Hungry Heart by Jennifer Weiner

 

Subtitle: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing - I started listening to this when we were driving to Maine from Kentucky. It is always nice to have something to pass the time as the miles go by.

I have always enjoyed her books and now I will enjoy them even more. Learning more about her personally, where she gets her drive, what shaped her, and what makes her so like every other woman in the world. Finding your self confidence, knowing what you want, and knowing that you are enough is really empowering.

She has had a full life with usual family dramas, amazing highs and tough lows, but that is what shaped her into who she is today and she shares some of that in her writing. She is a pretty awesome person and if you like her books you will really enjoy what she shares of her life here. 

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

 

Meg has a career in hand lettering and has become quite famous. One other thing she is good at is seeing signs that other people don't. Reading signs gets her in trouble and actually breaks up a marriage before it even starts.

Many months after this the ex-groom finds her and what could be a disaster ends up as each of them helping each other out through a difficult time in both of their lives.

This is a fun romance that has the usual bumbles and gaffs, but also the insecurities and newness of finding your way in a new space. A great read to escape the world and enjoy new love.

Made for You and Me by Caitlin Shetterly

 

Subtitle: Going West, Going Broke, Finding Home

This book is about leaving a place you know and love to go spread your wings and expand yourself and your career. Unfortunately this happened just as the bubble burst. 

Things started out great in California and they were living the dream, loving work and loving life. She gets pregnant, which they are very excited about. But then the bubble bursts and work starts drying up. Everyone is struggling and everything that they had worked for was slowly disappearing. The hard decision was made to travel back across the country, back to family and familiarity.

When the bubble burst we all knew that people suffered and lost everything. This is a very candid recounting of what happened to them, their successes and their struggles. I feel that it was told very honestly and truthfully. I think it will help anyone who questions struggle and people really trying, pulling out all of the stops, and still needing to 'go back home'. Very well written and portrayed.

  

The Cross-Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini

 

This is part of a series but they seem to be able to be read independently without too much confusion.

This takes place around five women who have gone to quilt camp in hopes of escaping some of their troubles and get lost in fabric and patterns.  Troubled divorces, aging, children in difficult relationships, job challenges. Things that you would want to escape and each woman was able to help each other in their own way. 

Gatherings were planned and friendships were made that would last a lifetime. They all let each other take their time processing things and making decisions. They were friends that became family and supported each other without question.  A wonderful book and a wonderful series. 

The Sea Gate by Jane Johnson

 

After Rebecca's mother dies she is going through things in the apartment and finds letters from a cousin she knows nothing about and seems to be in need of some immediate help. Rebecca has nothing else going on so she goes to check this out.

This story takes place between current times and WWII. Olivia, Rebecca's cousin, is an old crochety woman with a very colorful past. She had many struggles during the war and that created many secrets.

Rebecca had her own battles that she was struggling with and through the process of meeting Olivia, working on the old house, and meeting new people that reawakened in her her self confidence a wonderful story unfolds.

I love historic fiction and learning about things that people went through during rough times in the past. There is so much we don't know and so many times we don't realize how good we have it. This was a wonderful story to get lost in, fall in love with characters, and to remember how strong and resilient we all are.

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

 

Josey has lived in this little North Carolina town her whole life. She has felt like she is always making up for the past and always under her mothers shadow. She has developed ways to manage over the years-hidden romance novels and sweets-but has an abrupt turn in her life that sends her in directions she never would have imagined.

This was a fun read, easy and not a ton of substance, but good take-a-ways at the same time. We cannot let the past dictate who we are today and we have to try to go out for what we want. Living in the shadow of the past and letting others live your life is no way to live. It is not easy to break the mold, but sometimes it just needs to be broken. 

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

 

Imagine a place in between life and death and it is a library. It is a library full of all of the possible outcomes that could have been your life. And now you have to choose.

Nora has not been happy with her life and she has ended up at the library. At first she is quite confused and not sure what to do with all of the information. She picks endings that she thinks she would like and is surprised at how it didn't end up the way she thought it would. The ending that she does pick is a good one and a good reminder to all of us.

Such an interesting concept. I remember reading books as a kid that you could pick different endings and I would try them all. It was fun and nice to know that there was no end all really. We are all the masters of our own story and the choices we make lead us down paths with unknown endings. It needs to be embraced and we need to be thankful for what we have and where we have been.