A Gaggle of Book Reviews

Carpool Diem is a new book by Nancy Star. Star has taken the theme of soccer moms and the actual sport of soccer and taken it to another level, creating characters that will make you laugh, because it’s all just so true. If you’ve spent any time around youth soccer, you must take a look at this book, it was written for you!

Our main character in Carpool Diem is Annie, a high powered executive who travels for work, as does her husband Tim, who is also very busy and traveling a lot for work. Their nanny Hildy takes care of their 12 year old daughter Charlotte, and Annie is starting to realize that Hildy knows far more about what Charlotte is doing and more about everything in general. It’s right around the time that this realization is setting in that Annie is fired, and turns into a stay-at-home-mom slash consultant. Once she’s home, Annie realizes even more how out of it she’s been, when she meets her “new” neighbor, a woman who has lived in the house next door for two years.

Soon Annie has taken charge of their household as only someone who has focused on reorganization can do, with her work hard/play hard credo. After a career of doing and getting only the best, Annie is trying to put that philosophy to work for her at-home life, starting with getting Charlotte onto the Power, the super-duper-A+ travel soccer team. Coach Winslow West is the coach of the Power, and his over-the-top email missives to the team are interspersed in Carpool Diem with chapters focused on Annie, Tim, and Charlotte’s storyline. Winslow’s emails are a sight to behold, filled with new rules and exclamation points!

Nancy Star has really written perfect characters for Carpool Diem. I’ve been the parent who hopes for rain to cancel soccer practice, and reading about Winslow West’s “you only leave the field if lightning has touched the ground” rule made me laugh out loud; there are plenty of other lines just as funny, too. Annie pushes herself, Tim, and Charlotte hard, wanting everyone to do their best and be “winners”. At some points in the story, readers may want to slap Annie, but we all know she has to calm down at some point. Right? Star has also gotten the fun nuances of twelve-year-old girls, too: the perfect mix of sullen, giggly, and needy.

The characters are socca-riffic, and they pull along a great storyline. I was surprised at which underdogs I started to root for – frequently it was characters I had disliked at first. The plot really sweeps you through the book, it’ll keep you from putting it down, reading it in your warm car while your kids play soccer in 28 degree weather.

If you’re an at-home mom who has ever watched the uber-successful moms, and wished they could spend a day in the trenches, Carpool Diem is a must read! If you’ve ever wanted to thwack the soccer coach who goes way overboard about team rules, parent attendance (or absence), and being a socca-starter, you shouldn’t miss Carpool Diem. Between the over-the-top characters and the storyline that always has a surprise, Carpool Diem is a book you should definitely pick up. Put it in your socca-bag!

This book was received from the publisher for review

Where the Heart Leads: From the Casebook of Barnaby Adair is the newest historical mystery/romance from bestselling author Stephanie Laurens. If you love a good Regency romance, you’ll adore this novel. If you have never read a romance, but like a good historical fiction novel, or a good historical mystery, you will be surprised by how much you like this book.

I was raised by English majors. I don’t think I met anyone who read romances until I was in my mid-thirties. My family talked about reading “popcorn books”, (aka books that aren’t classified as literary fiction), but they were talking about anything on the bestseller list, people read popular mysteries, or occasionally sci fi/fantasy, but not romances. When I started reading chick lit, and then paranormals, I thought there was a big difference between those and romances. There really isn’t much of a difference at all, and I’m annoyed with myself for dismissing an entire branch of fiction because of this attitude! The storyline, character development, and rich background research in Where the Heart Leads leads to an enchanting story, one that is of higher quality than a lot of “quality” literature.

Where the Heart Leads follows the life of Barnaby Adair, the third son of an earl, through his fourth mystery in Lonndon during the 1830s. Adair works in conjunction with a policeman at Scotland Yard named Stokes. (If you’re up on your good mysteries, think Lord Peter and Parker about 90 years earlier.) Penelope is the sister of a Viscount, and has used her place in society to help others, specifically by running the Foundling House, which helps teaches orphans from the East End skills to help them gain legal employment when they are older. Recently, however, 4 boys have disappeared after the death of their guardian, and before someone from the Foundling House could arrive to pick them up. Penelope is worried about the 4 boys, and convinces Adair to help her find the boys and protect the next East End boys who become orphaned from the same fate.

