Summerland (Elin Hilderbrand)

When you see someone on the beach with a beverage in her hand, chances are she’s not reading War and Peace or Crime and Punishment.  Summer is a time for what is commonly called “chick lit.”  However, no matter how mindless you want your book to be, some of it can be just plain awful.  Very few books that take place in the summer and are geared towards women can be considered quality books.  Elin Hilderbrand is one of those authors who writes these types of novels…books where you can do your “mind escaping” but completely enjoy the story along the way.  Hilderbrand’s latest, Summerland, will take your breath away.

We begin the night of Nantucket’s high school graduation.  Sitting in the audience are the main cast of characters...Zoe, mother of twins and an established caterer; Hobby, one of her twins; Jordan, the head of the local newspaper; and Jake, Jordan’s son.  Penny (Zoe’s daughter, Hobby’s twin sister, and Jake’s girlfriend) is on stage singing the National Anthem with the voice of an angel.  Later that night, a tragedy occurs that affects the life of every Nantucket resident.

Characters take turns playing the narrator in Summerland, which is very effective at allowing the reader to see the plot from different angles.  Your heart aches for each and every one of them as they deal in their own way with the unimaginable tragedy.  This is the best type of novel…the type that you can’t wait to see the ending, but you also don’t want it to end.  Both Summerland and last year’s Silver Girl were beautiful reads, and I can’t wait to delve further into Hilderbrand’s past books.

MY RATING - 5

Rules of Civility (Amor Towles)

I am always looking for the best new books to review, so I picked up Rules of Civility because of many recommendations.  I was immediately drawn to the cover, which depicts a photo of a woman in '30s garb lying on a chaise lounge with a man at her beck and call.  I just love books set in different time periods, especially ones from this era...a time when political correctness was unheard of and the names of Fairbanks and Garbo were on everyone's lips.

Katey Kontent and her roommate, Eve, are living in New York when they meet a sophisticated gent by the name of Tinker Grey.  Katey and Eve quickly become enamored with the debonair and, by all accounts, rich fellow. A tragic event changes the course of all of their lives forever and "what could have been" never materializes.

Most reviews are giving Rules of Civility between 4-5 stars, with phrases like "not able to put it down" written about it numerous times.  Why then did I find it dull and boring?  It has been compared to Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, but I see no comparison.  Because I absolutely hate to not finish a book, I slogged through it unable to care about or sympathize with any of Towles' characters.  I found the plot jarring with no real underlying purpose and did not understand where it was going.  But most of all, I just didn't care about any of the characters.  To me, the definition of a great book has always been one where I couldn't wait to get through my day so I could curl up with it at night.  That didn't happen here.

I'm giving it a 2 because Towles did a nice job integrating the historical facts and culture of that time period.  The cover was brilliant.  Other than that...not for me.

MY RATING - 2

The Lifeboat (Charlotte Rogan)

I’ve had the pleasure of reading some darn good debut novels lately.  Eowyn Ivey’s The Snow Child is a beautifully written tale set in Alaska that’s based on a Russian fairy tale.  Now comes a novel where, again, the setting plays a central role in the story. 

Set in the early 1900s, The Lifeboat is about a disaster on a large shipliner, the Empress Alexandra.  Grace’s new husband, Henry, takes her to one of the lifeboats, and then she never sees him again.  She is in the boat with strangers, and they quickly split up into two factions.  Following Mr. Hardie, the seaman with a wealth of experience, will require making the necessary difficult decisions for survival.  Mrs. Grant, on the other hand, tries to keep some semblance of morality when all seems lost.  Both sides must do what society would deem terrible things.  We discover very early on that Grace survives, but she’s been arrested for her part in the lifeboat saga.  What did she do?  Where does she go from here?

The Lifeboat is a quick read and very easy to devour in one or two sittings.  It keeps you on the edge of your seat, knowing that Grace made it out, but not knowing why she’s on trial.  Part psychological drama, part thriller, and part survival story, Rogan has delivered a tour de force first novel…and makes it look easy.

MY RATING - 5

Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro)

I truly can’t, for the life of me, figure out the mass appeal and popularity of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go.  Blurbs on the book by renowned authors use words like anguish and heartbreaking.  I didn’t feel either of these things, perhaps because the characters were not appealing to me at all.  Oh well, to each his own.

Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy are three friends who are part of a group raised for a special purpose.  From a very early age, they are enrolled in a school led by the “guardians” and told that their art projects are sacred.  After graduating from their school, they go to live in the Cottages, a middle ground to prepare them for what is to come. 

