May Book Review

Click icon for more
book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

 

 

 

The book I will be reviewing this month is THE NEST by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney.

I learned about this book because I had recorded a late night talk show to see interviews by the two other celebrities that were on that night (ironically I don't recall what talk show it was or who the two other guests were!).  I had no intention of watching her interview and had assumed (before I saw the interview) she was some young new star that I was too old to know who she was.  I was fast forwarding to the end of the show when I, for some unknown reason, pressed "play" when she came on.  I heard the words "debut book" and decided to watch the interview after all.

They said the book was about four siblings who didn't allow alcohol when they would get together so they each, unbeknownst to the others, would go to separate bars to drink before they would meet.  I heard that and thought it had the potential of being a fun book.

I got the book from my library and as I was about to start reading, it occurred to me that I might have too high of expectations for the book.  The story centers around a trust (aka The Nest) that had been set up for the siblings shortly before their father died.  His intention was that the money would serve as a modest midlife supplement but after his death the money had been invested wisely and the nest had grown beyond all expectations.  The money was to be distributed after the youngest sibling turned 40.

Knowing that they have a large sum of money coming to them, they all live beyond their current means, something they manage to keep secret from their significant others.  They figure that once they get the money they can fix things and no one has to be the wiser.  So of course something happens that throws a wrench into their plans.  Leo, the oldest sibling and who happens to be in the process of getting a divorce, gets behind the wheel of a car while drunk and high and causes an accident that results in a serious injury to a third party.  In an effort to keep everyone (the soon-to-be ex-wife and the injured party) quiet on the matter, the siblings' mother all but empties the nest (a right the father had included in the trust agreemenet) to pay for their silence.  

The rest of the story is about  how they all cope with this new development.

The book had a lot of potential but it also had some serious flaws.  Among the flaws was the fact that the book seemed a bit disjointed, if that's the right word.  There wasn't a real fluidity in the story telling.  With the exception of a handful of chapters, there was no real presence of time and the chapters were interchangeable as to the location they could be placed in the book.  For the most part a scene or a chapter involved only one person and their thoughts.  In most instances the character the scene or chapter was about would remember a long ago event so it felt a lot like mostly a flashback / data dump story.  And whenever there were multiple characters in a scene or chapter, there was a LOT of head hopping.  I was never confused about whose head we were in but it was glaringly obvious that we were head hopping.  In one scene there were three characters and in one of the paragraphs we hopped into every one of the character's heads . . . multiple times . . . in one paragraph.

The way the story was told reminded me a lot of the movie VALENTINE'S DAY with the overwhelming amount of characters and how so little time was spent with each character.  As a result of this, there wasn't a lot of character development and none of the characters came across as particularly sympathetic.  But you assume that it's all going to tied up in a nice little bow at the end, and for the most part it was.  I just felt that the ending was rushed and didn't provide an entirely satisfying ending to the story.

I realize that this review probably sounds like I'm trashing the book but despite all its flaws I found it to be an interesting read.  I never felt the need to hurl the book across the room but I did want to continue reading to see how it was all resolved.  I don't know that I would recommend paying full price for the book but I think it might be worth borrowing from the library.

For more book reviews go to www.barriesummy.blogspot.com.

Does anyone else do this?

What is it about a power outage that causes a person to lose brain power?  

Maybe it's just me but we just had a power outage that lasted roughly an hour.  My first thought was that since I couldn't watch cable, I'd watch what was on my DVR.  Yeah, because my DVR isn't fueled by electricity.

The second thought I had was to go online.  My internet doesn't work on electricity.  However, the modem that connects me to the internet does.

I went into the kitchen to get my dog, Harley, a snack.  Flipped the light switch.  Not surprisingly, I got nothing from it.

It crosses my mind to do laundry, load the dishwasher, cook (I have an electric stove).  None of which I can do without electricity.

Harley wanted to go outside.  He's decided his favorite way to get outside (despite having a doggy door that would let him outside into the backyard) is through the garage.  I realize he doesn't understand electricity but we couldn't go out that way because of the electric garage door opener.  I had to put his collar on him and force him into the backyard.  No one was happy about that.

And then, when I decide to call and see if the electric company is aware of the situation and timeline for fixing it, I want to use my landline.  The cordless phone, also attached to electricity.  So I called on my cell phone, which had a low battery that I couldn't charge because I had no electricity.  Well, that's not entirely true.  I could've charged the cell phone in the car.  You know, turn the car on in the enclosed garage, plugging in the cord to the cigarette lighter.  Of course that would've caused much more serious problems than not having electricity so it wasn't really a consideration.  :)

Does anyone else do this?  Create a plan of things you can direct your mind to, now that the power is out and you can't watch the boob tube, only to realize all the other things require electricity as well?  Or is it just me?

Pet Care

I'm finding it hard to find good pet care for my dog, Harley.  I booked a once in a lifetime tour of the Serengeti in Africa for this summer and I'm looking forward to taking it.

That is, of course, if I can find suitable care for Harley.

I started by asking a friend of mine if one of her daughters could stay at my home with him while I was gone.  They've done it before when I've had to be away from home overnight.  This trip is a two-week trip though so I knew it was asking a lot.  I was asked to consider them as my "back-up plan" rather than my first plan of action.

So I've been looking.

I asked my vet for recommendations and it turns out one of their techs does pet care.  Yay!  Oh, but wait, turns out she'll only stop by your house up to 2 times per day.  She won't stay at the house or take the pet home with her.  So that won't work.  :(

She recommended someone else to me though, with the caveat that she thinks the person has taken "a real job".  She gave me her business card so I could call her myself.  According to the card I was hoping I could have her pick Harley up in the morning and take him to the doggy day care advertised on the card and them bring him home at night.  It's not ideal but it beats only having 2 visits per day for short periods of time.  I checked out the website listed and it doesn't mention doggy day care so I don't know if it's still offered.  I haven't called her yet but I don't think it's too promising.

I also called a former veterinarian I used and asked for recommendations.  They gave me the name of a kennel but made it sound like a facility that makes the news for its bad practices for animal care.  I haven't called them either.

A friend recommended a kennel she uses and thinks highly of.  I did a tour of it on Friday.  It's a nice enough facility but the animals get little attention.  I was looking at one of their indoor / outdoor rooms for Harley and learned that in those rooms the dogs get all of 6 minutes of cuddle time per day, period.  They're not taken outside and given any attention (unless you pay additional fees per time they are taken out) because they can let themselves out as needed.  During the day only - they close the doggy doors at night.  So basically, it's not a lot better of a situation than leaving him at home, where he has his own routine, and having someone stop by twice a day.  Plus, Harley gets medication daily for thyroid issues and there's an additional fee for them to give him his medications.  You can't take things up there from home to make him more comfortable because they don't want to keep up with it.  If you bring your own food you have to put each meal in a ziplock bag.  Harley eats at least twice a day and will be up there for 2 weeks so I have to make at least 28 ziplock bags of food, not factoring in the fact that lately he has been eating 3 times a day.  The alternative is to allow them to feed him their food, at an additional cost, of course.  I'd almost rather leave him at home at this point and have the vet person stop by twice a day.

