Book Review: The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson

The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: contemporary fiction, romance, women's fiction 

Publication: August 30, 2022, Berkley 

When Libby, newly arrived in London, decides to help elderly Frank find the girl he met and lost on the number 88 bus years ago, in 1962, she didn't realize her search would help not only Frank, but herself as well. Libby is estranged from her parents who disapprove of her wanting to be an artist, and she is on her own, but meets Frank and other people who enter her life for the better.

The relationship that develops between young Libby and the aged Frank is heartwarming, as is her determination to paste posters all over the city in order to find the girl Frank lost so many years ago when Frank misplaced her phone number written on that lost bus ticket.

The ending is not as we expected, but refreshing nevertheless, to finally have resolved the question of who the lost girl was and where life takes her. There is new meaning in life for Frank and new friends for Libby, as well as a new romance.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC.  


View all my reviews

The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream by Jeannie Zusy: Sunday Salon

 

The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream: A Novel

by 

Jeannie Zusy

Publication, September 20, 2022, Atria Books

Description 

A very funny, occasionally romantic, and surprisingly moving novel about how one woman’s life is turned upside down when she becomes caregiver to her sister with special needs.

Every family has its fault lines, and when Maggie gets a call from the ER in Maryland where her older sister lives, the cracks start to appear. Ginny, her sugar-loving and diabetic older sister with intellectual disabilities, has overdosed on strawberry Jell-O.

Maggie knows Ginny really can’t live on her own, so she brings her sister and her occasionally vicious dog to live near her in upstate New York. Their other sister, Betsy, is against the idea but as a professional surfer, she is conveniently thousands of miles away.

Thus, Maggie’s life as a caretaker begins. It will take all of her dark humor and patience, already spread thin after a separation, raising two boys, freelancing, and starting a dating life, to deal with Ginny’s diapers, sugar addiction, porn habit, and refusal to cooperate. Add two devoted but feuding immigrant aides and a soon-to-be ex-husband who just won’t go away, and you’ve got a story that will leave you laughing through your tears as you wonder who is actually taking care of whom. (publisher)

My NetGalley/Goodreads review:

Bets, Ginny, and Maggie are the Frederick sisters whose relationships are featured in this novel. Maggie the third sister, becomes a caregiver for special needs middle sister Ginny, while the oldest, Bets, lives a life of California surfing.

Sisters and how they relate to one another, the sacrifices they make for one another, or sacrifices they don't make, are the themes. A surprising turn around at the end of the novel shows the sisters in a new light. 

The novel, however, takes too long to get to this point, frustrating the reader. The book could have been shorter and some of the middle events cut or omitted in order to get to the ending.

I enjoyed the first three-quarters of the book and wished the main points, though surprising and thought provoking, could have been reached earlier.

What are you reading this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday

I Thought You Said This Would Work by Ann Garvin: Sunday Salon

 The title of this book  made me choose it, and I'm not disappointed so far.

I Thought You Said This Would Work by Ann Garvin

Published May 1, 2021, Lake Union Publishing

Genre: contemporary fiction, humor

Source: ebook 

Three women are off in a broken down camper, driving cross country on an errand for their friend Karen, who is undergoing cancer treatment. The goal? Bring back Karen's beloved diabetic Great Pyrenees dog from LA to her bedside in Wisconsin. Karen's ex has already shipped the unwanted giant dog to a rescue center in Utah and the three women must travel to Utah, find the dog and bring him to Karen, who needs him as her therapy pet. The dog needs insulin shots regularly, so putting him in a crate in the belly of a plane, to fly to Wisconsin, is out of the question. 

What's the novel's interest besides this unusual quest? The three women are not compatible, two of them are barely talking to each other, and the third is a new LA friend who has hopped on for the ride. But their getting along is crucial on the trip. The situation calls for either comedy or tragedy and the book is hilarious so far.

What book is keeping you up this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon

Sunday Salon: the Humorous and the Serious

 Asian rom-com, set in Southern California, with the Chinese-Indonesian community. 

