Looking Back - The Saving Graces

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

The Saving Graces by Patricia Gaffney
Fiction
1999 HarperTorch
Finished in August 1999
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Meet The Saving Graces, Four Of The Best Friends A Woman Can Ever Have.

For ten years, Emma, Rudy, Lee, and Isabel have shared a deep affection that has helped them deal with the ebb and flow of expectations and disappointments common to us all. Calling themselves the Saving Graces, the quartet is united by understanding, honesty, and acceptance -- a connection that has grown stronger as the years go by...

Though these sisters of the heart and soul have seen it all, talked through it all, Emma, Rudy, Lee, and Isabel will not be prepared for a crisis of astounding proportions that will put their love and courage to the ultimate test.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Wonderful! I love it. I tried to read it earlier this summer but couldn't get interested. I gave it another try and I'm so glad I did. I loved all four women. Each had strengths and weaknesses, but they were so good to each other. I love books about women's friendships. I could see myself in each of them. I'd like to read more by Gaffney.

Second Reading (2001):

Just as wonderful as the first time I read it! Wonderful story about four friends. Reminiscent of Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg.

My Current Thoughts (2020):

I still have a copy of this book, so maybe I'll give it another read. I wonder if I'll find it too fluffy at this point in my life. I sure was reading a lot of books about women's friendships back in the late 90s. 

Updated Thoughts (2022):

I tried to read this again (didn't realize it would be for the 3rd time), but I was bored after just a few pages and called it quits. It must have spoken to my younger self in 1999 & 2001.

"This ode to the friendships between women could easily become the northern version of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." ~ Booklist

Looking Back - Marchlands

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Marchlands by Karla Kuban

Fiction

1999 Scribner (first published in 1998)

Read in December 1999

Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

Fifteen-year-old Sophie Behr is carrying the child of a Mexican ranch hand on the thousand-acre sheep ranch where she lives with her tough, bitter, and unstable mother, Willy. When Willy reacts to the pregnancy with an act of astonishing cruelty, Sophie flees and embarks on a search for her long-absent father. Her encounter with him, however, proves to be another painful step in her journey from childhood to adulthood; his disturbing revelations about the family's past quickly drive her away. Finally, finding refuge with her grandmother, she gives birth to her baby and returns to her beloved ranch with a new found strength and determination.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Fair. Wouldn't recommend. I didn't care for the author's writing style. The narrative jumped around a lot. Free association? I finished the book, so it wasn't terrible, just not worthwhile.

My Current Thoughts:

Nope. No memory of this book at all. I wonder what in the world possessed me to read it?

Looking Back - East of the Mountains

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

East of the Mountains by David Guterson

Fiction

1999 Harcourt Brace and Company

Read in December 1999

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

It is mid-October, 1997, harvest time in the Columbia Basin of central Washington state, a rich apple- and pear-growing region. Ben Givens, recently widowed, is a retired heart surgeon, once admired for his steadiness of hand, his precision, his endurance. He has terminal colon cancer. While Ben does not readily accept defeat, he is determined to avoid suffering rather than engage it. And so, accompanied by his two hunting dogs, he sets out through the mythic American West-sage deserts, yawning canyons, dusty ranches, vast orchards-on his last hunt. The main issues for Ben as a doctor had been tactical and so it would be with his death. But he hadn't considered the persuasiveness of memory-the promise he made to his wife Rachel, the love of his life, during World War II. Or life's mystery. On his journey he meets a young couple who are "forever," a drifter offering left-handed advice that might lessen the pain, a veterinarian with a touch only a heart surgeon would recognize, a rancher bent on destruction, a migrant worker who tests Ben's ability to understand. And just when he thinks there is no turning back, nothing to lose that wasn't lost, his power of intervention is called upon and his very identity tested. Full of humanity, passion, and moral honesty, East of the Mountains is a bold and beautiful novel of personal discovery.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

As I began reading this book, I thought it wasn't very good and it wasn't holding my interest. I continued reading and am glad I did. I thought it was pretty good. I was curious about Ben and what he would decide to do with his life. I found the dialogue a bit stiff, but enjoyed the flashbacks to when he met Rachel and his Army experiences. Lots of detail in some of those passages. Maybe a little overdone.

My Current Thoughts:

I loved Guterson's debut novel, Snow Falling on Cedars, which I've read a couple of times, so I was excited about this new novel. I enjoyed most of the writing, but remember that it was pretty slow at times and not nearly as good as his first book. 

Looking Back - Jewel

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Jewel by Bret Lott

Fiction

1999 Pocket Books (first published in 1991)

Read in December 1999

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Jewel is the story of how quickly a life can change; how, like lightning, an unforeseen event can set us on a course without reason or compass. 