Last night I emailed my friend again and asked if her daughter would consider taking Harley in while I'm gone.  I told her I would pay her.  This daughter is constantly taking in strays and has kept them for long periods of time while she tries to find them homes so I'm hoping she'll consider this.  It would be a different environment for Harley but not in a negative way.  And I don't think it would add too much to what the daughter already has to do with the dogs she already has (Harley gets along with other dogs).  I think this would be the best case scenario for everyone concerned.  I'm waiting to hear back.  I hope this can work out.

Yes, I used to kennel my pets but some things have changed since then.  For one, the place I took my dogs to is no longer in business.  They were wonderful with the animals and spent lots of time with them - at no extra charge.  Not to mention, I had three dogs the last time I needed to kennel them so they had their "siblings" with them so they weren't alone.  Harley would be in a new place where he didn't know anyone and had no one to play with for 2 weeks.  Not what I want to do.

I'm praying, please God, let this work out with the friend's daughter, for everyone's sake.

April Book Review

The book I will be reviewing this month is The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James.

I read this book over two years ago and had meant to review it at that time but life has a way of changing one's plans, so I am just now getting around to it.

Alyssa Goodnight has originally reviewed this book (see review here) and her review caught my interest.  The heroine in the story, Sarah Piper, worked as a temp.  I supported myself as a temp for more than 10 years.  Something I could already relate to.  Sarah was hired to go ghost hunting.  Okay, I never got an assignment like that but the possibilities of it ran through my head and I purchased the book immediately after reading Alyssa's review of the book.

Then, I must admit, I had a bit of buyer's remorse.  I don't believe in ghosts and I felt that reading a book about ghosts wouldn't be a good idea.  So the book sat on my entertainment center for months before I ever picked it up.  And when I did, it was for the sole purpose of reading enough to know I shouldn't read it.  I guess I felt that that would somehow justify the purchase of the book and the not reading of the book.

Thing was, I was instantly hooked in the opening paragraphs.  Sarah also didn't believe in ghosts.  She had only taken the temp assignment because she desperately needed the money.  Plus, it would get her out of her small apartment (which I envisioned being over a brothel that the big bad wolf could blow down if he huffed and puffed at it . . . I saw her room as being the highlight of the entire place though, despite the other imagery the author gave to the building she lived in) for a few days.

Maddy Clare was the ghost she was going to "help".  Maddy wouldn't allow men near her (she'd taken up residence in a barn) so it had to be a woman, and was why a female temp had been requested. 

The way the author wrote the story, the reader became a part of the story - at least I did anyway.  As Sarah and I entered the barn to "meet" Maddy, we were both skeptics.  By the time we left, we were both believers.  The author did an amazing job of telling the story and making it convincing.

The only issue I had with this book is the romantic elements.  I didn't see it and I didn't believe it.  It felt forced and didn't seem to fit with other aspects of the story.  It wasn't needed either.  I almost felt like the book had been written and the editor told her to add a romantic storyline to it.  It just didn't work for me.

Other than that, I really enjoyed the book and recommend it.

For more book reviews go to barriesummy.blogspot.com.

March Book Review

The book I will be reviewing this month is Liane Moriarty's The Last Anniversary. 

The story is about a (dysfunctional) family living on an island and the mystery involving Jack and Alice Munro who vanished from the island 70+ years ago.  Sisters Rose and Connie had gone to see Jack and Alice and discovered them missing but their baby, Enigma, seemed to be abandoned by her parents.  Jack and Alice were never found and the mystery surrounding their disappearance was never solved.

Rose and Connie raised baby Enigma as their own and gave tours of the home her parents had disappeared from as a means to bring in some money.  All these years later, the family is very well off but they continue the daily tours and have an annual celebration on the anniversary of when Jack and Alice disappeared.

The author took a lot of time developing characters in this story, which I liked.  The problem with that though is that she had a lot of characters in the story and it took a while before I could keep straight the relationships . . . there were five generations of individuals and at least 9 characters whose head we get into at different times.  I've been having some difficulties keeping information straight in my head lately though so the issues keeping things straight could just be me and not a writing issue.

As with other of this author's books, the obvious big mystery of the book isn't the only one revealed during the telling of the story.  I did figure out some, others I was wrong in my guesses.  But the book also has a surprise twist ending that I didn't see coming.

I enjoyed it.

For other book reviews, go to barriesummy.blogspot.com

The Good Wife

I was sad to hear that The Good Wife was being cancelled.  Yes, I’m going to miss The Good Wife.

Funny that I only discovered the show a little over a year ago.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  I had heard about it before then but had never watched it.  It was one of those shows that looked interesting but after I missed the premiere episode I decided that the ship had sailed and I wasn’t going to try to catch up.

That is until around Thanksgiving 2014.  I saw that I had full access to every season through my cable provider.  I had been off work for a while at the time and found myself doing marathon watching of the show every day, getting in as many episodes as I could.

When I returned to work it was only part time at first.  I would get up early and watch one or two shows before I went into work.  I’d come home at lunch time and continue where I had left off that morning.  I was really tired at the time so I wasn’t getting as many shows in as I would’ve liked but it was pretty much all I was watching.  My DVR filled up to capacity because I wasn’t watching anything that it was recording. 

This continued for a couple of weeks until I caught up to the current season.  At that point I actually purchased the first few episodes of the current season from amazon, just so I could watch them in order and be ready when it came back from the winter break.

So technically, I’ve only been watching it as it airs about a year now.  And now they’re cancelling it.  L  I’m so bummed because it’s still such a good show.  So well written and characters clearly defined.  Still fresh material.  Plus, they’ve finally given Alicia a new love interest that looks promising.

I guess no one wants to stay too long at the party but I wasn’t ready for this one to end.  L

Sigh

Reviewing Books

Last night I posted reviews on two cookbooks on amazon.  I gave one of the books one star and the other two stars.  I have a huge selection of cookbooks so I requested these books from my library so I could decide if they would be worth buying and adding to my collection.

Here's the deal, for reasons I won't go into here, I need to eliminate soy from my diet, to the extent that is possible.  Both of these books advertise that they have soy free recipes in their books.

The book I gave two stars to labeled their recipes with "soy-free" or "soy-free option" in the recipes that supposedly don't contain soy.  I liked that it was organized this way (they also had gluten free and oil free recipes / options as well) but I had a big issue with the fact that the author obviously doesn't know where all soy is contained.  It's like gluten - it's in EVERYTHING - so you have to be careful.  For example, I only did a quick skim of the recipes but found two that were labeled soy-free that clearly weren't.  One was for a tofu recipe, the other was for a tempeh recipe - both of which are made from soy beans.  The tofu recipe was listed as "soy-free option" and gave you a substitution for soy sauce but offered nothing for the tofu and tofu was in the recipe name (as was tempeh in the tempeh recipe).  To me that's unforgivable.  Know your ingredients before you label it because some people will depend on your label and if it's an allergy issue, it could kill them!

