The Charm Bracelet by Viola Shipman

Hello wonderful For the Love of Dewey Readers!!! 

I have news for you!  I am officially an Adult Services Librarian & I'm in charge of 2 new Book Clubs a month!  My first Book Club is called Fiction Addiction and my second Book Club is for Adults who love to read YA.  I am SO excited. 

So today I am sharing a review with you that will also be my first Fiction Addiction Book Club book in August, The Charm Bracelet by Viola Shipman.  (For those of you in the NJ area, reach out to me and I can share with you the details so you can join!) 

This novel explores the idea of intertwining maternal family relationships, as symbolized through a charm bracelet that has been passed down from generation to generation.  The charms were collected from important events within each woman's life, allowing them to take on a certain type of strength and energy.  The strength found within these charms made me think of mine (and Jillian's) collection of healing crystals.  

But anyway, let's talk about the plot.  This novel follows the story of Lauren and Arden, a mother daughter pair living in Chicago who gets called back to Lauren's original southern home when she learns that Arden's mother, Lolly, is becoming forgetful.  Lolly begins to exhibit signs of dementia.  She has post-its everywhere to remember simple tasks and names, and she frequently begins to forget to arrive to her shift at the local ice cream parlor, Scoops, on time.  Together the three begin to recall the past all the way back from Lolly's mother, while worrying about what the future will hold.  Ultimately, this novel also explores the feelings of heartbreak, of true love, and of regret.    

Broken down into sections based off of the charms, this story is a powerful journey about placing value in one's life, remembering the past, and making memories within the present / future.  But most importantly, it is about learning to value what you have now while you still have it, and to not let regrets take over the good memories.  

I think that this novel hit on my anxiety a little bit, because our Grandmother had suffered from Alzheimer's and dementia (and to be honest, for someone only 25 years old, I can't remember s**t).  While I thought that this novel overall came off as "sweet" and endearing, and I loved how Shipman broke the book into sections based off of the charms, it didn't engulf me in the same way that some of the other novels I have read the summer so far have.  So dear Dewey Readers, for this reason I leave you with a rating of 4.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  I hope this Book Club goes well, and I hope that by the time August 21st rolls around I can still remember what I've read! 

~Jessica    

I Need a Lifeguard Everywhere but the Pool by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella

Hello everyone! I'm offering you a quick review on Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serrritella's latest novel and mother-daughter series. 

I love Lisa and Francesca's books.  They are funny.  They are witty.  And they are absoutely and 100% what I look forward to every summer.

Can we take a minute to look at the title of their latest "chick-wit" book?

I Need a Life Guard Everywhere but the Pool

Isn't it just... awesome?  It's true, it's quirky, it's funny... And I LOVE it.  

So, for those of you who aren't familiar, Lisa Scottoline, who normally is known for her thrillers, collaborates with her daughter on a series they call "chick-wit." This chick-wit consist of short little blurbs about life, womanhood, and the mother-daughter relationship.  They are light, they are airy, and they are just wonderful.    

This book in particular focuses on life and learning how to become your own lifeguard.  To me, this book in particular focused a bit to heavily on the 2017 Presidential Election.  Scottoline and Serritella do not disclose who their candidate was or what political party they are affiliated with, but I have an inkling as to which way they sway.  For me, the focus on the election sort of lowered my rating of the book (if this were a longer review, it would be 4.5 or 4 coffee beans instead of 5).  However, the election was such a large and controversial part of this year, that it's only natural that it's a large part of this year's chick-wit. 

Over all I absolutely love this mother-daughter team.  Definitely check out this book or one of their other chick-wit books this summer!  You will NOT be disappointed! 

     

Aren't they fun!?

The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable - Reshelved Books

Hello dear For the Love of Dewey Readers!

I recently just finished Michelle Gable's The Book of Summer.  I book-lusted after this novel for quite a while after seeing it on display in Barnes and Noble, but I wasn't sure I was going to buy it.  You know, I really don't need to keep buying books... actually I really need to stop. But my public library system did not own a copy, and when I saw it sitting on the shelf at my favorite local used book store in Montclair, I just knew it was meant to be. 

Aren't the hydrangeas on the cover (and in my garden) just gorgeous?! 

I totally and 100% judged this book by the cover and by how it's location is set in Nantucket.  I guess I'm a total cliche when it comes to great summer reads.  What I liked about this book was that it isn't just another summer story, but rather takes an actual environmental issue that has happened in Nantucket (the erosion of the Sconset Bluff) and personifies it to show the reader how this has effected not only one individual but also an entire family history.  Gable does this by telling the story both from present day and from a historical flashback to the 1940's, making this novel just as much as a Nantucket novel and environmental novel, as it is a WWII novel.   

