dream by day

The Vacationers by Emma Straub

~ SamanthaWho ~ 2 Comments

Despite seeing The Vacationers by Emma Straub on many fiction recommendation lists, I’ve also heard from many of my friends that they couldn’t finish it. Despite these non-recommendations, I decided to take a swing at it myself. Warning – there are a few spoilers in this review, nothing to give away the whole plot, but enough to explain my review.

The Vacationers runs pretty much how one would expect based off the title. This is the story of the Posts, a family traveling on a predictable vacation and while being cooped together, drama inevitably arises.

What disappointed me the most about this book was how predictable each character is. First there’s the moody teenage daughter who is uncomfortable in her own skin and thus criticizes everyone else throughout the entire trip. Then you have the verging on 30-year-old son who is not only an immature bimbo, but he has gotten himself $150,000 dollars in debt. Next up we have the father, who so predictably cheated on his wife with the blonde (of course she is) 23-year-old assistant at his office. Lastly, there’s the mother. Cheery Franny puts on a brave face in front of her children while giving her husband the cold shoulder (rightfully so) behind closed doors.

As with most family vacations, the characters were forced to spend time together and to face their problems. In a feel good ending, the Post family finds their way back to each other. All in all, a fine story, but I did get through to the end of the book and that’s worth something.

National Book Lovers Day

~ SamanthaWho ~ 10 Comments

Happy National Book Lovers Day from Washington State, USA. In honor of this lovely (and cheesy) celebration, I want to share 10 of my all time favorite books. These are stories that have stuck with me over the years, revisiting during idle moments.

  • The Power of One – Bryce Courtenay
  • The Girl with the Dragon tattoo – Stieg Larsson
  • The Kitchen House – Kathleen Grissom
  • The Chaperone – Laura Moriarty
  • Me Before You – Jojo Moyes
  • A Hundred Summers – Beatriz Williams
  • Big Little Lies – Liane Moriarty
  • Outlander – Diana Gabaldon
  • Unbroken – Laura Hillenbrand
  • The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins

Book reviews on these stories to come! How are you all showing your love for books today?

Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy

~ SamanthaWho ~ 2 Comments

Don’t judge this book by its shabby cover, like the ones found on communal shelves of cozy B&B’s around the world. A bit slow to start, Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy is a good book that kept me going through all 596 pages of it.

This was the first novel of Binchy’s that I have read and it won’t be the last. Binchy does a great job of developing characters across a wide range of ages, personalities and social classes in the mid-1900’s in Ireland.

The story begins with Eve and Benny, opposites in appearance, parentage, and personalities, and yet they become inseparable friends. One, an orphan, and the other, a smothered only child, head to university in Dublin, only a bus ride away from their small country hometown. At university the two girls are quickly swept into a circle of friends (hence the book title). The plot quickly becomes tangled with romance and heartbreak, ambition and failure, loyalty and betrayal. Binchy does a great job of bringing the characters to life, so much so that I was rooting for the fiercely loyal duo the whole way through.

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

~ SamanthaWho ~ Leave a comment

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To be honest, I wanted to like this book more than I did. After hearing many positive reviews, some even claiming this to be the best fiction book of the year, I was excited to get my hands on a copy. Despite being a well-written story with thorough descriptions and a twisting plotline, The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters, was not as engaging as I had hoped.

This is the story of Frances, a woman living with her mother just outside of London in the 1920’s following World War I. After several tragic family losses, the two women must take on boarders to bring in much-needed income. With these boarders comes a whirlwind of forbidden love, drama, and decisions that they quickly realize cannot be reversed.

While I admire Frances as a strong character who has given up a life to support her mother, I became frustrated with her decisions later on in the book. Frances and her fellow characters repeatedly made selfish decisions and refused to take responsibility for them; resulting in what I feel to be a weakened story.

Despite my personal displeasure with this story, it is one of forbidden love and shows us the toll that guilt can take on a person.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

~ SamanthaWho ~ 5 Comments

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For a gripping page-turner, choose Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll. This is one of the first books I think of when I’m asked for a reading recommendation this summer. The sharp humor and twisting plotline kept me so engaged that I didn’t realize the story was over when I had turned onto the last page. The Luckiest Girl Alive is the story of Ani, a woman living the perfect life in New York City, with the fiancé of her dreams and an editor’s position at a fancy woman’s magazine. If you think that this sounds too good to be true, then you would be correct. Ani has spent her entire life trying to fit into a mold of perfection while simultaneously despising the people who she so desperately wants to fit in with.

From childhood flashbacks, we learn that Ani’s life of cunning ambition has been fueled by horrifyingly traumatic experiences at her expensive prep school full of bullies and hormones. Knoll does a fantastic job of illustrating the inner turmoil and pressures that Ani, and so many other women, feel to “have it all” while simultaneously appearing effortless.

Luckiest Girl Alive has the dark and twisted feel of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn combined with the dramatic school moments of Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight and popular TV series, Gossip Girl. Through Ani’s tough exterior and go get ‘em attitude, Knoll has created a character that was just trying to fit in all along.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants an exciting and unpredictable mystery about a desperate woman living a lie.

Tiny Little Things by Beatriz Williams

~ SamanthaWho ~ 2 Comments

After reading four books by Beatriz Williams, I am still surprised that she isn’t a better-known author. I went into a local bookstore this afternoon and was shocked to find that none of her work was on the shelf. Williams is a brilliant author with a skill for drawing in the reader quickly and wholeheartedly. When reading her books I find myself completely engaged in the story as though I am living it alongside the lifelike characters.

The latest work of Williams, Tiny Little Things, is the story of Tiny, a girl who has always done what is expected of her. That is, until now. Her marriage to an up and coming political figure paired with her picture-perfect appearance catapult her into the world of politics and power. This spot in the limelight brings trouble for Tiny as she is blackmailed, comes face to face with a man from her past, and realizes that the wealthy family she has joined has their own share of dirty secrets.

I highly recommend this one and my only complaint with Tiny Little Things is that it isn’t long enough.

One last treat, Williams has intertwined her stories so that characters from each one appear in other books, a surprise that is just subtle enough to go by unnoticed.

Single, Carefree, Mellow by Katherine Heiny

~ SamanthaWho ~ 1 Comment

In her first book, Katherine Heiny brings us 11 short stories focused on the lives of women as both individuals and family centers. These aren’t your everyday short stories though; Heiny gives importance to the lives of ordinary women dealing with everyday challenges. From love affairs to doctor visits to children’s birthday parties, Heiny’s characters are candid in their experiences.

In a review that I think really hits the nail on the head, Lena Dunham writes that Single, Carefree, Mellow, “ …gives women’s interior lives the gravity they so richly deserve – and makes you laugh along the way.”

Overall, these short stories are a quick and engaging read for the summer.