The other book not only didn't label the recipes, they weren't organized to distinguish what the recipes were "free of".  One of its claims were recipes without eggs.  Well, obviously I could distinguish which ones weren't egg free but there was nothing to distinguish the others.

My hope had been that I could pull up a recipe and make it, safe in knowing it was soy free but that's not possible with either of these cookbooks.  With either of these cookbooks I would have to label read my ingredients and I was hoping to eliminate that to the extent I could (I know at least one of these books and I think possibly both of them would say "buy a gluten free [insert ingredient] here" and then offer not options).  Frustrating.

But the point of this post (long way to get here, I know) is, I used to not review books unless I could give them a five star rating because I didn't want to be negative.  Then, a few years ago, I went to find a review from a particular reviewer and realized that the lowest she ever gave was a four star review.  She reviews hundreds a week - literally!  But none are ever less than a four star book?  I don't buy it and I no longer give her reviews credit.  In fact I read her four stars as "it sucked" now.  Seriously.  So, I don't shy away from reviewing books (or items) that I don't care for anymore.  Yes, it's still unevenly balanced in the positive side but I hope that the lower starred reviews give those five star reviews credit and the other way around as well.

What about you?  Do you balance out your reviews or just show one side or the other?

Coconut Pineapple Muffins

A while back it was suggested to me to try coconut flour in place of the traditional flours of all purpose, whole wheat pastry flours, etc.  I've tried it twice now and apparently I had blocked out my first experience when I attempted this morning to modify a pineapple muffin recipe I found on the internet.  When I saw how this was going, I did a quick search on the internet and found the problem . . . coconut flour acts like a sponge and absorbs liquids without seeming to add any moisture to the mixture.  If a recipe calls for 2 cups all purpose flour and 1 cup of liquids, you need to cut back on the flour included and up the liquids.  Hopefully I will remember that the next time I cook with coconut flour.

In addition, the recipe I was working from included dairy products, including eggs.  Since I don't eat meat or dairy, I made other substitutions.  You can usually get by with adding a banana or vegan yogurt in place of eggs in recipes and since I had a rotting banana sitting on my counter, I started with that.  In hindsight I see where that would be a mistake when you are starting with a flour that needs all the moisture it can get and a banana really doesn't provide that.

So I added a single serving container of vegan vanilla yogurt.  It helped but wasn't quite enough, so I added a second container of the vanilla yogurt.  It was looking a lot better by this point but still not where it needed to be so I added 1/4 cup of canola oil.  By now the batter was close enough to what I was looking for that I loaded up my muffin pan and started to bake.

The finished product, though delicious, wasn't quite the recipe I was looking for.  It produced a moist muffin that didn't quite hold together completely.  I obviously need to tweak the recipe some more and possibly cook a little longer.

Having said that, here is my working recipe:

Ingredients:
2 cups coconut flour
1/2 cup maple sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 banana (mashed)
2 5.3 ounce containers of non-dairy vanilla yogurt
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 fresh pineapple chopped
3/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup non-dairy butter
water (I kept adding trying to get the right texture - I probably added about a cup of water)

Preparation:
1.  Preheat oven to 375 and lightly oil a 6 muffin tin.
2.  Combine the flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl.
3.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well.
4.  Distribute mixture in the muffin tin (will completely fill tin).
5.  Bake for 35 minutes.

Makes 6 muffins.

Obviously you can use a 12 muffin tin and adjust the time of baking but since I used a 6 muffin tin, this is how I did it.  As I said, it produced a delicious, moist muffin but it didn't quite hold together properly.  I still have half the pineapple chopped up so I see a take two in my future.  :)

Jury Duty

I've been called to jury duty three times in my life.  The first time it involved a condo and maintenance fees for the property.  I wasn't selected to sit on the jury but it had been an afternoon case and I wasn't going back to work so I stayed after I had been released to hear the case.  Unfortunately, because it was so late in the day when it started, they didn't finish that afternoon so I asked one of the jurors to email me the verdict when they were done.  I had already formed an opinion about the case and, as it turned out, the jury came to the same conclusion.

The next time I was called I don't actually recall what the case was about.  What I remember is that the plaintiff didn't have an attorney.  Nor did she speak English.  They had an interpreter for her but there seemed to be some communication issues between them and I was dreading being selected for the jury.  The defendant had an attorney though and she asked the panel a couple of questions.  We were asked if we had ever been to small claims court before.  I said I had and I was asked whether I had won or not.  I said no.  Apparently that was enough to get me eliminated from serving.  I say that because the judge said he was going to take the first 6 people who weren't eliminated and I had been number 3 or 4.  I was okay that with that.

The third time was today.  I've always wanted to serve on a jury but today I was hoping to NOT be selected.  So of course I was.  And actually, it was an interesting situation involving a landlord / tenant dispute.  Neither side had counsel.  The landlord was claiming that the tenant wouldn't allow her to inspect the house.  She said they hadn't been paying rent and owed for October, November and December.  She said that she went by one day and that the kitchen cabinets were outside with the trash.  She said they had painted the walls without permission.  She said the tenants were verbally abusive to her.  This was all told in her opening statement.

The tenant's side was that the landlord showed up one day unannounced and wanted to inspect the house.  They scheduled an appointment for her to do so the next day but the landlord never showed up.  They admitted to pulling out the cabinets but said they did so because the landlord had had them painted and that there were dead roaches stuck to them.  They also admitted to painting the walls but said the landlord liked the color and was okay with it.  They said they had always paid their rent but that it was refused in November.  They also said the landlord had her friend present himself as a police officer to let the landlord into their home.  This was all told in their opening statement.

I should mention that the arrangement between the landlord and the tenant was that the tenant was leasing with the intent to buy the house.

After their opening statements the plaintiff presented a letter she had written that was signed by the defendants.  It was two pages long.  The defendant admitted to seeing the second page and signing it but denied having ever seen the first page of the letter.  The judge asked the plaintiff if she had proof they had seen the first page and she said "it's there!" and that was all she said.  The judge ruled that the second page made no sense without the first page so he allowed it as evidence in the case.  The first page accused them of violating specific rules allegedly put into place when they moved in (personally, given that it was a lease to buy situation, I'm inclined to believe that page one was created specifically for the case and believe the defendants never saw it) and the second just said she wasn't paying anymore and that they hadn't paid rent.

The judge said she should probably tell us what she was looking to get out of the case and the plaintiff said she wanted them to move out of their house in one week.  The judge asked if she was looking for any rent payments and she said no.  Then the judge asked the defendants if they could move in one week, they said yes so the judge said they had a deal and closed the case and told us we could leave.  The plaintiff then asked if she could ask a question and the judge said "no you may not!" and that was that.  The whole thing took less than an hour.  In fact, the call time was 10:00 a.m. and I was literally pulling into my driveway at 11:00 a.m.  So a short day to be sure!

I really wanted to hear testimony - particularly from the friend who supposedly presented himself as a police officer - but that didn't happen.

