Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Goodreads blurb: In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew. Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.
my take: 4.25 out of 5. This is a beautiful book. Lovely family dynamics, beautiful settings and theater all at once. Also my cherry addicted self wanted to go hang our in a Cherry farm! However was it greedy that I wanted more of the story? I wanted more of her own story and not only what she told the daughters. Those personal asides between the mom and the reader where my favorite parts. I need to instill the game of one line from a musical in my next road trip!
Two non book related asides. If you have not seen Our Town, watch the movie before venturing to this book. I did it without it, but then went straight to seeing it, it revolves so much around it having some background and context of the story would be great. This also made me realize, why had I not seen Out Town? my theater loving self needs to further her theatrical education! Second, I got this book in Parnassus when I went to Nashville, and actually read this book in paper and not kindle with my gorgeous signed copy from Ann Patchett, as she said lets tell our stories:
The Honeymoon Crashers by Christina Lauren
Goodreads blurb: A perfectionist maid of honor and a carefree, surfer-bro best man team up to plan a wedding and end up finding a spark of their own in the first audio original from author duo Christina Lauren, a full-cast sequel to their New York Times bestseller The Unhoneymooners. Ami is determined to break the Torres family wedding curse. Her own disaster of a reception ended with all the guests getting food poisoning, and she left her cheating husband soon after. But even though she’s still processing her own divorce, Ami won’t let her twin sister Olive’s day be anything but perfect. Olive may think she wants a private ceremony in Maui, where she and her fiancé Ethan first fell in love, but Ami knows better and secretly flies the whole Torres family out to surprise the couple. Now she and her meticulously organized binder have less than two weeks to get everything together for the big day, thousands of miles from home. Enter Brody, Ethan’s best man, who happens to be living in Maui and insists on helping with the preparations. His playfully elaborate schemes and happy-go-lucky attitude are the last thing Ami needs. When sparks start to fly, could it derail all her carefully laid plans? Equal parts hilarious and swoon-worthy, this full-cast production is your ticket to the ultimate destination wedding, bringing to life both a captivating couple and an unforgettable family. The Honeymoon Crashers is Christina Lauren at their charming, hilarious best.
My take: 3.75 out of 5. I love myself a good audiobook, and this production is wonderful as it is audiobook only. As a Gleek , Crazy Rich Asians and Greys Anatomy Fan, Harry Schum Jr narrating was a great plus. The Unhoneymooners was a great book ad this short continuation was super cute. Lovely island setting, great meet cute and a character to root for. The family shenanigans were icings on the cake.
My only caveat to the production is that it might be overproduced. I loved how professional it sounded but some of the background noise actually made it distracting. At some points it wasn’t just narrated, you got the background beach/sounds etc and it deterred a bit.
Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum
Goodreads blurb: A whip-smart, propulsive debut about infidelity, backstabbing, and murderous intrigue, set against an exclusive summer haven on Fire Island
None of them would claim to be a particularly good person. But who among them is actually capable of murder? Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he’s the tennis pro-or someone else’s husband. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other.
Until a body is discovered, face down off the side of the boardwalk.
Stylish, subversive and darkly comedic, this is a story of what’s lurking under the surface of picture-perfect lives in a place where everyone has something to hide.
my take: 2.5 out of 5. It gets 2.5 because I finished it, but was thinking even lower. I really considered not finishing, and just leaving it as a DNF. The issue with this book lies in that by the end, in the big cliffhanger, I didn’t really care about any of the characters and therefore could not care less who died. You were supposed to be invested but I was not at all invested in any of these characters, nor their relationships. The ending also felt a little bit anticlimactic, and it falls a bit flat. If reading about obnoxious, very rich, uncharismatic people in gorgeous settings is your jam, then this is the book for you. It clearly is not mine as two other very similar genre books: Save What’s Left and The Means also fell really flat to me.
The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa
Goodreads blurb: Just weeks away from ditching DC for greener pastures, Solange Pereira is roped into helping her wedding planner cousin on a random couple’s big day. It’s an easy gig… until she stumbles upon a situation that convinces her the pair isn’t meant to be. What’s a true-blue romantic to do? Crash the wedding, of course. And ensure the unsuspecting groom doesn’t make the biggest mistake of his life.Dean Chapman had his future all mapped out. He was about to check off “start a family” and on track to “make partner” when his modern day marriage of convenience went up in smoke. Then he learns he might not land an assignment that could be his ticket to a promotion unless he has a significant other and, in a moment of panic, Dean claims to be in love with the woman who crashed his wedding. Oops. Now Dean has a whole new item on his to-do list: beg Solange to be his pretend girlfriend. Solange feels a tiny bit bad about ruining Dean’s wedding, so she agrees to play along. Yet as they fake-date their way around town, what started as a performance for Dean’s colleagues turns into a connection that neither he nor Solange can deny. Their entire romance is a sham… there’s no way these polar opposites could fall in love for real, right?
My take: 3 out of 5. A cute romantic story, with some wonderful Brazilians food references, it will definitely make you hungry. However they did not mention my favorite Brazilians food is not included! The meet cute here is adorable, if not a little bit too convenient (i think you only needed one fake date scenario, having both fake date necessity was a bit overkill)
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