The Bird Hotel

Joyce Maynard's The Bird Hotel for me was a feel good story. Main character, Irene, had a rough start at life, a rough spell of love and had just about given up. The Bird Hotel is her story about healing and rediscovery.

This story spans many decades and while Irene is the main character, there's a whole ensemble that we get to know and watch grow.

After suffering one more unimaginable tragedy, Irene gets on a bus, not really caring where it's going. She just knows she needs to leave where she's been. She ends up in Central America. She's "selected" by a little boy for him to bring her to a place to stay. It's a run down hotel that rarely seems to have any guests. But it s a place for healing for Irene.

This novel made me wish that during times when I was feeling broken, I wish I could have discovered a hotel similar to the hotel where Irene ends up.

This novel has gotten mixed reviews but I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend. Maybe you had to have felt broken at some point to fully appreciate this one.

Count the Ways

I'm not even sure how I heard about Count the Ways or what I'd heard about it. But it was available at the library while I was waiting for some of my requests to come through so picked it up. And was hooked.

I haven't read much of Joyce Maynard fan in the past, but Count the Ways really spoke to me. It's the story of a couple who has 3 children, face tragedy, get divorced, face other adversities and keep moving forward. Its story was quite different from my own. Thank goodness I haven't faced the adversity that Eleanor and Cam, our fictional couple, has faced.

This story of family weaves from the 1970s to the present day full of references to what was going on at the time - the draft, the early computer age, the Challenger explosion, the AIDS epidemic, to name a few - and that really struck me as well. I enjoyed the look back in time.

All the characters in this novel are flawed, but in a way that makes them more authentic and more relatable. It is a novel of sadness and of joy. Just like real life. The couple, the kids, the neighbors, the teammates, the babysitter. They were all so real to me.

Kids needing space to become their authentic selves, shared custody, a daughter not speaking to a mother. The way the wives of the softball team connected to each other in the bleachers without really becoming true friends. Best friends. Good neighbors.

The line that screamed to me from the many lines in the novel was Ursula had been Eleanor's easiest child, until she became the hardest. I just loved that line.

The beauty of this novel was the way the story unfolded so I can't share any more than this without giving too much away. If you like family dramas, you should enjoy this one.