A brief synopsis of the story lines:

Bess Codman is visiting Nantucket to try to get her mother to pack up her belongings and leave the house that her family has owned for generations on Sconset Bluff.  The years of erosion have slowly taken the property and sacraficed it to the ocean below.  The foundation is weak and being in the house for too much longer can be deadly.  Bess herself is going through a terrible divorce and just found out that she is pregnant.  Her mother does not leave the house easily, and is fighting to have measures taken to prevent further erosion from taking place.

Ruby (Bess' Grandmother) was married on the eve of WWII.  She struggles with her husband, brothers, and friends going off to war, while also suffering from numerous miscarriages.  The house on the bluff becomes her home as well as her strength as it is passed down onto her and thus onto the one child who she does carry to term.  

My take:

At first I thought that this novel came across as a little slow, but it soon picked up.  I loved the blending of a Nantucket summer novel, with environmental issues, and a WWII story.  It was well done and cohesively put together.  I also liked how Gable included information at the end of the novel about Sconset Bluff and the erosion.  

So dear readers, I leave you with a For the Love of Dewey rating of 4.5 out 5 Coffee Beans. 

For more information on Sconset, check out Gable's sources:

Sconset Beach Preservation Fund 
Vanity Fair: Nantucket and Malibu Disappearing 

Beach House for Rent by Mary Alice Monroe - Reshelved Books

I love Mary Alice Monroe's Beach House series.  I discovered these books years ago when my Grandma's friend lent us Swimming Lesson's (Book #2).  After devouring Swimming Lessons and reading it twice, I jumped right into The Beach House (Book #1), and Beach House Memories (Book #3).  And no, they do not have to be read in order... So it's an understatement to say that I was both thrilled and excited to learn that a 4th book in the series entitled Beach House for Rent was due to be released this summer!  

You can check out brief summaries of these novels, as well as other novels by Monroe here.

I wanted to take a #bookstagram with all 4 novels,
but the other 3 are packed away in the basement... So here is my pool.

So a brief background to this series:

These books tell the story of a beach house on the North Carolina coast owned by Olivia "Lovie" Rutledge.  Lovie was known as the "turtle lady" of the shore, active in conservation, and protector of the sea turtle nests.  When Lovie's daughter Cara loses her job up North, she returns home, mending broken ties with her family and discovering both new and old relationships all linked to a love for turtles and ultimately for the beach house.  One of these relationships is in found in Toy, a young pregnant girl fleeing an abusive relationship and family situation whom Lovie takes in, and another is in her romance with Brett, a local man whom Cara falls in love with and begins to replant her Carolina roots with.  As Cara begins to learn more about her mother's past and the woman that she is, she also learns that her mother is dying from cancer. Eventually after Lovie's passing, the beach house is left to Cara, which sets the readers up for the latest installment.

Now on to the latest novel:

Beach House for Rent opens with Cara and Brett working on the beach house and getting it ready to rent for the summer.  Hence the title. The woman renting the beach house, Heather, is a young and pretty 26 who suffers from terrible social anxiety issues that became worse after her mother passed away in a car accident. There is also hinting at financial difficulties that place a strain on Cara and Brett's relationship, which becomes clearly known to reader when it is learned that they cannot make the loan payments on a tour boat they recently purchased.  The couple is now faced with a dilemma.  Should they sell Cara's beach house, or sell their home which is legally Brett's house (his name is still the only one on the deed.)  Like with Nancy Thayer's novel, this part of the book struck me.  Not because it's the life I live now, but the beach house vs. regular home is a fantasy I have contemplated in my head. Can I have a beach house now, please!? After a fight, Brett goes out for a run, where he dies suddenly of a heart attack.  This was an unexpected twist to the story that came out of nowhere to the reader, and ultimately leaves Cara utterly devastated.  Cara returns to the beach house, where along with Heather they learn to heal themselves and grow despite their grief and their guilt.    

Why I like it...
One thing that I adore about this series is how Monroe focuses on endangered wildlife.  In Swimming Lessons, Monroe did this by offering readers short facts about sea turtles.  In Beach House for Rent, Monroe does this by bringing attention to endangered shore birds.  Monroe accomplishes this both by short facts about various shore birds, and also through Heather, who is studying the birds so she can accurately paint them for postage stamps.

Why I don't...
However unlike the other novels, which I felt could be read as stand alones or even out of order, I felt that Beach House for Rent relies too much on the backstories of the other novels.  If a reader had picked up this book instead of one of the other 3 it wouldn't have the same effect.  I also was disappointed that Monroe didn't bring Toy into the story.  She mentioned her character in passing, but she was such a large and important character in Swimming Lessons and The Beach House.  I missed her.

So my dear For the Love of Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 3.5 out of 4 Coffee Beans.  I love this series, but I love Swimming Lessons and The Beach House more.  This novel alone does not do the series proper justice. 

~Jessica 

P.S.  This series was one of the group of books that Grandma & I have successfully gotten my non-bookish mother to read and enjoy.   

Summer Reading- Thoughts

Happy Friday!