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto, April 27, 2021, Berkley Books 

Genre: romance, contemporary Asian American fiction

Setting: Southern California

Source: library

Five stars for inventiveness in character and plot and for a humorous and entertaining book about a Chinese-Indonesian young woman who must fend off her "interfering" but loving aunts in order to find true love in her choice of career and love life. When Meddelin later becomes entangled in an accident that looks like a murder, the aunties come to the rescue to save their niece. Their antics carry the day. 

No surprise that the book is slated to be made into a Netflix movie!

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On a much more serious note, here is a book from Saichek Publicity, a very candid memoir that comes with a warning that it contains possible triggers as it describes violence, childhood abuse, rape, etc. 

Brain Storm by Shelley Kolton, MD, January 2, 2021, FLR Press

Genre: memoir

Brain Storm is the heartbreaking account of a mind, fragmented and broken, ultimately made whole by one woman's incomparable strength and courage. (publisher)


"You will not emerge unchanged from Brain Storm. It is a harrowing, hallowing experience and a triumph of the human spirit" - Robin Morgan, bestselling author of Sisterhood is Powerful, former Editor-in-Chief of Ms. Magazine.

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On the mystery side, I am re-reading Of Mutts and Men, a quirky but fun novel about Chet, a canine, and his companion in crime solving, Bernie Little, who comprise the Little Detective Agency.

Of Mutts and Men makes for light humorous reading as we follow Chet's thoughts and observations, a dog's point of view,  as he helps Bernie solve mysteries and find and bring "perps" to justice. 

What are you reading this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon

 

Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan: Book Beginning

 

Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan, June 2, 2020, Ecco

Genre: contemporary fiction, romance 

Setting: Hong Kong

An intimate, bracingly intelligent debut novel about a millennial Irish expat who becomes entangled in a love triangle with a male banker and a female lawyer (publisher)

Book beginning:

My banker friend Julian first took me for lunch in July, the month I arrived in Hong Kong. I'd forgotten which exit of the station we were meeting at, but he called saying he saw me outside Kee Wah Bakery and to wait there. It was humid. Briefcase-bearers clopped out of turnstiles like breeding jennets. The Tannoy blared out first Cantonese, then Mandarin, and finally a British woman saying please mind the gap. 

Page 56:

You were ironical with him, also with yourself. It was wild. 

Would you read on?

The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice.
Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

It's Monday: The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman

 As part of my "new beginnings" in staying away from mysteries for a while, I'm rereading this book as I have forgotten what it's all about and I do like the title. It makes me think of spring!

The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman, May 2, 2017, Berkley

Here are my comments on the book, dated May 5, 2017, but I've decided to reread it.

Summary and comments: Lil, widowed for three years with two young children, is a school text illustrator in Southern California. Her boss signs her up for a vegetable growing class at the Los Angeles Botanical Garden, to prep for the next project - illustrating a series of vegetable guides the company is planning.

Lil attends the six-week class, held on Saturdays and led by gardening professor Ed Bloem. She not only benefits from gardening and meeting new people, but sees the benefits to her sister and Lil's two young children who also participate in the class. 

Lil's sister-in-law Maggie arrives broken hearted by a cheating hubby and somehow the setting and the new arrangement in Lil's life help everyone around her. In the end, Lil finds a new occupation and new love, and a new acceptance of her widowhood.

I liked the story, as I love gardening, and found the vegetable growing tips in the book interesting and useful. Though parts of the plot are predictable, the reading is easy and pleasant, not only for readers who garden but anyone who likes a good romance.

 Meme: It's Monday: What Are You Reading is hosted by The Book Date. 