In the backwoods of Mississippi, a land of honeysuckle and grapevine, Jewel and her husband, Leston, are truly blessed; they have five fine children. When Brenda Kay is born in 1943, Jewel gives thanks for a healthy baby, last-born and most welcome.

In this story of a woman's devotion to the child who is both her burden and God's singular way of smiling on her, Bret Lott has created a mother-daughter relationship of matchless intensity and beauty, and one of the finest, most indomitable heroines in contemporary American fiction.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Beautifully written! I admired Jewel's strength and courage, as well as her commitment to her marriage. I will definitely read more of Lott's books. He captured the female voice just well as Wally Lamb did with She's Come Undone.

My Current Thoughts:

I remember reading this with an online book group. I no longer own my copy, but would like to read it again. Maybe I'll see about getting it on audio.

Looking Back - The Pilot's Wife

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve

Fortune Rocks #3

Fiction

1998 Little, Brown and Company

Read in November 1999

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A pilot's wife is taught to be prepared for the late-night knock at the door. But when Kathryn Lyons receives word that a plane flown by her husband, Jack, has exploded near the coast of Ireland, she confronts the unfathomable - one startling revelation at a time. Soon drawn into a maelstrom of publicity fueled by rumors that Jack led a secret life, Kathryn sets out to learn who her husband really was, whatever that knowledge might cost. Her search propels this taut, impassioned novel as it movingly explores the question, How well can we really know another person?

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Wonderful! I read it in 24 hours. Couldn't put it down. If I weren't working, I would have read it in a couple of hours. Heartbreaking. Not too predictable. Wonderful character development. I felt Kathryn's pain, disappointment and anger. I like Shreve's writing style and will read more of her books.

My Current Thoughts:

The Pilot's Wife is the first book that I read of Anita Shreve's and I was instantly a fan, going on to read several more of her novels over the coming decades. At the time, I didn't realize that the book was part of a trilogy and it was several more years before I read Fortune's Rocks and Sea Glass. It's been nearly a decade since I last read anything by this popular author, but I see that I have a copy of Testimony in my TBR bookcase, so I'll add it to my fall reading list. I also plan to spend a month re-reading some of my favorites and I may include The Pilot's Wife in my stack.

Looking Back - The Dreyfus Affair

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

The Dreyfus Affair: A Love Story by Peter Lefcourt

Fiction

1992 Random House

Read in November 1999

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

When a star shortstop falls in love with the second baseman, the result is a provocative and rollicking odyssey through an unforgettable World Series Championship season. What this does to their lives, families, team, and the President of the US is hilarious, poignant, brilliant, and dazzling fun.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Very entertaining! Shortstop falls in love with the second baseman. Has to accept his sexuality. Very funny and readable. Would make a great movie.

My Current Thoughts:

I have no memory at all of this book, but it sounds like it might be a fun re-read. The publisher's blurb is brief, so I'll leave you with a blurb from Publishers Weekly:

This seriocomic second novel by the author of The Deal tells the offbeat story of baseball star Randy Dreyfus, whose life--on the surface, at least--seems a winning streak that will never end. His manager tells him, "You're 28 years old. You got the best swing since Ted Williams. You're the fastest white guy in the league. You've got a nice wife, a family, you're pulling down two point three a year, not to mention the TV and merchandising money." However, Dreyfus has one big problem--he has fallen in love with D. J., the team's second baseman--as well as a few smaller ones: his wife thinks he's sleeping with another woman, his shrink is driving him crazy and he wants to kill his unruly Dalmatian. When Dreyfus and D. J. are caught in the act under most bizarre circumstances, the political and professional fallout affects the World Series and the White House alike. Lefcourt employs a smoothly smart-alecky tone reminiscent of Dan Jenkins's football fiction, albeit without Jenkins's expert handling of the locker-room milieu. The tone grates after a while, but the novel is not without moments of genuine wit. Although the finale is more whimper than bang, the book's zany charm has a cumulative impact.

Looking Back - Glorie

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Glorie by Caryn James

Fiction

1999 Penguin Books (first published in 1998)

Read in November 1999

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

The unlikely heroine of this remarkable first novel is Glorie, an independent-minded octogenarian widow who still talks to her dead husband. Pampered by fifty years of marriage to a man she truly loved, Glorie finds that coping with life alone is a lot easier if you have some company. Despite her daughter's and other friends' well-meaning attempts to console her, Glorie is doing just fine, thank you very much -- except that sometimes things just seem to be slipping out of her grasp. Poignant and wise, funny and real, this portrait of an indomitable, fallible, and fragile woman will pull at your heartstrings as it buoys your spirit. With Glorie, New York Times critic Caryn James has written an unforgettable tale of memory and the persistence of love.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Quick read. Funny. Cute. Octogenarian widow lives in her home during the day, but spends the night across the street at her daughter's house. She worries about burglars. She carries on conversations with her dead husband. Not great, but it held my interest.

