Book #30 week #26, The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand

The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand. Since it is summer I wanted a light summer read, saw this cover and it looked perfect and it is set in Nantucket (which I am currently obsessed with since the hubs and I are watching the show Wings on Netflix). Well maybe I should have paid more attention when skimming the synopsis.

This book is kind of neat in that it has multiple narrators but it is not confusing because instead of numbered chapters each chapter is titled with the name of the character narrating. Works well with the story line in my opinion. The Castaways are a tight knit group of eight friends paired off into four married couples. It is the beginning of summer and Greg and Tess are trying to reconnect after accusations in which Greg was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student. Now it is their twelfth anniversary, their twins are staying with friends, and Greg has decided to take Tess sailing.

Unfortunately things don't go as planned, winds kick in and the boat capsizes. Greg and Tess both die in the accident and the six remaining friends are left to cope with the aftermath and figure out what to do with the seven-year-old orphaned twins. Through their grief, secrets are brought to the surface (like Tess having an affair with a member of their group). And some believe the accident might not have been an accident at all.

I enjoyed The Castaways. I felt all the characters were very real and believable. I liked the way the "chapters" are set up. It was interesting to get an inside look at how the different characters were coping and what secrets they were hiding. I'm really interested in reading more from Elin Hilderbrand.

Quote:
“If you love something, set it free. If it was meant to be, it will come back to you. But this, of course, was bullshit. If you loved something and let it go...it would (hello!) find something else to love."

Book #29 Week #25, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

I'm not sure what compelled me to pick up Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It was sitting in the "something for everyone" bin at my local library. I am sure it was the author's name that leapt out at me (The Virgin Suicides anyone?) but the cover was interesting as well. As in my nature I decided to take it without reading the cover and boy was I in for a surprise!

Calliope Stephanides is a person born not once but twice. Calliope was born in 1960 Detroit as a little girl and reborn in the 1970's as a teenage boy. In order to understand what has happened Cal takes you back to the beginning when his grandparents fled their war torn tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus for a new start in America. Unbeknownst to them they carry a rare genetic mutation that will make itself known somewhere down the line.

Middlesex reads like an autobiography and then some. Cal tells you about all the members of his family, spanning three generations, and how he believes they thought and acted before he even came along. Through his journey of self discovery Cal will learn things about his family that they themselves never knew. He will uncover a dark secret that ultimately lead to Cal ending up the way his is.

Overall I did like Middlesex even though I felt iffy about it at times. The writing was well done, I often forgot I was reading a work of fiction and thought it was a biography. I really did enjoy reading through the different generations. The book is a bit long at 529 pages and although I know I've read longer books, this one felt long. Probably because so much happens in those 529 pages!

Quote:
 "I was thinking how amazing it was that the world contained so many lives. Out in these streets people were embroiled in a thousand different matters, money problems, love problems, school problems. People were falling in love, getting married, going to drug rehab, learning how to ice-skate, getting bifocals, studying for exams, trying on clothes, getting their hair-cut and getting born. And in some houses people were getting old and sick and were dying, leaving others to grieve. It was happening all the time, unnoticed, and it was the thing that really mattered.”

Book #28 Week #24, French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon

So I veered off course and read something that was nonfiction this week. Actually I got halfway through Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic and the Domestic by Ester Perel before I HAD to return it to the library due to the waiting list. But what I did read I really liked. The book gave real world examples of how we think about sex and how our experiences affect how our sex lives unfold. I suggest giving it a shot if you are having issues or just like to learn more about how we humans function.

Back to the subject at hand though. As you may or may not know, I am a mother of two wonderful girls and food has always been an issue in our home. So in comes French Kids Eat Everything. I have to admit I was curious but not very hopeful. I was expecting a stuffy, "You have to do this!", "You are doing this wrong" type of book but I was pleasantly surprised to find the opposite. The author Karen is a Canadian woman married to a French man with two little girls (five and three years old) when one day Karen gets the insane idea to move the family from Canada to the little French village her husband grew up in.

