This book was a re-read for me as part of the Terryville Public Library‘s Fiction Lover’s Book Discussion group. This book was the (my) pick for September. I had originally thought about changing my pick to something more discussion worthy but we’d been reading a lot of heavier stuff so far this year so I thought some levity might help brighten our spirits. I’m not going to re-post my normal review since I’ve technically already reviewed the book on the blog here. I will say though that I did not enjoy it quite as much as I remember, probably partially due to rushing through to finish for book club and also it felt a bit wordier than last time. Still would recommend though, love her writing.
Tag Archives: epistolary
2015 Book #31 – Every Boy’s Got One by Meg Cabot
Title: Every Boy’s Got One
Author: Meg Cabot
Date finished: 4/15/15
Genre: Women’s fiction
Publisher: Paw Prints
Publication Date: May 29, 2008
Pages in book: 328
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Blurb from the cover:
Cartoonist Jane Harris is delighted by the prospect of her first-ever trip to Europe. But it’s hate at first sight for Jane and Cal Langdon, and neither is too happy at the prospect of sharing a villa with one another for a week—not even in the beautiful and picturesque Marches countryside. But when Holly and Mark’s wedding plans hit a major snag that only Jane and Cal can repair, the two find themselves having to put aside their mutual dislike for one another in order to get their best friends on the road to wedded bliss—and end up on a road themselves … one neither of them ever expected.
My rating: 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5
My review: This book will count for the challenge I am participating in for April, the #ReadingMyLibrary reading challenge. I checked out this book from the Terryville Library. I’ve read this book before and liked it a lot. I like all of Meg Cabot’s books, she writes funny, entertaining stories and she doesn’t disappoint with Every Boy’s Got One. This book was in the epistolary style, which I very much enjoy as a writing style. Jane Harris goes to Italy to witness her best friend’s elopement and meets Cal Langdon, a total ass. The descriptions of the Italian hillsides and scenery were just wonderful. I could really feel like I was there. And the food! The meals that Jane described made me just salivate, it all sounded so delicious! And Jane was such a funny character, and I love the WonderCat drawings that got incorporated into the story. The characters were all entertaining and the really fun part about the epistolary style is that you get to see the story from so many different points of view. There were emails to and from almost everyone involved in the story, it makes for a very nice, well-rounded read.
I also thought it was cool that Meg Cabot wrote this story loosely based around a story she herself lived. She eloped in Italy and encountered some of the same difficulties as Holly and Mark do in the novel.
I also thought it was cool that Meg Cabot wrote this story loosely based around a story she herself lived. She eloped in Italy and encountered some of the same difficulties as Holly and Mark do in the novel.
The bottom line: I’ve always liked this book, even reading it multiple times. I would recommend it.
Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page
2015 Book #16 – Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Title: Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Author: Maria Semple
Date finished: 3/1/15
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: December 21, 2012
Pages in book: 326
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Blurb from the cover:
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.
My rating: 4.5 stars out of a scale of 5
My review: This book will count towards my “Bookish Bingo” reading challenge, marking off the “Epistolary” square. Well I just freaking loved this book. I mean I seem to have a thing for epistolary novels in general but this book specifically was fun, playful, witty, and just riveting. I literally read it in a day, I just could’t put it down. I love Bernadette’s character, probably because I can relate to it quite a bit. She’s a little bit ADD, a little bit OCD, and a whole lot of antisocial. She is very close with her daughter,Bee, a very bright young girl who’s just been accepted to Chaote (boarding school back East). I love Bernadette’s description of living in Seattle, and I love the gnats! Hilarity ensues in Bernadette’s interactions with Audrey (the gnat next door) and they end up crossing swords a couple times throughout the book.
One of the things that I found really interesting about this book was that none of the characters ended up really being “the bad guy.” All of the adults did dumb, selfish, petty things but all of them also at other points in the book did selfless, loving things. It really made you think about how we’re all him and no one is either all bad or all good, people are selfish and weak and make mistakes. I loved that about this novel.
The bottom line: LOVED THIS BOOK! EVERYONE READ IT NOW!
