Mini Reviews: Hello, Sunsine; The End of Men; Audubon: On the Wings of the World; Pepys in Love

The cover alone was enough to bring a smile when it arrived on a rainy day. The next morning I woke up dreaming I had painted the bedroom yellow, the same yellow used for this book.

I read Hello, Sunshine in 24 hours.

In the first chapter, Sunshine Mackenizie is on top of the world. It's her birthday. She married the love of her life. Her YouTube cooking show has led to a contract with a Food Network series and a cookbook. But her entire public persona is a fabrication, her career runs her life, and the truth is that she can't really cook.

By the end of the day, she's been hacked and revealed as a fraud. Worse, she is revealed as having cheated--once--on her husband. In short course, the Food Network and book contracts are withdrawn, her staff leaves her, her husband leaves her, and she finds herself homeless and broke.

With no place else to go, she returns to her hometown of Montauk to crash with the sister she long ago left behind to deal alone with their obsessive father.

Sunshine must figure out how to move forward with her life by returning to her past and coming to terms with her estranged sister. The sister's daughter Sammy is a delightful character who helps to bring the sisters together. There are colorful locals, including a fishy hunk (literally, a man who catches sustainable fish) and the eccentric chef Z.

This was an enjoyable and quick read, especially after I'd tackled several heavy--and much longer books. The odd thing is how upbeat and light it all was, considering Sunshine's entire life had crashed. She seemed more befuddled than depressed about losing her husband and career. I never 'felt her pain.' So if you want to wallow in someone's agony, find another book.

Without being too didactic Dave injects a bit of insight about "what it means to live an authentic life in an inauthentic age." In this age of social media, is everyone creating a public persona of what they want others to see? Do we expect our culture heroes, icons, and leaders and even friends to hide the truth about themselves? And when they are revealed as frauds, do we forgive, or forget, or even care?

At the end, Sunshine starts over again, but this time without the fake backstory and unearned accomplishments. And we believe that she will make it. The novel is pure wish fulfillment fantasy.

I received a free book through a Goodreads giveaway.

****

Audubon: On the Wings of the World by Fabien Grolleau and Jeremie Royer is a graphic novel of 174 pages on the life of John James Audubon. I won this book on a giveaway from David Abram's blog The Quivering Pen.

A few years ago I read a historical fiction book on Audubon, Creation by Katherine Gouvier. Read my review here.

This book is a 'romanticized', loose interpretation of Audubon's life, concentrating on his single-minded obsession of studying and painting American birds. The abundance of wildlife and birds of those early years in America is portrayed, with intimations of the mass destruction that is to come.

"These birds must be painted now, while they still flourish in this pristine setting, unchanged since to dawn of time--for soon, I fear, it will be too late!"

from the publisher's website

Included is a biography and painting of the artist and reproductions of some of his wonderful paintings. It is an attractive book and would make a good introduction.

John James Audubon from
Green Heroes Quilt by Nancy A. Bekofske

****

Four women, successful in their careers, make stupid decisions in their personal lives, putting blame on their men, while wondering why they even want men in their lives.


It was hard to relate to these women, except for their relationship to their children. The issues felt dated. I did appreciate how they came to embrace healthier understandings and relationships.

The whole book can be summed up in the later interchange between two of the women. One character complains about equal opportunity meaning doing it all without men taking up their equal share of work at home and she is countered, "Do you think that doesn't come at some cost? " and "you've created the life that you wanted." She admits, "Sometimes I just think I can't handle what I want."

I received a free book as a LibraryThing win.

*****

I have read Samuel's Pepys diary. Twice. First I read Wheatley's three volume edition. Then I was gifted and read the ten volume complete edition from the University of California. I spent years ending my day with the words, "And so to bed." Yes, I am that crazy.

Pepys in Love by Patrick Delaforce was first published in 1986. I had hoped for traditional historical fiction, novelized, something with a plot line that followed history. I always imagined that Elizabeth Pepy's story would be very interesting. 

