'm hoping there will be plenty of room for reading in between all of the upcoming events. I requested some new holiday books from the library and had no idea all of my holds would come in at once so I need to get moving on these. I'm really excited to dig into some sweet, fluffy reads and these will do just the trick. From the Library: A Snow Country Christmas by Linda Lael Miller This is the fourth book in a series that I really enjoyed so I'm eager to get started on it. Holly and Ivy by Fern Michaels The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson I was so intrigued by the cover on this one that I had to pick it up. For Review (from NetGalley): I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon I really need to st

So Many Books, So Little Time

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