2014 – Book #80
The eightieth book I read in 2014 was The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger. This book is Rieger’s debut novel. I finished this book on 9/8/14. I rated this book 5 stars out of a scale of 5. This book centers mostly around Sophie Diehl, a criminal attorney at a firm in New England. Sophie is asked to do a favor for one of the partners in her office and complete the intake interview for a prominent client’s daughter who was just served with divorce papers by her husband of eighteen years.
As the story develops, we are brought into not only Sophie’s life but also the Durkheim’s and the Meiklejohns’. Told through emails, handwritten letters, memos and legal motions and other documents, this story of divorce and Sophie’s part in it is both riveting and fascinating. As Sophie struggles her way through litigating this divorce (she’s a criminal attorney, not a divorce attorney) she also tries to overcome how much this divorce reminds her of her parents own divorce. She begins to realize how traumatized she was by that experience, so much so that seeing The Durkheims’ daughter Jane go through the same process is heart-breaking to her.
And as Sophie continues to help her client (Mia) through the divorce as best she can, Sophie also has to deal with what has become a relationship issue as well. During the story she meets a man named Harry and forms an attachment to him. Little does she know that he isn’t exactly available. Sophie also deals with her issues with her parents, after an embarrassing encounter and follow-up email to her boss.
Overall, this was just such a great book. I know not many people enjoy books written in this style (epistolary) but I find them to be extremely interesting and fun. Though a little confusing at the beginning, once you get into the story its easier to get a hang of who the players are in this book. I thought Sophie’s character had great depth and I loved diving into her psyche. And Mia’s character was just perfect, she was hilarious and her jumble of emotions was portrayed excellently. While I might not recommend this book to everyone since the style might not be suited for all, I loved this book and was hooked pretty much from beginning to end. I didn’t want to put it down! I hope to see more from this author in the future, very well done!!
Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Divorce-Papers-A-Novel/dp/0804137447/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1410261176&sr=8-1
Link to Wikipedia page on epistolary novels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel
The author does not currently have her own website, therefore I will include a little blurb About the Author:
SUSAN RIEGER is a graduate of Columbia Law School. She has worked as a residential college dean at Yale and an associate provost at Columbia. She has taught law to undergraduates at both schools and written frequently about the law for newspapers and magazines. She lives in New York City with her husband. The Divorce Papers is her first novel.
Also I just love it when books have the book discussion questions. I’d love to be a part of a book club again someday, and I love that there are so many books out there now that you can access the book discussion questions online. If anyone who has read the book would like to discuss one of the questions below, please feel free to post a comment with your thoughts!!
1. Is Sophie a good lawyer? Why? Why not?
2. At the beginning of the novel, Sophie feels she’s “treading water.” Why does Sophie seem to be having so much trouble finding her way? How does this change as the novel progresses?
3. Both of Sophie’s parents are European. How has that influenced who she is?
4. Why does Maggie put up with Sophie? Would you?
5. Is Dr. Durkheim the book’s “villain”? Why do you think he wanted a divorce? Do you think he knew about Jacques? Did your opinion of him change over time?
6. Mia confesses she initially withheld some information from Sophie. She also has a flair for the dramatic and loves to tell a good story. Do you believe her version of events? In an epistolary novel, how do you decide who is a reliable narrator?
7. Are Mia and Daniel equally to blame for the failure of their marriage? Do you think their marriage could have been saved?
8. Mia loved living and working in New York City, but she moved to New Salem for Daniel and his job. What were the trade-offs at that time? Do they seem worthwhile in retrospect?
9. What do you think was going on at the firm with Fiona? Why was she so hostile toward Sophie at the beginning? Did you agree with Fiona that her reprimand was unfair? Sexist?
10. Will or Harry?
11. There are three father-daughter relationships, all difficult: Mia and Bruce Meiklejohn; Sophie and John Diehl; Jane and Daniel Durkheim. Do they change over time? If so, what makes the change happen? If not, what is the sticking point?
12. There are two mother-daughter relationships: Elisabeth and Sophie and Mia and Jane. In what ways are these stronger than the father-daughter relationships? Weaker?
13. What do you think of the decision to give custody to Bruce in the event Mia dies before Jane is eighteen? Was Mia right to insist on that? How do you think Daniel felt?
14. Is the separation agreement fair and reasonable? Who came out better, if anyone?
15. What’s next for Mia? For Sophie?
Rebeccabookreview 