Book Review: The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms, May 1, 2019, Amazon Digital Services

Source: Amazon Unlimited

For moms, single or otherwise, who need a life of their own on top of being a super parent. An inspiring read for moms, and single parents, everywhere! Amy Byler's husband left her permanently for Hong Kong three years earlier, left her with two kids in grammar school whom she had to support financially and physically. After John comes home unexpectedly for one summer and decides to bond with the kids for a brief while, Amy gets a chance to spend a week on her own in New York City to attend a librarian's conference. How she finds herself in her new surroundings, among new friends and acquaintances, and even with the prospect of new loves and a boost in her career, is the theme of the story. A thumbs up novel for overworked moms. A novel meant to inspire parents , especially women and single mothers.

For moms, single or otherwise, who need a life of their own on top of being a super parent. An inspiring read for moms, and single parents, everywhere!

Amy Byler's husband left her permanently for Hong Kong three years earlier, left her with two kids in grammar school whom she had to support financially and physically. After John comes home unexpectedly for one summer and decides to bond with the kids for a brief while, Amy gets a chance to spend a week on her own in New York City to attend a librarian's conference.

How she finds herself in her new surroundings, among new friends and acquaintances, and even with the prospect of new loves and a boost in her career, is the theme of the story.

A thumbs up novel for overworked moms. A novel meant to inspire parents , especially women and single mothers. 

Review: When You Read This by Mary Adkins

Review: When You Read This by Mary Adkins

When You Read This

Published February 5, 2019, Harper
Genre: epistolary novel (told through letters/email), contemporary fiction

This novel was brilliant. The story is told through blog posts and emails of many different characters, primarily Smith and his former secretary Iris, her sister Jade, and Smith's company intern, Carl. 

We learn at the beginning that Iris has died of cancer and has left Smith her blog posts to publish as a book after her death, her blog written while she was ill and undergoing chemotherapy.  Smith's public relations company is failing but things begin happening when he hires Carl, the college student intern, to replace Iris for a summer. Carl sets things in motion, through bumbling, interfering, and general nosiness about his boss, the business, and about publishing Iris's blog. 

The novel has a lot of humor, as in the emails and readers' responses to Iris's blogs. It also has pathos, sentimentality, and is in part a love story. It will have the reader crying and laughing at the same time, and is a book that I would call brilliant, excellently written and conceived.

Thanks to the publisher for an advance copy for my possible review. 

First chapter, first paragraph:

Simonyi Brand Management

New York, NY 10014

June 18

Dear Mr Simonyi:

I came upon your company on the Stanford University Employers Forum, on which your firm is listed as a place where Stanford students have had positive internship experiences previously. Grace Wang ('16) wrote that she had a wonderful summer working with you and your colleague Iris. While "wonderful" is rather nebulous and uninformative, her point is well made. I see that you have not posted a fall internship opening, but I am writing to express my interest in interning for you come September....

....

Sincerely,

Carl Von Snyder III

---------

Meme: Each Tuesday, Vicki, from I’d Rather Be At The Beach hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where  readers post the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book that they are reading or plan to read. 

In the Mailbox: Contemporary Fiction

Contemporary novels and a thriller:

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne,
Published January 29th 2019 by William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: contemporary fiction, romance

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal
Expected publication: April 30th 2019 by William Morrow
Genre: family drama, travel

The DNA of You and Me by Andrea Rothman
Expected publication: March 12th 2019 by William Morrow
Genre: contemporary fiction 

What's in your mailbox this week?

Visit Mailbox Monday to see what books others have on their reading list.

My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan

Each week, Vicki at I’d Rather Be At The Beach hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where readers share the beginning paragraph(s) of a book they are reading or plan to read.  



My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan, April 24, 2018, William Morrow
Genre: contemporary fiction, romance

First chapter, first paragraph:

"Next!"
The customs agent beckons the person in front of me and I approach the big red line, absently toeing the curling tape, resting my hand on the gleaming pipe railing. No adjustable ropes at Heathrow, apparently; these lines must always be long if they require permanent demarcation.
My phone, which I've been tapping against my leg, rings. I glance at the screen. I don't know the number. 
"Hello?" I answer.
"Is this Eleanor Durran?"
"Yes?"
"This is Gavin Brookdale."
My first thought is that this is a prank call. Gavin Brookdale just stepped down as White House chief of staff....