But, now I've served on a jury.  Now I have a new goal for next time though, I hope attorneys are involved and that we get to the testimony.  :)

October Book Review

As October is the month for breast cancer awareness, I thought it would be fitting to write a review on a book about one person's journey dealing with breast cancer.  I will be reviewing Amy Robach's book, Better.

Amy Robach is news journalist on ABC's Good Morning America.  As you may know, she discovered she had breast cancer when she agreed to have an on-air mammogram to help raise awareness for the cause on October 1, 2013.  She tells in her book how she was reluctant to have the mammogram when her producers first approached her.  They asked her to think about it before she gave a definite "no" response.  So she talked to her family about it and still said no.  When she told her producers the reason she didn't want to participate was because she was only 40, had no family history of breast cancer and had no connection to the cause (other than her main job on GMA was to backfill for Robin Roberts who was being treated for a secondary cancer caused by the treatment she received from her breast cancer diagnosis).  They once again asked her to think about it some more.  So she did.  She talked to Robin Roberts, someone she didn't know well at the time, about it.  When Robin told her that 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease, Amy relented and agreed to have the mammogram live.

However, she still felt maybe she wasn't the right person to do this and felt it necessary to explain her decision to the public prior to stepping into the mammovan for the mammogram.  In her pre-taped piece she explained that this was not something she wanted to do but that she was doing it in the hopes that someone else might see it and realize they should or could do it as well.

Shortly thereafter, because she had done this and a few necessary follow up tests, she found out she had breast cancer.

In the book she goes into detail about all of the tests and doctors appointments she went to.  She talks about how sick she felt during treatment and how hard some days were to get through.  She describes how uncomfortable it was to go from telling the story to being the story.  Yet despite that, she did tell the story because she felt it was an important message.  Here she had been very reluctant to have the mammogram that revealed she had cancer.  It's a powerful message.

Amy really opens up in the book about what she went through but it's obvious that she's still not comfortable being completely vulnerable in this.  She did go into detail what she was feeling at particular times but I had hoped she would reveal more.  I realize it is very personal and not really anyone's business but something I had hoped she would discuss was how what she went through affected her intimate relationship with her husband.  I remember when Ann Jillian was diagnosed with breast cancer 20+ years ago and how it initially had a very negative impact on her intimate relationship with her husband (per the movie made about it in which Ann starred in so I believe it's credible).  Amy didn't delve that deeply into what she covered and I think it would be beneficial to women who go through this and read her story.

The other thing I would like to mention about her story is, I watched GMA a lot when she was going through treatment and I remember thinking she must've been fast-tracked on the treatment (not that there is a fast-track that I know of) because she looked great and I figured she had to have completed treatment, when in fact she was still getting treatment.  I remember specific episodes where I thought that and some of those specific episodes are mentioned in the book - as hard days to get through because she was so sick.

Amy is a true survivor and after having read her book I have so much admiration for her and how strong she is.  She was scheduled to cover the Olympics in Russia during her treatment.  Her family and doctors said that might not be the best idea but she had determined that cancer wasn't going to take anything else away from her so in between treatments, she covered the Olympics!  Such an amazing person, with a strong message . . . just because you don't have a family history of breast cancer doesn't mean you shouldn't get checked out.  There always has to be the first one.

Even if it wasn't breast cancer awareness month, I would recommend this book.  It was an engaging, easy read . . . I didn't want to put it down.

For more book reviews, go to www.barriesummy.blogspot.com.

June Book Review

Click icon for more
book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

It's time for more book reviews.  This month I will be reviewing two books that I enjoyed in the last month.  The first is our gracious host's latest book, The Disappearance of Emily H.  This book was reviewed last month by Sarah Laurence here.  I had already pre-ordered the book and was excited about reading it but Sarah gave a great review that only upped my anticipation of receiving the book.

The story is about Raine, who can read people's memories through sparkles.  She describes it this way "Some people come from a family with loads of money.  Some ace math without trying.  Some never get zits.  Reading sparkles is my thing, my little talent."

 

Her mother's talent is getting involved with loser boyfriends and then relocating with Raine when they don't work out.  And that is why Raine is a new student at Yielding.  Because she has moved around so much, Raine has learned to adapt rather quickly.  She can spot the popular kids, the nerds, the mean kids easily and she has learned how to deal with them and stay under the radar.

 

Raine has met the mean girls in her new school but they don't bother her much, that is until she stands up against them when she sees them bullying another new student, Shirlee.  Once she does that she has a target on her own back for the mean girls.

 

Raine uses her talent of reading memories to put a stop to the bullying of Shirlee and herself in a very unique way, while also helping to solve the mystery of what happened to Emily H.

 

One of the many things I like about Barrie's books (characters, story, etc.) is that they tell a story that is good for any age.  Disney movies used to be movies that you could take your small child to, as well as your elderly grandparent and everyone would enjoy it and no one would be uncomfortable by any of its content.  That's how I view Barrie's books, people of all ages can enjoy them and no one need be embarrassed by the content.  I recommend this book highly.

 

The second book I'm reviewing is Queen of the Trailer Park, A Rosie Maldonne Mystery by Alice Quinn.  I came across this book quite by accident.  You see amazon offers its prime service for free for a month every year or two and I take them up on it fairly regularly but this past year I forgot to cancel it before they charged me for it.  It's my understanding that you can still cancel if you haven't had anything shipped but I decided to keep it, see how I liked it.  Then I started getting all these emails about kindle books.  I'm not a fan of reading ebooks so I would delete the emails without seeing what they were about.  Turns out that you get one free ebook a month with your prime membership and I just realized it at the end of May and decided to check this book out from it.

 

It's a story about Rosie and her life.  She doesn't have money, she lives in a trailer and she's raising three kids, one of which isn't hers.  Then one day her friend and her friend's child go missing and she starts trying to figure out what happens.  The police question her and follow her.  She meets an eccentric man who takes her under his wing.  And she follows clues to try to find her friend and her child.

 

This was a quirky, fun book that I read in one day (which is highly unusual for me these days).  There were some things in the book that I had difficulty suspending disbelief for but it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the book and its story.  There were some passages what didn't flow as well as they could but I considered that this book was translated from French and felt that was likely a contributing factor.  But again, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book.

 

This was the first in a series of Rosie Maldonne stories by Alice Quinn and I plan on checking out more in the series.  So thank you amazon for offering it to me . . . I can recommend it as a fun, light read (despite that it being a mystery).  :)

For more book reviews, click on the icon at the top of this post.

 

May Book Review

Click icon for more
book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

This month I will be reviewing GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn.  There was such a buzz when this book was made into a movie that came out last fall that I decided to check it out.  I went online to my local library and put a hold on the audio version of the book.

I was far enough down the list that it took six months to become available to me to download and listen to it.  By that time I wasn't as "into" it as I had been so I actually considered not downloading it.  Before I let it go though I looked to see how many people were on the hold list . . . 268!  I don't remember where I started but I really believe it was a much smaller number than that so I decided I could download it and decide later if I would actually listen to it.

Then I decided after all that that I really should listen to it, so I did.

