The Week in Review: 03.08.2019

Between the Covers

Finished last week:

When I saw THE PROPOSAL by Jasmine Guillory is a Reese Witherspoon Hello Sunshine Book Club pick I decided to give it a try.  It’s the story of Nikole Patterson.  When her short term boyfriend, Fisher, proposes to her in front of thousands of people at Dodger Stadium she’s shocked and horrified.  She doesn’t want to marry Fisher; as a matter of fact, she figured it was time for them to go their separate ways.  When she turns him down, Carlos and his sister notice cameras zooming in on her so they rush to rescue her.  She leaves with them and sparks fly but neither Nik or Carlos are interested in a relationship so they decide to just have fun.

I thought THE PROPOSAL was fun but very predictable.  I liked Nik’s relationship with her girlfriends and Carlos’ relationship with his family and thought the diverse characters were great but some of the dialogue felt awkward and some of the language seemed unnecessary.  In the end, I liked the book but didn’t love it.  The audio book is narrated by Janina Edwards and I thought she did a good job.  (Review copy provided by Penguin Random House.)

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TO NIGHT OWL FROM DOGFISH by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer is a fabulous, relevant, epistolary story for middle grade readers.  Bett and Avery live on opposite coasts and couldn’t be more different except that they’re both being raised by single, gay dads.  Bett discovers the two dads met on a business trip and are dating seriously.  They’ve planned a big trip and are sending the girls to the same camp so they can get to know each other.  The girls are not happy about the situation and decide not to speak to each other at camp.  Things don’t go as planned, though – for the girls or their fathers.

The story is told through emails, letters, text messages, and voicemail and I thought it was so much fun.  Bett is carefree, outdoorsy, and daring while Avery is cautious, bookish, and serious and I thought they were both fabulous characters.  I’m sure young readers will relate to one (or even both) of them.  There a are a few twists and turns so I didn’t see the ending coming but I loved it – it was the perfect way to end this book!  Middle grade readers on up will love this book the way I did.  (Review copy provided by Penguin Random House.)

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WINGSPAN by Chris Bohjalian is a one act play centered around a flight attendant who’s afraid to fly.  Emily is on her first trans-Atlantic flight and veteran flight attendant Karen engages her in conversation to try to ease her fears.  Karen learns that Emily’s fear of flying is the least of her worries.

This short play has been released as an audio book featuring the actresses who played the roles in the play off Broadway with Bohjalian himself reading the stage directions.  They all did a pretty good job and kept me engaged the whole time.  (Review copy provided by Penguin Random House.)

Currently reading:

• FINDING DOROTHY by Elizabeth Letts
• DOING JUSTICE by Preet Bharara
• DARING TO DRIVE: A SAUDI WOMAN’S AWAKENING by Manal al-Sharif

On the Screen

Not much of anything.

Off the blog

• I got Vance’s taxes down this week.  Two down, one to go!

• I finished the puzzle my sister gave me for Christmas.
• We had a few days of sunshine this week which made me happy because we’ve had lots of rain this winter.
• We walked at least three miles every morning and I averaged just over 17,000 Fitbit steps a day.

What’s going on in your corner of the world?