Delaforce instead offers chapters addressing various aspects of the Pepys family life, told by Elizabeth, but also chapters narrated by Samuel, Lord Sandwich, and Will Hewer. Information from the Diary was collected together so we read about Elizabeth's clothing purchases in a chapter, and about the portraits they sat for in another.

The book is illustrated with portraits and includes a chronological summary and bibliography. 

Having read the diary I was not very excited about this book. I imagine it would be perfect for someone who wanted to know about the political, cultural, and social world of Pepys time without spending several years reading the diary. In other words, someone who isn't crazy.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Pepys in Love: Elizabeth’s Story
by Patrick Delaforce
Thistle Publishing
Paperback $14.99
ISBN: 9781786080035

Mini-Reviews: Another Brooklyn, Eight Hundred Grapes, and The Rosie Project

The Rosie Project by Grame Simsion was my book club's January pick. My hubby read it before e, and frankly, his constant guffaws and laughter reverberated throughout the house, and he frequently interrupted my reading to share a scene with me. He was having a great time. So, I knew it was a funny book before I opened it up.

And it is a very funny book. It is a romantic comedy with a happy, tied-up-with-a-bow ending. It is a nice anodyne to the worries of the world.

Still...I have to say the ending seems too idealized and improbable, and I had great concern about laughing at a man with Asperger's syndrome. I felt it was in bad taste to laugh at Don.

If the author hoped to make Asperger's a relatable and charming personality trait to promote understanding I might feel differently, but I don't know his motivation for creating Don Tillman. I wondered how the book would be received by those who treat Asperger's or have a family member with Asperger's. At book group a friend shared the story of her daughter who has Asperger's. She loved the book. Frankly, she admitted a lot of things her daughter did were funny.

The group gave the book high ratings and discussion was lively.

I had heard so much about Another Brooklyn by Jaqueline Woodson that when I saw it at the library I brought it home. The librarian's eyes shot up--did I have time to read it? she asked. Its a small book; I'll fit it in, I replied. 

I read it in an evening. 

What a beautiful book. I loved it. Woodson wanted to write about growing up a girl in this country, drawing from memories of her teenage years. She created four girls whose friendship creates a safe haven.

August came north to Brooklyn with her father and little brother. She watches and envies the girls who play on the street below their apartment. When she finally meets them, they claim her, saying, "You belong to us now."

 "And for so many years, it was true," Woodson writes. 

"What did you see in me? I'd ask years later.

You looked lost, Gigi whispered. Lost and beautiful. 

And hungry, Angela added. You looked so hungry. 

And as we stood half circle in the bright school yard, we saw the lost and beautiful and hungry in each of us. We saw home."

And with that scene I was caught in Woodson's story-web, wishing I had been one of those girls who had so early found a home in a threatening and changing world.

Adult August returns to Brooklyn for her father's dying and death, the memories return of growing up, of changing bodies attracting men, the discover of hidden talents and gifts. It is a story of 'white flight', addict war vets lurking in hallways and accosting young girls, and of parents who want the best for their daughter or who are incapable of caring for their children. The girls grow up, imagining 'another Brooklyn,' another reality to be claimed.

Woodson writes. "Creating a novel means moving into the past, the hoped for, the imagined. It is an emotional journey fraught at times with characters who don't always do or say what a writer wishes...in many ways, the characters a writer creates have always existed somewhere." 


These girls will live in my heart for a long time.

When Off the Shelf offered a giveaway for a book they promised would make me feel good, I entered. I really, really needed an escape for a bit. They understood, and I won Laura Dave's Eight Hundred Grapes.

So many on Goodreads call this novel a "beach read,"  which usually sounds an alarm for me, being (in my head) short for a plot driven romance with little staying power, the literary equivalent of hooking up. 

Instead I discovered a solid Literary Romance with good writing, nice characterization, an interesting family, and a heroine who at the tender age of twenty-five discovers what her "has to have" is in life. The importance of family is the enduring message.