My Current Thoughts:

I wonder how in the world I came across this novel. I'm not familiar with the author and am pretty sure I never noticed the book on the shelves in all the years I worked in a bookstore. Someone must have recommended it to me. I think, in spite of my average rating, I would like to reread this one.

Looking Back - 'Tis

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

'Tis by Frank McCourt

Nonfiction - Memoir

1999 Flamingo

Read in November 1999

Rating: 2.5/5 (OK)

Publisher's Blurb:

The sequel to Frank McCourt's memoir of his Irish Catholic boyhood, Angela's Ashes, picks up the story in October 1949, upon his arrival in America. Though he was born in New York, the family had returned to Ireland due to poor prospects in the United States. Now back on American soil, this awkward 19-year-old, with his "pimply face, sore eyes, and bad teeth," has little in common with the healthy, self-assured college students he sees on the subway and dreams of joining in the classroom. Initially, his American experience is as harrowing as his impoverished youth in Ireland, including two of the grimmest Christmases ever described in literature. McCourt views the U.S. through the same sharp eye and with the same dark humor that distinguished his first memoir: race prejudice, casual cruelty, and dead-end jobs weigh on his spirits as he searches for a way out. A glimpse of hope comes from the army, where he acquires some white-collar skills, and from New York University, which admits him without a high school diploma. But the journey toward his position teaching creative writing at Stuyvesant High School is neither quick nor easy. Fortunately, McCourt's openness to every variety of human emotion and longing remains exceptional; even the most damaged, difficult people he encounters are richly rendered individuals with whom the reader can't help but feel uncomfortable kinship. The magical prose, with its singing Irish cadences, brings grandeur and beauty to the most sorrowful events, including the final scene, set in a Limerick graveyard.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

I enjoyed this sequel to Angela's Ashes, but not as much as I thought I would. It didn't hold my interest as much as McCourt's first memoir, nor did it make me laugh or cry. I don't think I'd give it a high recommendation at all.

My Current Thoughts:

I remember feeling disappointed when I read this book, especially since I enjoyed Angela's Ashes so well.

Looking Back - Plainsong

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Fiction
1999 Vintage
Read in November 1999
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A heartstrong story of family and romance, tribulation and tenacity, set on the High Plains east of Denver.

In the small town of Holt, Colorado, a high school teacher is confronted with raising his two boys alone after their mother retreats first to the bedroom, then altogether. A teenage girl—her father long since disappeared, her mother unwilling to have her in the house—is pregnant, alone herself, with nowhere to go. And out in the country, two brothers, elderly bachelors, work the family homestead, the only world they've ever known.

From these unsettled lives emerges a vision of life, and of the town and landscape that bind them together—their fates somehow overcoming the powerful circumstances of place and station, their confusion, curiosity, dignity and humor intact and resonant. As the milieu widens to embrace fully four generations, Kent Haruf displays an emotional and aesthetic authority to rival the past masters of a classic American tradition.

Utterly true to the rhythms and patterns of life, Plainsong is a novel to care about, believe in, and learn from.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

A wonderful book. Quick read. Marvelous characters. Humorous, yet serious and thought-provoking. Memorable. Would make a great movie.

My Current Thoughts:

I'm surprised I didn't give this book a perfect 5/5 rating. I remember that I loved it and the subsequent books in Haruf's Plainsong trilogy. It's time to re-read all three!

Looking Back - A Sweetness to the Soul

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

A Sweetness to the Soul by Jane Kirkpatrick
Fiction
2008 Multnomah (first published in 1995)
Finished on October 31, 1999
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

Based on historical characters and events, A Sweetness to the Soul recounts the captivating story of young, spirited Oregon pioneer Jane Herbert who at the age of twelve faces a tragedy that begins a life-long search for forgiveness and love. In the years that follow, young Jane finds herself involved in an unusual and touching romance with a dreamer sixteen years her senior, struggles to make peace with an emotionally distant mother, and fights to build a family of her own. Filled with heart-warming insight and glimpses of real-life pain, A Sweetness to the Soul paints a brilliant picture of love that conquers all obstacles and offers a powerful testimony to the miracle of God's healing power. 

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Pretty good, but nothing great. It took me a long time to get interested in the characters and want to continue reading. Not a spell-binding novel, but not completely boring. 