Never Let Me Go is narrated by Kathy.  Ishiguro has a peculiar way of having Kathy state what she is about to tell you instead of allowing the story to unfold naturally.  While it has an important message…how science has the danger of going too far…it was just too predictable for me. 

So I was not one of the many people who will call Never Let Me Go one of the best books in recent times.  Predictability and unlikeable characters do not make quality literature for me.  To me, the mark of a great book is whether I can’t wait to pick it up again once I set it down.  Not the case for Never Let Me Go.

MY RATING - 2

The Snow Child (Eowyn Ivey)

The Snow Child is Eowyn Ivey’s debut novel, and what a novel it is.  It’s one of those books that stay with you for a long time after you’re finished.  I made myself put it down after a few chapters to really let the beauty of Ivey’s prose sink in.  But whether you devour it in one sitting or continuously put it down like I did, the effect is the same.

Set in the 1920s, Mabel and Jack are a couple who move to the Alaskan wilderness.  A few years before, they lost their only baby at birth and have remained childless and grieving.  They’re hoping that Alaska provides the solace and hard work they need to move on from their loss.  However, things don’t quite work out that way, as all they feel is alone.

One day, on a whim, they build a snow child.  They’re shocked to see that the next day the child has disappeared, with tracks leading away from it.  The story, based on a Russian fairy tale, gains strength from here.  I had a vague idea of how The Snow Child might end but was surprised at the route Ivey chose to get there.  I disagreed that one character would do something that proved vital to the outcome of the story.  For that reason alone, I need to give The Snow Child a 4.

This is a novel where the review needs to stay mysterious.  I have to watch my words carefully as giving too much away would take away from the beauty of the story.  But trust me, The Snow Child is not to be missed.

MY RATING - 4

Defending Jacob (William Landay)

Defending Jacob has had outstanding word-of-mouth reviews, so I wanted to see what all the buzz was about. You may have heard that there is a shocking twist at the end. Well, thinking that I was all high and mighty, I haughtily had the twist figured out…until I didn’t. Believe me, you won’t see this one coming.

Andy Barber is an assistant district attorney in an idyllic wealthy suburb of Boston. He lives there with his wife, Laurie, and their 14-year-old son, Jacob. Everything is perfect until one day, a classmate of Jacob’s is brutally murdered in a park. Andy quickly gets on the case but is taken off when the evidence points to his son as the prime suspect.

Legal thrillers are a dime a dozen, with John Grisham and Scott Turow being the most famous authors. However, Landay is a master at them, moving all the pieces around like one giant puzzle until everything seems to solve itself. Or so the reader thinks.

Lucky (or not so lucky) for us, Defending Jacob will be a movie soon. Do yourself a favor and read the book before you see it. Sometimes Hollywood messes up a book so badly that it’s a mere token of itself at the end.

MY RATING - 5

Skinnydipping (Bethenny Frankel)

Bethenny Frankel has, in the past few years, become a one-woman enterprise machine. She started off in the media eye as one of the Real Housewives of New York. Then she left to get her own show, Bethenny Getting Married, which quickly evolved into Bethenny Ever After. Along the way, she has written bestselling self-help books and began the Skinnygirl brand. She has certainly not had the easiest of lives, with lots of family troubles well-documented in her therapy sessions on her TV show. However, she always seems to pick herself up by the bootstraps and dust herself off. Her latest venture, the “fictional” Skinnydipping, hits very close to home and dives right into what we’ve come to expect from Bethenny…too much information.

This is the story of Faith Brightstone (AKA Bethenny Frankel), who leaves college on the day of her graduation to become an actress in Los Angeles. She moves in with her estranged father, a famous horse trainer, and gets a job as a production assistant on a famous TV show. She, of course, then does what every main character does in generic chick lit…goes out drinking every night, sleeps with a multitude of men, finds out that the guy she really likes is married, blah, blah, blah.

Five years later, she is back home, trying desperately to get her muffin business off the ground. She is soon spotted by producers of an upcoming reality show, Domestic Goddess, and is deemed worthy to compete. If she wins, she’ll get a TV show in the Martha Stewart style. The second half of Skinnydipping is all about the drama of filming the show. Will Faith win? Will she find true love? Will she finally get her life together?

Skinnydipping is entertaining and is the perfect book for that beach getaway. The characters, however, are forgettable, and I had to remind myself of the cast of characters practically daily. But Bethenny doesn’t really need to worry, as her fans will follow her no matter what she does.

MY RATING - 3

This review can also be found on www.bookloons.com.