Since the weekend is coming up, I wanted to ask you guys what *you* have read so far this summer and what you'll be reading! What you're excited to read and even what you know you won't be interested in reading. 

I ordered two books on Monday and they came in the mail today. So, I'm super pumped to bust into that box and jump right in!  

Let me know in the comments down below what's on your list! Also, let us know if you have any recommendations!

Catch you guys soon!
~ Jillian


...P.S.
An awesome beach read, that is TOTAL throwback... #flashbackfriday, is The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (and I'm talking the whole series here, guys!).  I totally remember reading those books during the summers I spent in Lavallette.

Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck- #TheBookDrop

Happy July Dewey Family,

While my posting has become sporadic, my reading has not! I have a few reviews for you guys in the upcoming weeks that I will post.  At this moment, I will present you all with Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck.

This was the book from the June 2017 #bookdrop box- Jane Edition. 

The author prefaces the book with a letter informing the reader how she came up with her story line. In the letter included from Erika Robuck in #TheBookDrop, she tells us subscribers how Ernest Hemingway came to her one night in a dream. 

As usual with the wonderfulness that is #thebookdrop, they included a letter from Erika Robuck to us subscribers. Robuck said how Ernest Hemingway visited her one night in a dream.  In the same letter, Erika does say it herself that Hemingway's Girl does not follow The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.  For those of you who are wondering, The Paris Wife by Paula McLain is the story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley.  

I have yet to read The Paris Wife but it is a book that I have seen before at the book store, and one that I have picked up and put down before.  I did add it to my Goodreads, maybe one day I'll get the chance to read it!

Hemingway's Girl reminded me of Flight of Dreams in that a story was formed around people who did exist.  While Ariel Lawhon based her story line for Flight of Dreams around actual passengers on the flight at the time of the crash; Robuck based her story line around one actual person and used the voice of a fictional character to tell her story. (Anyone who is curious about Flight of Dreams, can find that review here).

I'm going to be honest, I wasn't so sure that I was going to like this book. Learning that the book was about Ernest Hemingway and a young Mariella Bennett; I knew that I didn't want to read a story about how a young girl gets caught up with the infamous and captivating Hemingway. 

The book did pique my interest and I did find Ernest Hemingway to be an oddly intriguing man.  Outside of the letter that was included in #thebookdrop box, I found an interview with Erika Robuck about her novel with The Dividing Wand. The interview highlights the development of her storyline, including the ways in which she researched this novel. 

Even when I started reading the book, I was reading it with caution.  I guess you could say that I was like Pauline when she said "'You know, Mariella', said Pauline, 'I need to apologize. I used to think that you and Papa had something going on.'" (Robuck, 218).

The ending of the story... Kinda ruined it for me, as sad as it is to say....

Once the book was over, the book was over... 

To me, the book just ended abruptly. We see that Jake, Mariella and Gavin's son, is given letters Hemingway wrote to Mariella, including one from Pauline.  (If Hemingway had lost contact with Mariella, I would have been surprised.  I was however, a little sad to see that their correspondence wasn't more frequent).

Robuck did end the book with Hemingway taking his own life and reporting it in the same manner that it did happen back in 1961. 

But that was it. 

I'm giving this book 2.5 coffee beans out of five. I really didn't like it. The more I thought about the book for the review, the less I liked it.  There was a lot of build up and for the storyline to end so shortly, was kinda blah.

~ Jillian

Secrets in Summer by Nancy Thayer - Reshelved Books

Hello fellow Dewey readers! 

Today we give you a review on Nancy Thayer's latest novel, Secrets in Summer.    Let me start off by saying that I (Jessica) absolutely loved and adored this novel.  I felt like it was my life- or rather the life that I live inside my head that was being told within these pages.  Maybe that's why I loved it so much.  

Reasons Why I Felt Like This Was My Life In a Book:
1) The main character, Darcy,  is a librarian. ✔ 
       I have my MLIS. 
2) Darcy lives by the beach. ✔
      Can I? Please?
3) Darcy married young and was left both heartbroken and free. ✔
      So I've never been married, but close enough.
4) Darcy finds someone new to love, who is a much better fit. ✔
      Bingo. 
5) The man Darcy falls in love with doesn't want to move into Darcy's house.  He would rather pick out a new home /  start a new life together.   ✔
       AND. 
6) To do this they must both learn how to compromise.  ✔

Did Nancy Thayer write this for me?  Nancy, if you're reading this, you don't know how much I needed a book like this right now in my life.  Thank you.

This book is fun, it is beachy, and it is impossible to put down!  I guess maybe I'm little bit biased because I felt like I could have very easily been Darcy, but nonetheless, I just want to take this book, hold it in the air, and shout "READ THIS BOOK!" at the top of my lungs. And really, you all should.  I promise you will not be disappointed.

I love this book so much, that I am giving it 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans!  

P.S. Jillian and Grandma loved it too. 
  
~Jessica