The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

image from LibraryThing

A Fannie Flagg book is guaranteed to be a quick and interesting read and this one didn't let me down.  This story spans the years and the continent.

Sookie is the mother of 4 - a well settled southern woman with a mother who just won't quit!  I mean - really won't quit!!! We call her a battle ax around here! :)  She knows everything and everybody and he word and idea rule!  And poor Sookie she is at her mom's beck and call ALWAYS!

So - that is Sookie's life - complicated enough.  But, then it goes up another level.  There is a weird registered letter with a secret. . . Sookie was adopted. All her mom's pressure to be something, to follow the family way, to be more than she is.   

Sookie is blindsided!  Her entire life history is shuffled and twisted. She takes advice from some of her friends - some of the advice is better than others.  One of her friends, Malveern, suggests she join her naked drum circle to connect with her primal rage. That isn't really Sookie.  Instead, Sookie begins meeting with the town psychiatrist  - but not in his office right beside her mother's favorite beauty salon - instead they meet at the local waffle house for her counseling session.  

As Sookie's story slowly unfolds - another story is also unfolding.  Sookie's real mother according to the birth certificate is Fritzi, one of the bravest women alive!  She started her life as a wing-walker during barnstorming days and from there became a WASP - a group of women who transported planes during WWII across the country.  They were never really acknowledged but were amazing none the less.

As Sookie finds out more about her mother she slowly begins to understand herself.  This was a book about beginning again - no matter what the age or the past. It was just the story I needed. Fannie Flagg did it again!

Secrets, Lies and My Sister Kate by Belinda Hollyer

Families have all sorts of secrets - some big and some small. Twelve year old Mini guards her biggest secret carefully. No one knows her true name - it's just too awful to share! But there is another family secret that is tearing apart her big sister Kate. A secret that Mini can't seem to unravel. But, it's a secret that is so big that Kate is changing into someone Mini doesn't know and understand.

And then Kate simply disappears.

This is a story of the choices parents make and the way they play out for the children - not always in the way that they expected. This is also a story of the depth of sister-friendships and the bonds that are created between sisters. And - what it takes to maintain those bonds.

Mini is the one family member who really doesn't know what is happening - but she is also the one who has the potential to find her lost sister.

This is a quick and easy read and is in the Middle School Library.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyers

Let's just say I read this book in a flash!!

And the next one...

And the next one...

So we start here. Bella Swan is a new kid at the Forks Washington High School. She has moved from sunny Phoenix to live with her father in dark and rainy Washington. And there she meet... Edward Cullen. A high school boy like no other - really like no other. He is a vegetarian vampire. But that's getting ahead of the story.

Bella is drawn to Edward and against Edward's better judgement he is also drawn to her.

Bella uses her friend Jacob Black, a local native American, to find out about this odd man and his family. Jacob tells her a story about an ancient truce made between some 'bloodsuckers' and his great grandfather's tribe. From there Bella guesses just what Edward is. Instead of scaring her away - the knowledge seems to draw her even closer to Edward.

As their friendship grows to something more - Bella draws bad luck and pain to her from all over.

This is a love story - a romance between two unlikely people. The fact that one is a vampire gives it a twist. But the story flies and draws the reader in.
Stephanie Meyer is quite a storyteller!!!

Your Oasis on Flame Lake by Lorna Landvik

image from LibraryThing

This is another great Lorna Landvik book.

Devera is a woman in the midst of a mid-life crisis - she has a wonderful family -a quirky husband who cares for her, two daughters - Lin in the midst of of teenage angst and Darcy a sweet and quirky 11 year old.

Her best friend is a spoiled rotten biddy name BiDi. BiDi believes that she is the best, the brightest, and the most of the small town of White Falls. Really she is a tease still living in her high school fantasies. Her first marriage to Big Mike fell apart and she fell in love again with Sergio, a high energy latin baker. BiDi's daughter Franny follows her father Big Mike's size and hockey skills much to BiDi's dismay. She expects her daughter to follow her size two shape.

Into all of this mix Dick, Devera's husband opens a night club in the redone basement of their home. He has decorated with movie posters, candles, black curtains and lots of love. He christens it Oasis on Flame Lake. And much to everyone's surprise it's a big hit.

But Dev makes a terrible choice that will shake their foudations. Franny is vicisouly attacked after she scores a winning goal in a hockey championship and the retailiations put Darcy, in grave danger.

Once again I like that Landvik takes a normal small town life and adds the drama of life. Each of the chapters in this book are written by one of 5 characters - Darcy, Sergio, Dick, BiDi or Dev. The consistency of their point of view added to my sympathy or lack there of.

Another strong recommendation!

Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos

This is another one that I enjoyed - although it took me a while to get into it.

The book is told by two characters - Cornelia and Clare. Cornelia is living in a world created by old movies - and hoping for her one true love to walk in the coffee shop that she manages.

Clare is an 11 year old living with a mother on the edge of madness.

The chapters go back and forth between the two of them - picking up the story as they go.

This is one those books that have a great story that I really love - but the writing style bogged me down time after time. Cornelia is constantly living in movies - detailing bits and pieces that I didn't think really added to the story.

Clare's story was much clearer and more childlike. Clare carefully hides her mother's fall into darkness with expert care. She makes sure that she can take care of herself - hiding from all exactly what is going on. That works until her mother completely disappears.

That's when Clare and Cornelia cross paths and Love trully walks in...

This is a sweet and tender story -yet not completely predictable!

Yippee!!

Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson

Nonny Frett is the kind of woman that only appears between the pages of a book. A woman whose deaf-blind adopted momma makes breathtaking porcelain doll heads while her OCD, anxiety-ridden aunt (her mother's twin sister) sews the body. A 30-something sign-language interpreter in the midst of divorcing a man she is still sometimes sleeping with. THere are just too many oddities for one woman, aren't there??

Yet Nonny invites the reader into her world and the chaos that she lives in, and I happily joined her in Between, Georgia. Nonny is the birth daughter of a Crabtree, the poster family for poor white trash. She was adopted by the Fretts, the cliche of pure white southern Baptists. Yet the Fretts are controlled, run and generally bullied into compliance by Bernese, Nonny's other aunt. There is more than a little trashiness in Bernese's tactics and more than a little gentility Ona Crabtree (Nonny's birth grandmother.)

There is also a dog mauling, a bit of book store passion, a fire, and a near death experience. It is a book that invites you in for a cup of sweet southern tea, and you happily accept.

I really liked this book for all it's quirky sweetness. It's quite predictible - but that doesn't take way from it's charm.
I would highly recommend this one!

Digging To America by Anne Tyler

cover image by LibraryThing

The Yazdans and the Donaldson’s have a chance meeting as they wait for the arrival of their new daughters from Korea. This begins a new friendship that continues for many years and intertwines the two very different American clans.  The yearly “Arrival Party” becomes a snapshot into the changing lives of these families.

 Bitsy Donaldson and Ziba Yazdan couldn’t be more different, but each is striving to fit into the new mom niche these foreign daughters have created. Maryam Yazdan, the family matriarch, immigrated from Iran as a new bride. She is perfectly controlled, perfectly dressed and carefully American. Bitsy is a careless housekeeper but a fiesty granola hippy when it comes to her new daughter.

 As the years pass you get to hear a variety of voices as they deal with uncertainties and life in America. It comes to a head as Bitsy’s father begins to court Maryam and Bitsy adopts a new daughter from China.

 Life abruptly changes for all - bringing more questions and shaking what each thought they wanted in the world.

 One of Tyler’s best!!!