Laurens writes with such detail that we can almost smell the world of the ton and the opposing world of the East End. The clothes and foods are likewise beautifully detailed, and combined with the depth of character truly pulls you into the story so you can’t put down Where the Heart Leads. Barnaby Adair is a confirmed bachelor – no wife would be happy with him performing his investigations assisting Stokes and the police. Penelope is likewise determined not to marry, as she is insistent that her duty is to the children of the Foundling House, and no husband would agree with her level of involvement there. The two are drawn together in the investigation, and in Penelope’s search for a passionate affair without any strings attached. As they investigate, Scotland Yard officer Stokes and popular milliner Griselda, who grew up in the East End. The two couples work together and with both the local “rozzers” (police) and the East Enders to locate the boys, make them safe, and thwart a burglary scheme.

If you’ve never tried a Regency romance, you will be swept away by Where the Heart Leads! If you are already a romance lover, don’t wait to pick this up, you’ll love it! If you’re a mystery lover, you’ll really enjoy the class struggles and the unique methods of investigation in the 1830s. Stephanie Laurens has created fabulous characters and a world that is lively and fun. I’m looking forward to checking out her other novels, too.

This book was received from the publisher for review

Kristin Harmel’s newest release is an engrossing young adult novel called When You Wish. This is a delightful story of a girl pushed to be a star by her mother, but Star herself doesn’t feel comfortable with her “star” persona, and tries to discover who she really is. Readers might remember my earlier reviews of Kristin Harmel’s wonderful chick lit books How to Sleep with a Movie Star and The Art of French Kissing, and this book is right up there with the others – if you’ve read her other books, you will definitely want to pick this one up! If you’re not already a fan, When You Wish will quickly convince you to pick up her other novels.

When You Wish has a similar feel to Kristin’s chick lit books, with a strong female character and vibrant secondary characters. Unlike Kristin’s books for adults, When You Wish has a title that won’t make you blush, and any “romance” is teen-appropriate. Some authors have trouble moving from adult novels to young adult, but Kristin has found a great balance – there’s enough tension to keep the reader pulled in to Star’s life, and yet parents will feel comfortable with their kids reading the novel. Assuming, that is, that the parents don’t snag it to read for themselves!

I’ve talked about the need for great female leads in my Maximum Ride reviews, as well as in other reviews of young adult novels. As a mom of 3 girls who are growing up far too quickly, I continue to search for strong, fun, and engaging girls in young adult and tween novels. Star is a very different character than Max, but they share an inner strength paired with an anxiety about trusting that inner strength, which makes them realistic and approachable. In When You Wish, Star leaves her celebrity life in search of her estranged father, but also to find out who she is when she isn’t surrounded by her entourage. Start finds the world outside the pop star circuit to be very different from what she is accostomed to, but she makes decisions based on her own moral compass and finds that she points herself in the right direction.

There’s a surplus of boy “coming of age” books, and a surfeit of the girl equivalent that aren’t sappy and/or clichéd. When You Wish is sweet, but below the sweetness lies a strength that comes from Star’s determination and courage. There is a very hot guy involved, but Star does what needs to be done for herself, not just to get the cute guy. There’s plenty of crush-activity for teens to be happy, and plenty of spunk in Star so she never comes across as a stereotypical teenage girl.

No stereotypes or clichés seems to be Kristin Harmel’s writing creed. At first glance, Star’s mother seems like a typical stage mother, but there are hidden depths that you discover as the book progresses. The same is true for the father Star seeks, the entourage she left behind, and the people she meets along the way. It would be very easy to make this book into a teen version of Thelma & Louise, and not do any character or plot development, but Kristin has steered clear of that path and written a book that is well worth the shelf space.

I highly recommend When You Wish for young adult readers (too much kissing for my tween). Not-so-young adults shouldn’t overlook this novel, though! When You Wish is a very heartening, feel-good story that pulls you into Star’s gravity with a great cast of characters and a story that keeps you turning page after page. Go pick up a copy and read a story that will have you smiling when it’s finished – we all deserve great reads like this!

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming is the newest novel by bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson. A mix of mystery, parenting, paranormal, and the drama of family dysfunction, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming will quickly pull you under its spell. Jackson pulls on her own southern heritage to create a realistic-feeling impoverished rural Alabama town, and then she pulls on her life in the suburbs of Atlanta to create the contrasting perfect suburban neighborhood. The characters that spring from those contrasting towns are also drawn from people the author has observed, and they have an authentic feel.