For those unfamiliar with the story, Nick Dunne is a man whose wife has gone missing.  At first people (i.e. the police) don't want to listen to him because nothing major seems amiss.  Yes, the living room looks like there may have been a struggle in there but it also appears staged.  And the iron was left on but they think it was just absent-mindedness, not foul play.

The story is told in three parts.  The first part is told from Nick's point of view in the present, as well as Amy Elliott Dunne's (his wife) point of view as seen from old journal entries.  The reader gets benefit from these journal entries but it's not something (the journal or the entries) that comes to light for anyone else until much, much later in the book.

In the first part you get to see the inner workings of the relationship between Nick and Amy and it's not a pretty picture.  As the story starts unfolding everything points to Nick having caused harm to his wife, despite his denials of any wrong doing and best efforts to uncover the truth of what happened.

What I liked about the book is that it was well written and an interesting story came out of it.  Amy and Nick weren't particularly likeable people but I was still drawn in and interested in what happened next.

What I didn't like about the book . . . I checked out the table of contents on the audio book and it provided some spoilers that I would've rather been totally shocked by when they came to light.  It also was read at a very slow pace.  Fortunately you can speed up the cadence so I listened to a lot of the book at double time, which sounded normal.  If that hadn't been an option I probably wouldn't have finished the book.

But the bottom line is that I really liked this book and now want to check out the movie that was based on it.

For more book reviews, click on the icon at the top of this post.

Born Free

I have a confession to make . . . I'm becoming obsessed with all things related to the movie Born Free.

I feel quite certain that I probably saw the movie as a child but I don't remember actually seeing it.  Then, a year or so ago I watched the movie and really enjoyed it.  It came on cable a few months ago, along with the sequel Living Free and I recorded both of them and watched them the weekend before last.

I'm not sure what happened but it affected me differently this time around.  I became very attached to Elsa, the lion the movie is based on.  Watching Born Free I wondered if she was still alive so I did a search of how long lions live.  The life expectancy of a lion in the wild is 15 years.  In captivity the life expectancy is 25 years.  When I read that I knew that Elsa was likely gone a long time.  And then I got annoyed because I felt that by deciding to release Elsa into the wild again that George and Joy Adamson effectively made the decision to cut her life expectancy almost in half for reasons that had nothing to do with what was in Elsa's best interest.  You see, by this point I had decided that they trained her to go back into the wild for recognition and fame.

So by the time I started to watch Living Free, I already didn't like George or Joy.  I would mention that I'm about to post a spoiler but since this is 50+ year old news I'll just say that if you don't know what happens and want to discover it somewhere else, you should stop reading now.  Okay then.  In the first 5 minutes of Living Free, Elsa dies.  I was totally shocked and immediately did a search of Elsa online.  She died at age 5.

I was upset and felt that George and Joy's selfish and egotistical decision had cut Elsa's life short by 80%.  I liked them even less.

But despite that, for some reason I ordered the book Born Free from my library.  I read it and it changed my opinion of George.  He was a good man who really cared about Elsa.  My opinion of Joy only got worse from reading the book.  Not only did it show no love or compassion for Elsa in the writing, it confirmed that for her it was an "experiment".

Since reading the book I've ordered the two other books in the series and have read excerpts from them.  I've also watched some documentaries and read archived articles on George, Joy and Elsa.

The bottom line is that through Elsa's story we see unconditional love from Elsa to the humans who raised her, despite that they didn't always act in her best interests and repeatedly betrayed her trust.  That love is what has me so obsessed with this story.  Elsa was an incredible creature and despite her having died before I was even born, I feel her loss and feel compelled to contribute in some way to a cause that would protect the species and educate people about their value.  It's an amazing story that if you haven't read it or seen the movie, it's worth the efforts to do so.

As for George and Joy, what I read about them and saw in documentaries is that my second opinions of the two were accurate.  George was an amazing human being who spent his life making sure animals were protected and treated with respect.  Everyone who met him loved him and only spoke highly of them.  Joy, on the other hand, was not a good person.  She was selfish and manipulative and cared only for herself.  The book Born Free was taken from George's notes, written in part by him and edited by him, yet she wouldn't share the income from the franchise with him.  In 1970 a lion George was rehabilitating attacked a child (the child survived) and he was forced to move to a more isolated area to continue his work.  Joy wanted to move on from lions (for more recognition) and refused to go with him.  He had no money and was living off of camel meat and tinned army rations while Joy gave money to foundations all over the world but she refused to help George because he didn't do as she'd demanded.  All comments about Joy in the documentaries and articles was that she was not a pleasant person and difficult to be around.  Despite having no money, George had workers to worked with him without compensation.  Joy, on the other hand, was murdered by a paid employee because of how she had treated them.  That says a lot about the people.

But, as I said, I feel a void and a sadness that Elsa is gone and it calls me to action on behalf of animals like her.  I'm not sure what I will do but I hope it is meaningful and honors a life that was cut way too short.

Odd Dream

I had an odd dream last night.  In it Matt Damon and Allison Holker were married and I worked with them.  I'm not sure what Matt's job was but Allison was a lawyer and they both were what society knows them to be - Matt an actor and Allison a dancer, currently performing on Dancing with the Stars.

It was a Monday morning in my dream and Allison had to perform that night . . . in Los Angeles.  The office was in Houston, Texas.  I asked Allison about it and she said she was going to be performing that night so I asked her when she was leaving.  She said she was leaving at 5:00 p.m.  I was trying to do the math in my head of the time change and time it would take to fly to L.A. from Houston but - at best - I thought she was cutting it really close.  I thought it was great that our company was allowing her the time off to participate in DWTS but as she was leaving I wondered if they realized she would have to be there two days now because of the Tuesday elimination shows they're starting now.  I couldn't ask her though because she was already out the door.

We'd been in a meeting with Matt, and I assume someone else because I had a bottle of alcohol in my bag and I was concerned it would be discovered and I would get fired.  I couldn't follow the meeting for thinking about it and wondering if it was buried deep enough that it couldn't be seen.  The reason I assumed someone else was in the meeting is because I didn't think Matt would rat me out and I'm pretty sure Allison was with me when I put the alcohol in the bag.

Anyway, I left the office and we were all in a living room with a wonderful view and I realized I didn't have my wig with me and thought I had left it at the office so needed to go back to get it.  (I haven't discussed why I would have a wig on my blog but it was in my dream so I'm including it.)  The wig looks like my real hair used to, just maybe a little fuller.  My real hair is growing in much darker though and is only a few inches long at this point so it's definitely a different look than people I work with have seen, and that also applies to the people I worked with in my dream - exception being Matt and Allison, who had seen me wigless.  Anyway, I went back to the office with my real hair showing and not one person seemed to notice a difference or not know who I was.

Someone I used to work with (and still worked with in the dream) came into my office and I found myself spilling my guts about the hair thing and she said she hadn't noticed anything different.  I woke up after that, never having seen or found my wig.

Weird.

Is it deja vu?