My thoughts:
I enjoyed the first part of the novel about a new graduate student at Oxford, the atmosphere and culture of the school new to her and different from an American university's. Ella makes a group of new friends, fellow students, and begins to fit into the system. However, here comes attraction, love, and romantic entanglement. 

The second part of the novel, a romance in crisis, reminded me a bit of Me Before You by JoJo Moyes and Love Story by Erich Segal, with similar ethical dilemmas involving serious illness and questions of commitment. The ending of this story may be unique in its own way, however. 

I liked the banter between Ella and her friends about poetry and was disappointed when the book left Oxford behind and concentrated on a love story that was not half as unique. Overall, a very good read, however, that covers several themes. 

Do you like the writing in the first chaper? Would you continue reading?

Review: Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist

Two Steps Forward

Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist, May 1, 2018, William Morrow
Genre:travel, contemporary novel
Setting: The Chemin, also known as the Camino de Santiago, is a centuries-old pilgrim route that ends in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. 

I loved this book, told from the point of view of a woman in her 40s or 50s and a man of the same age, walking from Cluny in France to Santiago in Spain on an old pilgrimage route. Though it's a novel, the book reads as if written by people who have travelled the Camino many times and know of what they speak! And in fact the authors are seasoned walkers of the pilgrim's route in Spain.

In the novel, the fictitious Martin and Zoe meet on the trail, traveling by foot from France and into northern Spain on the famous route. Martin pulls a cart he designed to hold his gear and hopes to sell the design to anyone who would buy it and manufacture it for public use. Zoe, using a backpack, is on the trail to try to escape memories of the very recent death of her husband, Keith. 

They have many setbacks along the Camino, meet interesting people from different countries, sometimes walking together and other times separately, and have varied experiences staying in hostels, hotels, pensions, and bed and breakfasts along the way. The narrators describe the terrain and each little town they enter, in detail. 

This is not only a travel story, about the experiences of walking over 2,000 kilometers, but also a love story of sorts. The book made me want to get into shape and travel along the Camino myself, and I've put the trail on my bucket list!

Objective rating: 5/5. Thanks to William Morrow for the review copy. 

Finished reading:

Sunburn

The flawed main character in Sunburn didn't get my sympathy even though she endured a lot in order to get to her final goals. Interesting plot and character; the book was entertaining even though not memorable. I gave it four stars.

New books include

Once Upon a Spine

A Panicked Premonition

Bought the Farm

A Just Clause

What books are you reading this week?

The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

Book Review: The Confusion of Languages by Siobhan Fallon

Title: The Confusion of Languages by Siobhan Fallon
Published June 27, 2017, Putnam
Genre: contemporary fiction
Source: borrowed from the library
Rating: 5/5
A novel about jealousy, the unpredictable path of friendship, and the secrets kept in marriage, all set within the U.S. expat community of the Middle East during the rise of the Arab Spring. (publisher)

I really enjoyed this novel about the friendship and conflicts between two wives of American military personnel stationed in the Middle East during the Arab spring, with its uprisings and unrest. Besides describing the challenges of living in a new and mainly unfamiliar culture, the story focuses on two very different women, Cassie and Margaret, brought together by their husbands, Dan and Click's, military careers and by their need for friendship away from home.

Problems arise because the women have different backgrounds, personalities, and emotional needs. Their marriages are far from perfect and they both look for different things during their stay in Jordan. Cassie Hugo sticks to the rules of the embassy regarding travel safety and the ways women must be conservative in behavior and dress and in interacting with others, in particular men. Margaret Bradshaw, younger and more free spirited, disregards almost all the rules in wanting to experience the people and the culture in her own way. Cassie becomes upset and resentful when Margaret wants to branch out on her own to travel around the city and make friends with local people of all classes, relying on Cassie less and less and only to babysit her young toddler on occasion. This friendship comes to a head when something unexpected happens that creates serious conflict. Who, if anyone, is to blame?