Sounded good to me at first, being near family in a picturesque little village by the sea. But what seems good in fantasy is rarely as good in reality. No amount of planning can prepare Karen for the culture shock and loneliness she is about to encounter. I really felt for her when she recounted her many social faux pas and her difficulties with two very picky children in a country where children are expected to eat what adults eat and eat how they eat. This leads Karen to come up with a plan on retraining her children to eat more like French children but in actuality Karen is retraining herself as her children are assimilating pretty well on their own.

In the end I decided to try out some of her "rules" for myself and I am quite pleased. While my kids aren't overly picky they are complainers and they don't eat as much or as well as I'd like them too. Basically I feel I need to change my attitude about food. No longer am I forcing my children to eat but they do have to try everything. Also we don't talk negatively about food, I serve smaller portions and the kids only get one snack a day. Surprisingly dinner plates are now coming up clean!

If you are experiencing food struggles in your home I highly suggest French Kids Eat Everything it couldn't hurt to try right? : )

Book #27 Week #23, Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore

I like to turn to Christopher Moore when I am down. His outrageous and unbelievable stories always give me a good chuckle. And Island of the Sequined Love Nun didn't fail to deliver.

Tucker Case is a charter airplane pilot who lands in some hot water after a plane crash involving a hooker and too much booze. After losing his license, his job and facing possible jail time an unlikely job offer lands in Tucker's lap. Tuck has no choice but to take it. He will be piloting a small charter plane for a missionary living on a small island in Micronesia. Seems easy enough.

But Tucker's curiosity gets the better of him. He finds it odd that a missionary is able to pay him outrageous sums of money. Tuck wonders what is in the briefcase of the beautiful blond woman (the missionary/Doctor's wife) as he flies her back and forth to Japan. Also why are the indigenous Shark People separated from their missionaries but an electrified fence and armed guards?

After the beans have been spilled I practically slapped my forehead for not seeing it coming. I am used to Mr. Moore's plot lines being more out there but not this one. Don't get me wrong there are some unexplainable situations like a talking bat and a talking coconut! But it is mostly very real.

Though not one of my favorites I did enjoy Island of the Sequined Love Nun. It's a nice read for a lazy afternoon.

Quote: (loved this one)
“Success in America doesn't require any special talent or any kind of extra effort. You just have to be consistent and not fuck up. That's how most people fail. They can't stand the pressure of getting what they want, so when they see that they are getting close they engineer some sort of fuckup to undermine their success.”

Book #26 Week #22, Fifty Shades Freed by E. L. James

So here we are at the end... I had to buy a copy of Fifty Shades Freed because I just couldn't wait! (now I have to buy the first two can't have an incomplete collection).

Freed begins on Ana and Christian's honeymoon. Everything starts off well and happy maybe too happy. You know something is going to go wrong eventually. Someone wants Christian dead but who and why?

Let's just skip to my thoughts, being the third book in the series if you haven't read it I doubt you'd be reading my post about it. So here we go:

I was disappointed that the book opened on the honeymoon and not the wedding. It was nice to read the memories of the event but I rather have read the events in order instead of going back and forth.

It annoyed me to read articles or reviews complaining that Fifty Shades is not a BD/S&M book. Obviously it is not, it's about a man who lives that lifestyle but is trying to adjust to a woman who is not into that lifestyle. Of course the sex scenes are going to be toned down.

I didn't like the Twilight character similarities however I loved that Ana was a strong, independent woman who can handle herself and didn't need someone to save her so unlike Bella.

I really loved the epilogues. I love getting a glimpse into life after the main story is done.

On a funny note I did notice that Christian does mention having anal sex with Ana a few times but they never get there. I was cringing towards the end thinking it might come up when Ana is pregnant but thankfully it didn't. 

I'll add more if I can think of anything.

Quote:
“He makes me graceful, that's his skill. He makes me sexy, because that's what he is. He makes me feel loved, because in spite of his fifty shades, he has a wealth of love to give.”