I recently changed vets for my dog.  It's a long story but I had changed vets around 5 years ago and I liked the vet initially.  Over the years though I've come to realize that she's really in the wrong profession.  She's afraid of dogs and I believe her negligence contributed to me losing one of my dogs.  Attributes I would think you'd want to avoid when looking for pet care.  So, at the end of last year when we were in the middle of getting my dog, Harley, off of steroids and she went on maternity leave, I decided to find a new vet.

I reached out to a friend of mine who I would trust my dog(s) with if something happened to me and she referred me to the vet she went to when she had pets (she lost both of her sweet babies within the last year and a half).  I took Harley to see this person and she was quite competent and nice and immediately addressed an issue he was having and he was like a new dog.  Perfect, right?

Well, last night I was reading through blog posts from my other blogs (yeah, this isn't my only blog - it is, however, the only one I've posted on in years) and apparently I "switched' vets about 7 years ago.  It's not specific and I only have vague memories of the incidents I mention but I'm pretty sure I had switched to the vet I'm currently taking my dog to.

It wasn't pretty.  After one visit and a few phone calls I went back to the vet I had moved from.  I didn't have an issue with the first vet, it's just he's so far away and it was making getting treatment for my dogs difficult.  It got bad enough that I did have to change vets 5 years ago.  At first the vet seemed good and competent but over time and a series of issues later, I realized I had to move again.

Finding good pet care is as important to me as finding good doctors for myself but the sad thing about it is, it doesn't seem to matter if they're a people doctor or an animal doctor, they just don't seem to provide the same quality care you know they'd expect if they needed medical attention.  I'm going to stay with this new vet for now but I'll be keeping my eyes out for any issues and I won't wait so long to make a change the next time.

My Biggest Fear

The older I get the less social I seem get.  It's not something I particularly like about myself but it's the reality of things.  In the last few years though, I've been working to remedy that and not just rely on others to maintain our friendships.

 

Add to that, I like being single.  It's hard for me to imagine sharing my home with someone else and having to answer to someone else as to how I spend money or who I can socialize with.  I know some will jump in and say that's not how marriage is supposed to be but I know how mine was and I know what my friends say about their husbands now.  For as much as some have a partnership and enjoy each other's company, I don't have one single married female friend who doesn't live in a hierarchy where the man rules the roost.  They may have some balance in their relationships but at the end of the day, the man calls the shots.  I've had that and don't relish the thought of returning to that.  No, I like being single.

 

Then I came across something recently that makes me want to be more diligent in maintaining friendships.

 

It started with an interview of a celebrity.  This celebrity mentioned a family member (also a celebrity) and spoke of them in the past tense.  So I looked up this family member on the internet movie database.  Apparently this person had died at a young age roughly 40 years ago. 

 

I was reading their profile and discovered that someone they'd had a long term love affair with was found dead in their home in 2011.  The coroner's report revealed that they had been dead approximately a year.  A year!

 

Before I did a search on this person and started reading articles about their life and death (they were also a celebrity, for the record), I wondered how this could happen.  Did they own their home free and clear?  Otherwise I would assume the landlord or mortgage company would have found this person before then.  Utilities wouldn't matter because they'd just shut them off and wouldn't come looking for you.  But what about the lawn and grounds?  How would they be maintained?  In my subdivision they'd eventually send someone over and charge you for the work.  I'd assume as much in a ritzy Los Angeles neighborhood.

 

Then I wondered, did this person have automatic payments set up?  If so, there'd need to be sufficient money in the account to cover this year.  But even at that, wouldn't the lawn guy eventually come looking for you?  Somebody's got to notice, right?

 

Oh, and supposedly the thing that caught the attention of the neighbor was overflowing mail that was yellowing.  The interesting thing with that for me is that I get excited to get mail so when I hear the mail person driving around, I will look out the window and watch them come to my house to see if they're delivering anything.  The house next door is vacant (for all intents and purposes).  It was bought just over a year ago by a family who has yet to live there.  They do stop by and mow the lawn and had a couple of parties there last summer, but otherwise the house is essentially vacant.  A few weeks ago, as I was looking out the window to see if I was getting any mail, the mail person got to their house and shoved some mail in.  Then the mail person reached back into the mail box and shoved some more.  I assumed the mailbox was full.  After another minute, the mail person pulled all the mail out, sticking it into a pouch on the dashboard, and then stuck in one sheet.  I assume the sheet told them something like they'd need to come pick up their mail at the post office.  My point is, the mail person didn't let the mailbox get to an overflowing condition where the mail would turn yellow.  And again, where this was happening was in an upscale LA home.

 

Well, after reading the articles on this person's death I still have some questions.  There were a few discrepancies in how the body was discovered but the facts were this:

 

1) The utilities were still on because the body was laying next to a space heater that was still on.

2) The yard was overgrown.

3) The overflowing mail was yellowing.

4) The house was as close to the road as it can get - not offset where people couldn't see what was going on.

 

People ignored this poor person, turned a blind eye - for a year.  The neighbors ignored the situation, no one came to check on them.  And apparently this person didn't have good enough friends that they came and checked on them.  In my mind I imagine that maybe a few calls came in for this person.  But when they didn't call back, no one cared enough to make sure they were okay.

 

That scares me.  I have a fear of that happening to me and then reading that it happened to someone who had been a high profile celebrity, well, it just freaks me out.  It also makes not want to have accounts set up as auto pay.  I don't now but this makes me want to never have it set up and always have some sort of required payment (other than taxes) attached to my house. 

 

It also makes me want to be sure I really cultivate more close friendships so that someone would notice if I wasn't around.  I don't want my mummified body to be discovered by a neighbor I didn't really know and who didn't care enough about me to check in on me until the dilapidated condition of my home brought down their own home values. 

 

The lesson here is to appreciate your friends and continue to cultivate and nurture those friendships 'til the bitter end!  (No pun intended.)

April Book Review

Click icon for more
book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

It's that time again . . .

This month I will be reviewing Eileen Cook's Remember. 

From amazon

A thrilling tale about what a girl will do to get back a memory she lost…or remove what she wants to forget.

Harper is used to her family being hounded by protestors. Her father runs the company that trademarked the “Memtex” procedure to wipe away sad memories, and plenty of people think it shouldn’t be legal. Then a new demonstrator crosses her path, Neil, who’s as persistent as he is hot. Not that Harper’s noticing, since she already has a boyfriend.

When Harper suffers a loss, she’s shocked her father won’t allow her to get the treatment, so she finds a way to get it without his approval. Soon afterward, she’s plagued with strange symptoms, including hallucinations of a woman who is somehow both a stranger, yet incredibly familiar. Harper begins to wonder if she is delusional, or if these are somehow memories.

Together with Neil, who insists he has his own reasons for needing answers about the real dangers of Memtex, Harper begins her search for the truth. What she finds could uproot all she’s ever believed about her life…

For those of you who know me or have followed my blog over the years know that I am a huge fan of Eileen Cook's books.  I've reviewed several of them on this blog and even interviewed her once for this blog.  She's an auto-buy author for me.  I don't have to see the cover or know what it says on the back cover.  If Ms. Cook wrote it, I will buy it.  Having said that, if I didn't really like this book, I wouldn't be reviewing it now.

