1. Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
I loved this quirky book and my book club is reading it this spring. I hope they love it as much as I did. This book isn't like anything else I've read lately and is not predictable in any way. My sister is from the Northwest and could really relate to this book.
Women's fiction and I'd give it 5 stars.
From Amazon: Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.
Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle--and people in general--has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.
To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence--creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world.
2. The Love List by Lori Nelson Spielman
This first novel by Lori Nelson Spielman was a quick read about a women who finds herself when she sets out to fulfill her deceased mother's wish for her to complete her childhood list of goals. These goals must be reached for her to receive her inheritance. Although the plot sounds predictable, there were some curves thrown in to keep the reader off-guard. I loved this book - maybe because I lost my mother this year. Anyway - nothing that will set the literary world on fire - just a good read. Women's fiction - 5 stars.
From Amazon: In this utterly charming debut—perfect for fans of Cecelia Ahern’s P.S., I Love You and Allison Winn Scotch’s Time of My Life—one woman sets out to complete her old list of childhood goals, and finds that her lifelong dreams lead her down a path she never expects.
1. Go to Paris
2. Have a baby, maybe two
3. Fall in love
Brett Bohlinger seems to have it all: a plum job, a spacious loft, an irresistibly handsome boyfriend. All in all, a charmed life. That is, until her beloved mother passes away, leaving behind a will with one big stipulation: In order to receive her inheritance, Brett must first complete the life list of goals she’d written when she was a naïve girl of fourteen. Grief-stricken, Brett can barely make sense of her mother’s decision—her childhood dreams don’t resemble her ambitions at age thirty-four in the slightest. Some seem impossible. How can she possibly have a relationship with a father who died seven years ago? Other goals (Be an awesome teacher!) would require her to reinvent her entire future. As Brett reluctantly embarks on a perplexing journey in search of her adolescent dreams, one thing becomes clear. Sometimes life’s sweetest gifts can be found in the most unexpected places.
3. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
This is another debut novel by an author. I loved this book and so did my book club. This is an easy read and we all loved learning about the different flowers and their meanings. I also learned a lot about the foster-care system. Highly recommend. Women's fiction -5 stars.
From Amazon:
The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings. Now eighteen and emancipated from the system with nowhere to go, Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But an unexpected encounter with a mysterious stranger has her questioning what’s been missing in her life. And when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.
4. The Selection by Kiera Cass
This is a young adult book that is similar to The Hunger Games & Divergent. But it's also a cross of The Bachelor and The Princess Diaries movies. No great literary work here - just fun and romance. I seem to find in these series that the following books aren't as good as the 1st but we will see how this series goes. Not for everyone - just good YA fun. No great reason why it made my list except that I enjoyed it and can't wait to see how the series ends! I think I gave it 5 stars but I will give it 4 stars for this list.
From Amazon: For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.
This is another debut novel by an author. I loved this book and so did my book club. This is an easy read and we all loved learning about the different flowers and their meanings. I also learned a lot about the foster-care system. Highly recommend. Women's fiction -5 stars.
From Amazon:
The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings. Now eighteen and emancipated from the system with nowhere to go, Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But an unexpected encounter with a mysterious stranger has her questioning what’s been missing in her life. And when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.
4. The Selection by Kiera Cass
This is a young adult book that is similar to The Hunger Games & Divergent. But it's also a cross of The Bachelor and The Princess Diaries movies. No great literary work here - just fun and romance. I seem to find in these series that the following books aren't as good as the 1st but we will see how this series goes. Not for everyone - just good YA fun. No great reason why it made my list except that I enjoyed it and can't wait to see how the series ends! I think I gave it 5 stars but I will give it 4 stars for this list.
From Amazon: For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.
But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.
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