Category Archives: Fiction/Literature

“The Book of Tomorrow: A Novel” is another journey in imagination with Cecelia Ahern. It has been a real pleasure reading as Ms. Ahern has grown in her craft. “The Book of Tomorrow” is her latest step forward. We are given a lovely story with elements of fantasy woven into it. Not enough to qualify it as Science Fiction – just enough to remember that Ireland is a fey land – where you just might find a leprechaun hiding his gold or a fairy fluttering about.

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Reading this book is like peeking into the lives of its characters. From the first time I read it, I felt as if I got to know real individuals rather than the inventions of the author. She deftly reveals more and more about each character – I was left truly caring about what happened to them.

I could have read it in one evening but, instead, I spread it over three days. This gave me time to think about the individuals and what I thought would happen next. It is a truly memorable book – one that my friends and family are lining up to share – I have a wait list for individuals who want to borrow my book. I ended up purchasing this book both in hardcover and for my Kindle. It is a great book (and series) to load up and have available when I have time to read while I am on the go.

“The Art of Hiding” is the first book I have read by Amanda Prowse, so I had no expectations about how the story would go. Within very few pages, the world of the characters in the book has been turned upside down. From there, their lives get so shaken with further revelations, that they seem to be suffering a tad from PTSD.

The main character, Nina McCarrick, has to deal with the loss of love as well as the lifestyle she has grown used to. The story is about how she and her two boys learn to live again despite their losses.

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“Any Dream Will Do” is a novel about second chances. Shay Benson is an ex-con who has just been released from prison. She has nowhere to go and no one to go to. Just a small amount of money is keeping her from living on the streets. In effort to stay warm and try to figure out where she will go on her first day of freedom, she wanders into Seattle Calvary church.

Drew Douglas is the pastor at the church. His beloved wife has passed away four years ago, leaving him with two young children to raise on his own. He is at a breaking point, pouring himself out in prayer when Shay wanders into his church.

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In the notes that the author, Phoebe Fox, included at the beginning of this book, she talks of how difficult it was to write this story. I’m so glad that she persevered and finished it as I think it is the best book yet in the Breakup Doctor series.

Brook Ogden is a mental health therapist who has a lot on her plate. When some unexpected events happen, she is left floundering. She starts questioning many facets of her life without quite understanding that she is suffering from mental health issues herself. The events are real and some are quite tragic and serious while others should be things she could shoulder and overcome.

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I’ve read almost all of Sophie Kinsella’s books. I enjoy both her style of writing (oh, so funny) and the messages she manages to convey through her plots.

In “My Not So Perfect Life”, Katie/Cat Brenner is struggling to get her life on track. She’s abandoned the family farm to move to London (her dream city) to work in marketing (her dream career.) She’s Katie at home and a newly created persona, Cat, in London. The reality isn’t quite so great and she spends a good deal of time thinking that those around her have perfect lives.

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This is a lovely story about a young woman searching for a place to call home after years of being moved around the foster care system. Lauren has not had the best of parents. Effectively abandoned, she moved from home to home in the foster system. While she ended up with a good family and didn’t suffer any form of abuse, she is still looking for a place and a family to call her own.

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I picked up this book without realizing that it was a second in a series. I don’t know if there will be a third book but I am certainly hoping for one. I also didn’t realize that it was a humorous slice of life book rather than a contemporary romance. I also much preferred the reality to what I had in my mind. The book made me laugh continually as I went through. I only wish that I had read the first book first but as it is, I so enjoyed this book, I have purchased the first one to enjoy as well.

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“Heart Conditions” by Phoebe Fox is the third book in a series about Brook Ogden, who is a therapist known as The Breakup Doctor. I read the book without realizing at first that it was part of a series but I often read book out of order to see how they fare as a stand-alone. This one passed that test very well. The only thing is, I liked it so well, I have already purchased the first two in the series so I can be up-to-date when Ms. Fox releases another book.

Brook has had some issues with her love life and rather than having it make her grown weak, it has made her stronger. She dispenses advice to her patients, her radio audience and to those who read her column in the local newspaper.

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I have only read one of Marie Bostwick’s stand-alone novels (“The Second Sister”) which I enjoyed so much, I was very happy to pick up “From Here to Home” to read and enjoy. I didn’t realize that it was a second in a series or that Ms. Bostwick is well known for her quilt novels. This is a book that can absolutely be read stand-alone without issue. However, since reading this book, I want to go back and read the first book which is apparently set 30 years earlier and gives a great bit of background on some of the major characters in this story.

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