It's funny because like the book I reviewed last month, the father plays a big part in what drives the main character and you find he isn't quite what you expected.  I didn't plan it that way, it's just how it worked out.

In any event, the book was very engaging and I had to keep reading to find out what happened and it did not disappoint.  Since I knew Harper was going to suffer a loss I had (correctly) anticipated what that loss would be.  Beyond that the book was not predictable and had a few quite unexpected twists and turns and I'm sure my jaw dropped a couple of times for things I didn't see coming.  Very good story and very well written.

The bottom line, for me, is that this is another Eileen Cook hit that I recommend and as an author she remains on my auto-buy list.  :)

March Book Review Club

Click icon for more

book review blogs

@Barrie Summy

 

 

 

It's been a while since I've participated in the Book Review Club but I'm glad to be back.

 

In the interest of full disclosure here, the book I'm reviewing this month was gifted to me by its author, Sara Hantz.  Sara was not aware that I participate in this Book Review Club, much less that I would be reviewing it here.  That said, I would not be reviewing it if I didn't believe it warranted recommendation.

 

With the formalities out of the way, the book I am reviewing is In the Blood by Sara Hantz.

Growing up we start out by idolizing our parents and want to be just like them.  At some point though we typically get embarrassed by our parents and want to be nothing like them.

In the Blood starts nine months after Jed Franklin's world has turned upside down . . . when he learned his father is a serial killing pedophile.

There are so many things I like about the way this story was told that it's hard to know where to start.  I like that even though it starts nine months after the you-know-what hit the fan, we get glimpses into what life was like before his world comes crumbling down.  We see a teenager who, in addition to the struggles that all teenagers go through, has to deal with the fallout for what his father has done.  Most of his friends have deserted him and some taunt him, saying he's just like his father, which is what worries him most because all of his life Jed has been told he's just like his father in so many ways and he worries that he will also become a serial killing pedophile at some point in his life.  I know this could seem like a dark subject but the author told it with compassion and sensitivity and she made Jed relatable.  At one time or another I think most of us have struggled with doubts about who we are based on the guilt by association factor - granted, not as much as Jed has - and that makes this character relatable in an unexpected way. 

For reasons I won't go into here, I've had some challenges when it came to reading this past year so I've read very little.  In the Blood was a book that I thought might be too intense for me to take up at this point but once I started it, I didn't want to put it down.  It was very engaging and pulled me in from the start and I wanted to / need to know what was going to happen next.  Bottom line, it was a very well written, well told story that I highly recommend.





My Sweet Max

I lost my sweet Max this past February 13th.  It was one day shy of his 13th birthday (according to his mother's owner, February 14th was his actual birthday - not a made up date).

He was only a couple of months old when I got him.  I used to say he came with the house because he was born about a week before I moved in and it was only a few weeks before him and his brothers and sisters would sneak through the holes in my fence line to come visit.

Max stood out from the others because while all the other dogs would jump on me, claw and nibble on me, Max would sit at the back patiently as if to say "I know you're busy but when you have a minute . . . "  I would pick up the other dogs and hold them to my chest and they would fidget and scratch me to get down but I would pick up Max and he would snuggle down as if it was where he wanted to be.

I had wanted to talk to his mother's owner about buying Max but I had just bought a house and was a little concerned about finances so had put it off.  Then one day I decided to bite the bullet.  Max and his brothers and sisters had stopped by and I picked up Max and brought him into my house, separating him from his brothers and sisters.  Once we got in the house he started fidgeting in a "stranger danger" kind of way like he wasn't comfortable being separated from his brothers and sisters.  I tried to make him feel comfortable when I noticed out the window his mother's owner was calling all the dogs back from my yard.  Apparently he was counting them as they came back and noticed that one was missing.  I ran outside with Max, apologized for "snatching" him and told him I wanted to buy him, if he'd let me.  He told me no charge and passed him back to me.  And that's how I came to have my sweet baby.

Shortly after I got him a friend of mine gave me a wading pool for him.  He loved that pool.  He'd jump into it and "dig" in it to splash water onto his tummy.  On occasion he'd sit in the pool.  And I'm pretty sure I saw him lay down in it at least once.  He was so cute in it.

Then back in 2005 we had a hurricane headed towards this area (it turned before it hit land so we were minimally affected, as it turned out).  I had tried to evacuate but couldn't get out of town due to horrible traffic and ended up staying with a friend of mine who had a full size, inground pool.  Max had never seen that kind pool before so the first time I took him into the backyard to do his business I watched as he tried to figure it out.  At home he had to step up over the edge to get in but this body of water was at ground level.  He pawed at it a few times before he stepped into (before I could stop him).  He was used to stepping into 4 or 5 inches of water and found himself completely submerged in this new body of water.  I could see the complete horror on his face as he worked his way to get his head back above water.  When it happened I was horrified but when I think of the look on his face now, knowing that he survived the ordeal, it's kind of amusing . . . bless his heart.  :)  The next time I took him out I had to watch him because I could just imagine the thoughts he had about it . . . "okay, it's deep but after I figured it out, it really wasn't that bad.  I think I should do it again."  Of course I stopped him and he never went back in but it was an experience for him. 

When I got Max I had a doberman named Cleo.  Cleo (bless her heart) had bladder control issues so I had to restrict her from getting on the furniture.  As a result Max was also restricted from getting on the furniture.  He learned at a young age that getting on the furniture was by invitation only.  After Cleo died and I got Brewsky and Harley, they would jump up on the furniture without invitation but Max still wouldn't.  Now, to be clear, if he wanted up on the furniture he would make it known, in no uncertain terms.  He would whine and bark until he got an invitation, even if it meant he had to wake me up to get that invitation.  He was very persistent.  The rare exception to that would be if it was storming outside and he was too freaked out to wait for the invitation, even then he would usually wait to be invited up on the furniture.

It has been suggested that I get a crate for Max when I got him.  And I did.  I would put him in the crate when I was at work (I'd come home at lunch) and I felt so guilty.  I hated doing that to him so to make me feel a little better, I would give him a treat when I put him in and I'd give him another one when I let him out . . . every time.  I only used the crate for a short while but the "need" to give him a treat when I left the house continues to this day (with Harley).  I stopped the "I'm home" treat a few years ago (Max tried to get me to continue it for a long time after I decided to stop that one).  If I didn't give him a treat when I left the house, he thought that meant he got to go with me (he also thought if he rejected the treat that that meant he got to go with me too, but he was wrong about that :) ).

Max was always a good traveler.  He liked to go places in the car.  I learned early on though that for long trips I couldn't feed him beforehand because he did get car sick and throw up.  But for the short trips around town he was good.  He liked to rest his head on the window ledge (?), close his eyes and let the wind blow on his face.  Typically his favorite side of the car was the passenger side but whenever I would go through a drive thru of any kind, he'd nonchalantly wander over to the driver's side car like he'd decided he wanted a change of scenery or something.  Then, when I'd pull up to the window he'd start barking like a possessed dog at whoever had the misfortune of helping me with whatever I was getting.  It was comical to see their reactions to his outbursts but I never could hear anything they would be saying to me over his barking.  It was pretty funny though.

