True Colors

I've recently read two of Hannah's other books, Firefly Lane and Fly Away. Both were good books. True Colors blows them away. Everything about this book is better than the others. The characters had more depth. The plot was more interesting. The writing was better.

The three Grey sisters grew up as best friends, due to their mother dying when they were young (a theme in Hannah's novels!) and their stern father. As they grow though, their fidelity to one another gets tested. Winona is the eldest and yearns for her father approval. Aurora is the peace-maker middle sister. And Vivi Ann is the fun loving baby of the family. Just the birth order stuff alone in this book is fascinating!

There is a tragic event(s) that take place that will turn the girls against one another and that's when the book takes off. From that point on, you can't put it down. There's love, murder, a legal case, and family ties that all make this a great book.

I recommend this book - though it is more of a click lit. Some men might enjoy it, especially the legal side of it. But probably, it's for women.

Revenge Wears Prada

I enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada years ago when it came out. It's just your usual chick lit, but with a unique plot. I decided to read the sequel that just came out and it was just okay. Nothing to write home about. Not good literature. No great new plots. Just an okay book.

It's been 10 years since Andy left Runway. The book starts off a little confusing because it doesn't end where the first left off. Instead, Weisberger backtracks throughout the book to tell the whole story, which was well done. There are new love interests, new fashion fiascoes, and of course, same old Miranda. Some of the conversations were drab. Some of the explanations were drab. And some of the plot was drab.

I do hope this turns into a film, like The Devil Wears Prada. I would be happy to see those characters play out in Revenge Wears Prada. Similar to the first book, I think this one would make a better film than book.

Firefly Lane

When I first read Fly Away by Kristin Hannah, I didn't know that Firefly Lane was actually the first book. I loved the characters so much in Fly Away, I decided to read the background story in Firefly Lane and I wasn't disappointed. It's a beach read at its best. Quick, easy, a little sad, good characters, good story. Unfortunately, I knew how it would all end, which made the book less authentic for me. I wish I read this book first, then Fly Away.

It's a great story of best friends, a man in the middle, and ultimately a story of what makes us happy in life and the sacrifices we make to find that happiness. Worth a read if you're looking for a well written book with good characters with moderate amount of depth.

The Silver Star

This was a highly anticipated book for me. I loved some of Walls other books - The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses in particular. Amazing memoirs. So well written and compelling. I was so intrigued to read some fiction from her since her memoir was so good.

This book is a page turner for sure. However, it's just okay. I'd give it a 3 out of a 5. Maybe a 3.5 if I've had some chocolate and wine and am feeling generous.

It has loads of potential but just not pulled off as well as I expected. The story was not fleshed out as well as it could have been. I can see how her past has influenced her fiction though and that's interesting. It's a fine story but one of those that makes you want to root for evil and makes morality ambiguous. The bad guy certainly deserved punishment. Justice certainly needed to take place. SPOILER ALERT!!! I felt happy that the bad guy got more than he deserved. That's just not justice. Too much punishment is just as bad as not enough. There's a venue for justice to happen and while I get that the courts messed it up, that doesn't mean people can take it into their own hands.

This book is great for book clubs though. And I'm glad I read it. And I'd even recommend it. I was just disappointed with Walls execution of the novel.

Travels With Charley

Travels With Charley is a book about a 1960 road trip that Steinbeck took in order to get a pulse on America and its people. If you read the book, here's a good place to start. There is some speculation that he fictionalized the book and most of it's not even true. He definitely went on the road trip, but a first draft of the book included his wife, while the final manuscript, he went alone. There are details in the book that couldn't be true. And the conversations he's purported to have seem literarily tweaked.

Even if Steinbeck took "literary freedoms", this was a good book. Funny, clever, and just plain good story telling. Because it's a book about stories and not main characters or any kind of plot so to speak, I listened to it on CD. I felt like Steinbeck was right in the car with me telling me his stories.

It did get a little tedious at the end of the book, but the beginning and middle were great. Overall, I'd say that I enjoyed the book, but probably wouldn't recommend it to everyone. Some types who might enjoy this book are: dog lovers, men, literary types, people watchers, and those not looking for a page turner.

Letters to Skye

This book gets mixed reviews and I'm not sure I can recommend it. Overall, good writing. Good story, except for one thing: it makes you root for adultery. The overall message concerning love is that you do what feels good. If you find someone you love, you act on those feelings, regardless of your current martial status.

In order for me to recommend this book, the reader needs to be grounded in the moral truth that adultery is wrong. This book will make you want the main characters to have an affair and even might make those less grounded think the right and wrong is blurry and grey. When in actuality, it is very black and white.

The book is written in letter format which I love. However, it's a little unrealistic. Letters during wartime took a long time to get to where they needed to go. But not in this novel.

But it does have a good ending. The novel was just long enough and wrapped up well.

This is Jessica Brockmole's first novel and I do look forward to other books from her, as I enjoyed her writing style.

Life After Life

This is a very confusing book unless you know what it's about going in. I'm partial to not having a clue with books so as no bias can creep in. I spent the first 100 pages figuring out what the hell was going on!

Basically, on a fundamental level, Ursula dies over and over and gets redos in her life. She gets to change the future based on the way she died and what happened to her. Although it's sort of like an intelligent version of Groundhog Day, it's still a very unique book. One Amazon.com reviewer likened the different lives of Ursula to transparencies laid on top of one another. They all have some pivotal schemes in them that change the course of the future, but each transparency is different in the directions they turn and how they end.

Really, it seems like a brilliant idea for a writer because it's a dream come true. You can create these amazing characters where you get to change the course of their lives. I imagine (I'm not a writer!) that writers have many different ways they want to end a book or a character. This is the perfect novel for that!

I would describe this book as beautifully written, layered, and highly intelligent. Some heavy philosophical and religious themes can be pulled out if you want to think more about the authors words. Or you can just read it and enjoy the "what ifs".

Overall I enjoyed the book immensely. I highly recommend it. I will warn you: it's long. But worth it!