Dear Emmie Blue

After finishing Take What You Can Carry, I went back to Leadership in Turbulent Times. I couldn't focus on Abe Lincoln. I needed something lighter, just to take a break. I went in search of some good epistolatory fiction. You know, a novel told in letter or email format. And I wanted the subject to be simpler. And it had to be available as an e-book at the library. Somehow I came up with Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis. Not exactly what I was looking for, but I was intrigued.

Emeline Blue was 16 when she sent a balloon up to the sky with a note attached, writing about her sorry life. A few weeks later, across the water in France, Lucas Moreau finds the balloon, reads Emmie's note, and he reaches out to her. So starts one of the deepest types of friendships. At the start of the book, it's Lucas and Emmie's 30th birthday (Can you believe they share the same birthday? I mean what are the chances?). Lucas has a big question to ask Emmie. She think that Lucas is going to pop the question. You know the question! Not, "Will you be the best woman when I get married in a few months?" She didn't even know he had a girlfriend.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this book when I started to read. I sometimes struggle with chick lit, especially when the main character is a younger woman. That wasn't the case here, though. I'm not sure what held me back from really loving this book from the start. But as I read, I really enjoyed it. I liked the creative storylines and how those that required a lot of attention got a lot of attention and those that were important but didn't need a lot of attention were covered just the right amount. Nearly all the characters were so likeable, too. I can only think of three characters that I didn't like.

I loved Emmie's other friendships and relationships. As Emmie struggled through some things, I was totally rooting for her. 

I'm not sure for whom I would recommend Dear Emmie Blue, but I really enjoyed it!

Our Italian Summer

 

I've been reading some pretty heavy stuff lately and was excited to read Jennifer Probst Our Italian Summer as a bit of a break. I'm also still mourning the loss of my one month in Italy that was planned for this past autumn. After readings some great reviews on goodreads.com, my expectations were pretty high. Then I was disappointed.

I never really got a good feel for Italy while reading. Since I'm not so much into chick lit at this point, that's what I was really hoping to get. The novel did help bring back some memories of a previous trip to Italy, though, since as I was reading, I'd flip through some of my photos from that trip mostly to compare notes. Example: Yes! We did eat pizza at the same place in Naples. But I never really "felt" Italy on the pages of this book. I wanted to feel as if I was in Italy with them.

I wish there would have been more descriptions of the places they visited. Or something that would bring up the scent of the lemons of Capri. Or just how  overwhelming being at Pompeii feels. And why weren't there better food descriptions? I mean, two of the characters were so into food. The food seemed kind of flat. Plus I was a bit confused as to why they were eating cannolis in Rome when there are other Roman desserts that are better there. (Save your cannoli eating for southern Italy.) Which reminds me, why weren't they drinking limoncello when on Capri? I needed more.

I'm  sure the fact that I didn't like the characters didn't help me like the book any better. Then again, to me the characters were pretty flat and not particularly well developed. The most well-developed characters were Enzo and Ian, and they were probably the only two characters that I liked. I understood the characters' motivations for many of their actions but that was as far as it went. I wanted more.

I had never heard for Jennifer Probst, but apparently she has a huge following. For those folks, I'd recommend this novel. For everyone else, I'm not really sure about that.

Things You Save in a Fire

I'm not sure where I first read about Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center, but I must have requested it from the library, forgotten about it... and then it appeared last week. I rarely read chick lit, and decided that this would be an excellent book to read on an airplane trip.

The main character, Cassie Hanwell, is a high-achieving firefighter in Austin, Texas. She's not got the greatest relationship with her mother, who left Cassie and her dad when Cassie was 16. As coincidences happen, Cassie's mom asks Cassie to come help her "take care of things" at about the same time that Cassie lets loose on a councilman at an awards ceremony. Cassie needs to leave Austin... and her mom needs her.

She moves from progressive Austin to a small town in Massachusetts. The firehouse she joins is still in the dark ages. Old equipment and old mentalities. Much of the novel is about Cassie's efforts to improve her situation. She applies for grants to update the firehouse and she works hard at proving that a woman does belong in the firehouse.

Cassie starts to work at the firehouse on the same day as a rookie firefighter. Her new crew seems to lump Cassie, a highly accomplished firefighter, with the rookie. As a result, they spend a lot of time together.

There's much character development and positive growth across all the characters. And as far as chick lit books go, this one went a little deeper. This is a book that I would recommend.