I took Max to obedience training when he was a puppy.  Max had a bad habit of jumping on people when they came to visit and she got him to stop in two instances of walking over to him.  It was amazing how well it worked.  The only time after that he ever jumped on anyone, he warned them first.  How?  He'd come over to say hello.  If you didn't pet him immediately he would sit in front of you.  If you still didn't pet him he would start whining.  If you STILL didn't pet him, he would bark.  If you didn't pet him after that, he'd jump on you to let you know he wanted your attention.  Can't say you weren't warned first.  :)

There are so many other stories I could share with about Max and why I loved him so much (and why I will miss him so much) but I think this captures his essence.  He was such a sweet dog and it's still so hard to believe he's gone.

Max
February 14, 2001 - February 13, 2014

 

Note: Due to technical difficulties I wasn't able to post more pictures.  If I can resolve the issues, I will update post to include more pictures of this sweet dog.

June Book Review

Click icon for more
book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

I'm posting this early because I really want to participate and share about a great book I recently read. 

The book I am reviewing this month is Love Life by Rob Lowe.  I had previously reviewed Rob's first book Stories I Only Tell My Friends (here).  I really enjoyed his first book but I think his second book is better.  Before I went back and read my review, if you'd asked me about his first book I would have told you it wasn't an easy read but it was definitely worth reading.  I couldn't remember specifically what made it a difficult read but when I read the review, I remembered.  With the first sentence I was confused as to whether he was telling a story or whether someone was telling a story about him.  Then once I got past that he seemed removed from the stories to where, in my head, he was narrating a E! True Hollywood Story vs. actually sharing stories with the readers.

In Love Life Rob seems to have worked out the writing issues I had with his first book.  It's definitely more conversational with a feel that an old friend is sharing stories.  I should mention that I read some of the reviews after I read the book and some people were disappointed that it wasn't a scandalous tell-all book.  Others were disappointed that it didn't discuss more of his romantic encounters.  Fact told, I thought it would have more romance stories based on the title and I don't think he discusses romance in this book outside of his love affair with his wife, I'm actually okay with that - they weren't needed.

Now, about the writing . . . in the beginning he told a couple of stories where he chose not to share names.  I don't remember the stories being scandalous or particularly embarrassing for anyone so I didn't get why the names weren't shared.  I kind of felt like if he wasn't going to share the names, he shouldn't have included the stories.  These were at the beginning of the book and concerned me that it was going to be a long, hard read if he did that with all his stories but I needn't have worried.  There's also a passage towards the end of the book (next to last chapter I think) where he starts talking about his wife.  It seems like an incoherent, rambling that has no point.  It stops suddenly and the next chapter starts.  It was kind of weird.  Other than that, I had no issues with his writing.

As for the stories he shares . . . it's funny because as I was reading it, I knew I wanted to review it and kept thinking "I'll share this in the review".  I thought that enough times that if I shared everything I liked about the book and found funny, I would basically be retelling his entire book, in my own words.  :)

Having said that, I do want to touch on a few that deserve mentioning.  The first one I'll mention has to do with his time in rehab.  He was in rehab with a famous athlete (whose name he changed in the story to protect his anonymity).  During his stay, the athlete had a major break through that Rob shared.  It was beautifully told.  It was powerful and gut-wrenching . . . I was crying as I read it.  That said, I felt it wasn't his story to tell.  Now, I do understand WHY he told it because it had such an impact on Rob and has a lot to do with why and how he maintains his own sobriety but I still feel it was inappropriate for Rob to share that particular story.

But the stories that were his to share . . . he tells this hysterical story about how he wants to create a memory for his kids, all while having a little fun at their expense.  His family and his sister-in-law and her family all took a vacation up the west coast in an RV.  Rob thinks it will be funny to tell them stories about Bigfoot and create a "sighting" for the kids.  He's gotten a Bigfoot costume for it and everything.  Only, when the time comes things don't go quite as he had planned.  For example, he hadn't tried on the suit before and it was a really tight fit.  He had to rub up against the trees to secure the velcro on the back of the suit that closed it up.  The eye slits were no where near where his eyeballs were so he was flying blind.  Best of all, his oldest son (about 7 at the time) realized it wasn't really Bigfoot and thought it was some college person trying to scare them so kicked him in an area no man ever wants to be kicked in.  I was laughing so hard as I read the story that I had to put the book down several times while I collected myself again to read the next misfortune awaiting Rob.  I barely touch on it here.  Priceless.

Personally, I've always considered Rob to be a movie star.  I know he's starred on The West Wing (which I've never seen), Parks and Recreation (which I've also never seen) and Brothers and Sisters (which I have seen) but I thought of those as one-offs that he's done while I guess I thought he was waiting for suitable movie scripts.  In this book he talks about series that he's done that I had no idea about (and for reasons I'll go into a little here).  Did you know he was offered the part that Patrick Dempsey got in Grey's Anatomy?  At the time he had a verbal agreement to star in a show titled Dr. Vegas.  Nothing had been signed though so he could've done either at that point.  He talked to people and thought about it, it would seem in great detail.  He felt that on the surface Grey's Anatomy had the better script but conceptually, Dr. Vegas had much more potential.  Grey's Anatomy was going to be broadcast on the flailing ABC network who hadn't successfully launched a drama in more than a decade.  Dr. Vegas was going to be aired on a network that had a longstanding success rate with dramas.  He decided to go with Dr. Vegas, which never made it to air.  Meanwhile, Grey's Anatomy just wrapped its 10th season.

He also did a show called Lyon's Den.  The first script was fantastic.  Great concept, great potential.  Then, when he talks about the second script I have an image in my head of him calling the writers asking if they'd sent him the wrong script because it doesn't go with what they started in the first script.  He doesn't say anything remotely like that in his book, it's just how I imagine it in my head.  Anyway, he voices his concerns but ultimately does what he's told, against his better judgment.  By the time the show actually airs, they've filmed 6 episodes.  I didn't know this but apparently one hour shows get ratings feedback per half hour so that they can see if viewers turned in because of who was on the show and whether they were able to keep the audience through the second half hour.  Because of this they know after the first show that they didn't keep the viewers interested and the show is pulled.  BUT, they've contracted to film 13 episodes so they have to keep filming for a show that's not only been cancelled but is no longer even airing.  What this does, however, is allow them the freedom to really get creative with the last few shows.  Rob goes into detail about how they ended the series and I, again, put down the book so that I could see if I could rent the series from Netflix.  Unfortunately they don't have it but I may find it somewhere else.

In the end, I felt that Rob opened up a lot more in this book and shared more of who he is.  I really feel like I know him better than I did before - and I like him better for it.  His love and devotion to his family is very evident in this book.  If you're looking for a scandalous type tell-all book, this isn't it.  But if you're looking for an enjoyable, laugh-til-your-sides-hurt book, I think you'll really like this one.  I highly recommend it.