The story was very interesting from a cultural point of view; it was also a revealing study in friendship that has some component of jealousy. Well written and engrossing, the book also left me appreciating some of the difficulties faced by families in the military living abroad.

Book beginning:

May 13, 2011
We are close, so close to Margaret's apartment, and I feel myself sink deeper into the passenger seat, relieved that I have succeeded in my small mission of getting Margaret out of her home, if only for a few hours. The day is a success. Sure, I had to let her drive something I usually avoid. Margaret is always too nervous, too chatty, looking around at the pedestrians forgetting to put on her signal, stomping on the brakes too late. But today I actually managed to snap her out of her sadness.I have done everything a good friend should.

Page 56:

Unlike me, Crick cannot tell a lie. For him, there is only one truth, and he tells it. 

Library book. 
Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader

First Chapter: The Memory of Lemon by Judith Fertig

Contemporary Women's Fiction: The Memory of Lemon by Judith Fertig, published June 14, 2016 by Berkley

First chapter, first paragraphs:
Neely

Lydia, the twenty-something bride-to-be sat stony faced on the settee in my front parlor.
This was not the way I wanted to start the week. Since I had opened my bakery in Millcreek Valley's bridal district in January, I had learned a lot about wooing, in the business sense. When I did wedding cake tastings, I took potential clients away from the cheerful light and beveled glass cases of Rainbow Cake and drew them quietly, seductively into the more intimate setting of my home right next door. 

Memes: Every Tuesday Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where readers share the first paragraph sometimes two, of a book that they are reading or plan to read soon. 

Do the book description and first paragraph of the first chapter above appeal to you? Would you read on?

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

The Cake Therapist by Judith Fertig: Book Beginning

The Cake Therapist by Judith Fertig, published June 2, 2015

Book beginning:
Chapter 1: Dark Chocolate and Rich Coffee
I didn't know until I licked the mocha buttercream from my third devil's food cupcake that this was the flavor of starting over -- dark chocolate with that take-charge undercurrent of coffee.

I could actually taste it, feel it. And now I craved it.

Slowly, I was coming back to myself. 

Novel by an award-winning cookbook author.
Claire “Neely” O’Neil is a pastry chef of extraordinary talent. Every great chef can taste shimmering, elusive flavors that most of us miss, but Neely can “taste” feelings—cinnamon makes you remember; plum is pleased with itself; orange is a wake-up call. When flavor and feeling give Neely a glimpse of someone’s inner self, she can customize her creations to help that person celebrate love, overcome fear, even mourn a devastating loss.

Page 56:

The girls had milk for breakfast, Grace told herself, and she couldn't let this hollow-cheeked boy go hungry. She just couldn't. 

What do you think about this novel?  Are you a cake person?

Memes:
The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

Book Beginning: The House on Primrose Pond by Yona Zeldis McDonough

The House on Primrose Pond, contemporary fiction by Yona Zeldis McDonough, published February 2, 2016 by NAL

Book beginning:
It's two p.m. on a freakishly warm afternoon in January. Susannah Gilmore reluctantly looks up from her laptop. Standing in the doorway of her home office is her husband, Charlie. "Have you seen what it's doing outside?" he asks. She nods, attention drifting back to the screen. "It's sixty-nine degrees." 

"The January thaw, right?" She's read about this someplace, though she can't recall where. 

"Whatever. We should take advantage of it, though. Let's go for a bike ride before the kids get home."

Book description:
Historical novelist Susannah Gilmore is captivated by an unexpected find in her late parents’ home: an unsigned love note addressed to her mother, in handwriting that is most definitely not her father’s.

Page 56:
Houses had lives and houses kept secrets. She'd already stumbled upon two of them. If she kept up her search, what else might she find? 

What intriguing book beginnings have you found this week? 

Memes:
The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.