When we first meet Laurel, the main character of The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, she is living a quiet life as a mother and fabric artist in the suburb of Victorianna, far from her mother’s impoverished roots. Laura had grown up with ghosts at her childhood home and in her mother’s rural hometown of DeLop, she had never seen any ghosts in Victorianna. Or, she hadn’t seen any ghosts until she was awoken by the ghost of her daughter’s best friend, who leads her to her body floating, floating in Laurel’s pool.

Laurel’s family is quickly pulled into the mystery of 13 year old Molly’s death; the police are questioning 13-year-old Shelby, Laurel is having problems trying to rescue Molly, and husband David has called in Laurel’s mother for assistance. The formerly peaceful home is filled with tension: Laurel’s worries about what she might have seen the night Molly died, Shelby’s silence, the presence of a teenage guest from DeLop, marital tension between David and Laurel, and then the intensity of emotions that comes when Laurel brings her sister Thalia home. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, pulls you into the characters’ emotions, and you won’t want to stop reading.

Each of the characters in The Girl Who Stopped Swimming jumps off the page, with incredible depth of emotions and personality. Laurel and Dave’s characters go far beyond the meek suburban wife and stereotypical computer geek that one sees at first glance, with hidden depths that we see deepen during the course of the novel. Creating 12-13 year old kids is hard, but Jackson pulls of Shelby and her DeLop friend Bet; they aren’t perky and chatty, they are quiet and somewhat sullen, and thereby real.

Even the towns in The Girl Who Stopped Swimming are filled with personality, with none of the cardboard stereotypes that would have been easy to write. Jackson has based the fictional town of DeLop on a former mining town, and has based Victorianna on the prosperous suburbs around Atlanta. With both the towns and the people, there is enough reality to make them ring true, but enough fiction that Jackson can manipulate them to comply with her storyline.

With The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, Jackson has written a book that will capture your attention, a book where you can identify with something from all of the characters, and a book that will fully engage you in the joy of a good novel. I was stuck in Boston’s North Station for an hour after missing a train, but I was thrilled to have a (relatively) quiet place to read The Girl Who Stopped Swimming! This book can balance family drama, mystery, ghosts, and unique characters with a plot that doesn’t stop moving. You will be pulled into the story, and maybe it will make you happy you missed your train! The Girl Who Stopped Swimming is a great pick – grab a copy and check it out for yourself and then read Joshilyn Jackson’s other books: Between, Georgia and Gods in Alabama!

My longtime friend Ms. Pope commented recently, “What do you think of the recent memoirs that were found to be fabricated?” I had been thinking and reading columns about the bogus memoirs, and her question spurred on me to write more. My brain was percolating last night as I listened to On Point discuss the topic as I drove home alone. On Point is an NPR show recorded in Boston; they were hoaxed on Friday by the most recent false memoirist (Margaret B. Jones, aka Margaret Seltzer), and they focused Wednesday’s show on the repercussions.

As a book reviewer, I’m on the fringes of the publishing world, but I see the sheer quantity of memoirs and novels published; the information in Wednesday’s On Point helped me understand how a bogus memoir could make its way into print, as most publishers don’t do in-depth fact checks, they trust the author. Copy-editing is performed to ensure accuracy enough to avoid libel, but one would think the publisher could double check that the author’s basic identity and story is accurate as well. I wish Margaret Seltzer/Jones had written her “memoir” as fiction, as it sounds like an engrossing book that would fit beside the wonderful novels of fictionalized reality, True to the Game I & II. But because she lied and cheated, we won’t have the opportunity to read the book as a novel. As I was looking into falsified memoirs, nothing has explained my burning question: why would someone write fiction and publish it as if it was a factual memoir?

I am disappointed and appalled that an author would do this, and it boggles my mind that anyone would try to sell a false memoir as fact. I can completely understand why someone would want to be published, and that if the memoir market is hot, authors aim for publication in the hot market. However, I can’t understand why someone would risk everything by lying so profoundly about their lives, with the hubris of believing they wouldn’t get caught, when in truth it was relatively easy to disprove their story. Read more

Leave a comment on my review of The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People- I’ll be giving away one copy on 3/3, and it will definitely give you a well deserved laugh during the bleak times at the end of winter. Keep your eyes on the this site, as the authors agreed to do an email interview! Don’t miss our interview with Lisa and Lauren! So leave a comment!

Check out this video of the authors – they are hysterical!

Scroll down for lots of great reviews!

Lauren Allison and Lisa Perry are the authors of the hysterical The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People, and they agreed to do an email interview, following up our review. Readers will also want to check out this video of the authors. PS – Today’s your last day to leave a comment and try to win a copy of the book!

1. This book is so unique, what prompted you to write it?

   Along with everyone else we know, we got sick and tired of those obnoxious holiday letters from those perfect people (The Couple Who Write The Holiday Letter Telling You How Their Little Timmy Just Discovered An Alternative to Fossil Fuels) and several years ago, Lisa sent out her response letter (see the same chapter). People were forced to read about her mundane life about deciding whether or not to buy mint-flavored floss, or how she figured out how many frequent flier miles she had and came to the conclusion she had enough for a coupon for a free drink (provided she paid full coach fare). The revenge was sweet. Realizing how enjoyable it was to send out inane letters at Christmas, the next year Lisa sent out “Why Polygamy Should Be Embraced During the Christmas Holidays” (see the chapter on The Woman Who Has Her Christmas Cards, Shopping and Decorating Done Before Thanksgiving). Lots of people including Lauren kept telling Lisa she should write a book, and Lisa said that would take too much energy, so she asked Lauren to help her, and although she didn’t want to expend much too energy either, she agreed.

2. I know you self-published the book at first – what led you down that road? And what brought you to Grand Central Publishing?
   

   At first we were really just doing the whole thing for fun. Someone suggested we attend the Colorado Independent Publishers Association, and before long, we had a self-published book, and to our surprise, had even won a couple of awards. Then a fabulous, dashing literary agent saw our book on Amazon, ordered it, watched his wife laugh over the book until she was sick, and then contacted us. Together we shopped around for the best possible editor and best possible publishing company for our book, and found Emily Griffin, who has been just wonderful, with Grand Central Publishing. We couldn’t be happier with how it worked out.

3. You take real insecurities and the quirks of real people and exaggerate them a bit, okay a lot. How did you decide how far to take it? Did you need to scrap some potential chapters for crossing the line into ridicule?
   

   We personally thought that perhaps the conversation between Jesus and his wife might be somewhat tasteless, but no one with any decorum (namely our editor) had any qualms about it. And to be frank, we don’t worry our pretty little head much with any of it. Although one aspect was important to us, in that we didn’t want to write a book with much profanity, and that our kids could pick up and read without us having to leap from the sofa and cover their eyes (because if the truth was told, we’d rather not have to get up off the sofa unless absolutely necessary).

4. In the acknowledgments you thank your perfect friends, how have they reacted to the book?
   

   Our friends brag about being the perfect people in the book, such as Lisa’s friend who is the perfect birthday mom or another friend who is the perfect scrapbooking mom. They tell everyone they are in the book.

5. Did you end up caricaturing many of your own quirks?
   

   Sadly, the book is tragically autobiographical. Lauren actually had her bumper fall off at the car wash, and her thigh high stocking fall down during a social event. Lisa tried the spray-on tan which didn’t even bring her skin tones up to the level of a cadaver.

6. In addition to laughing, I felt validated by your book – I’m an imperfect parent and that’s OK, there are others out there like me! Is there a theme to the responses to “The Woman Who is Always Tan”?
   

   Our motto is: Never be overly competent at anything. The reason is that then you get stuck having to bring the homemade treats that everyone loves to the classroom parties which seem to be held every other day. There is a theme from readers as far as the husband chapters are concerned, in that everyone seems to be married to the husband who has a cold but believes it’s malaria.

7. I noticed that the chapters only mentioned the names of Lauren’s husband and child. What was the thinking behind that choice?
   

   We used Lauren’s first name and Lisa’s last name, and a fictional name for our child. Since we are both Jackie Kennedy fans, we named our daughter after Caroline.

8. Has writing this book changed your outlook on other parents? Has it changed how other parents react to you?
   

   Nothing has really changed. Imperfect parents flock to us with stories of making fun of perfect parents, and perfect parents flock to us giving us ideas about how a new chapter can be written about them. They all seem satisfied with who they are, and we love that!

   (We, of course, more identify closely with the imperfect parents. We saw a bumper sticker the other day that we believe sums up parenting: “Raising Children is Like Being Pecked to Death by Ducks.” The truth had been finally spoken).

Thank you, Lisa and Lauren, for such a great interview and book!