My Current Thoughts:

My original comments reflect a more positive reaction than my rating. Last year I tried to read another book by Kirkpatrick (The Daughter's Walk), but gave up after several chapters. I usually enjoy historical fiction, but this author is not for me.

Looking Back - When the Wind Blows

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

When the Wind Blows by James Patterson
Fiction
1998 Little, Brown and Company
Read in October 1999
Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Frannie O'Neill is a caring young veterinarian living in the Colorado Rockies, trying to erase the memory of her beloved husband's mysterious murder. It is not long before another neighbor suddenly dies, and FBI agent Kit Harrison arrives at Frannie's doorstep. Kit is hell-bent on solving the heinous case despite resounding protests from the FBI and the thrashing of his own internal demons.

Kit secretly pursues the investigation, yet witnesses keep turning up dead. Then Frannie stumbles upon an astonishing discovery in the nearby woods, and their lives are altered in ways they could never have imagined. Simply knowing the secret of Max -- the terrified 11-year-old girl with an amazing gift -- could mean death.

As more and more diabolical details are unearthed, the murderer's bloody trail ultimately leads the trio to an underground lab network, known as "the School." Here scientists conduct shockingly incomprehensible experiments involving children and genetic alteration.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Quick, easy read. Mindless entertainment. Would make a great movie, if done right. Flying children (?!), romance, suspense.

My Current Thoughts:

Prior to this, I had only read two other books by Patterson (the first two books in his Alex Cross series) and as I remember, I enjoyed this one about the same as those. It sounds like something Dean Koontz would write and probably a good beach read.

Looking Back - The Orphan Game

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

The Orphan Game by Ann Darby
Fiction
1999 William Morrow & Company
Read in October 1999
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

Beautifully written, wonderfully observed, and deeply felt, Ann Darby's haunting first novel marks the debut of an important voice in women's fiction. The Orphan Game tells the story of a young woman's passage from the troubled family she's longing to escape to the "family" she struggles to create when she is forced into an early adulthood.

As the war in Vietnam escalates and as brush fires are blackening the California foothills, the Harris family shatters and its members are driven to find new ways to live with one another. With an intimacy immediate and true, The Orphan Game portrays the powerful love that not only can bind a family, but can also break it apart.

Set in a quiet Southern California town in 1965, a town where the rules of the fifties haven't quite departed and the new mores of the sixties are fast encroaching, this rueful tale is told in the intertwined voices of three women: Maggie, the young woman struggling to define herself; Marian, the mother who must relinquish her; and Mrs. Rumsen, the childless great-aunt who cares for Maggie when her mother can't. As each woman tells her tale, it becomes clear that each has, in her own way, played the orphan game--taken the risk to leave home, to claim her life, and, above all, to be loved.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

An ok read, but nothing special. Just enough to keep me interested and finish the book, but not by much.

My Current Thoughts:

I suspect it was the Southern California setting that appealed to me, but apparently that wasn't enough to make for a great read. I don't remember the plot or the characters and I'll bet it was something I stumbled upon at the library.

Looking Back - Bridget Jones's Diary

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
Fiction
1999 Penguin Books (first published in 1996
Read in October 1999
Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

"123 lbs. (how is it possible to put on 4 pounds in the middle of the night? Could flesh have somehow solidified becoming denser and heavier? Repulsive, horrifying notion), alcohol units 4 (excellent), cigarettes 21 (poor but will give up totally tomorrow), number of correct lottery numbers 2 (better, but nevertheless useless)..."

Bridget Jones' Diary is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud daily chronicle of Bridget's permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement — a year in which she resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult, and learn to program the VCR.

Over the course of the year, Bridget loses a total of 72 pounds but gains a total of 74. She remains, however, optimistic. Through it all, Bridget will have you helpless with laughter, and — like millions of readers the world round — you'll find yourself shouting, "Bridget Jones is me!"

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Good. Not great, but entertaining and funny. Laughed out loud a few times. The single life problems grew tiresome and cliched, at times.

My Current Thoughts:

This book was so popular when I read it, but after thumbing through my copy, I know I won't read it a second time. The movie was pretty good, as I recall. 

Looking Back - I Capture the Castle

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Fiction
1948 Atlantic Monthly Press; Little, Brown and Company
Read in September 1999
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle's walls and her own first descent into love. By the time she pens her final entry, she has "captured the castle"-- and the heart of the reader-- in one of literature's most enchanting entertainments.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Very entertaining! Reminded me of Jane Austen and the Brontes. I laughed out loud several times and was surprised by the unpredictable ending. Couldn't put it down; didn't want it to end. Old-fashioned story of love & romance.

My Current Thoughts:

I don't remember too much about this book, but it's one I've been meaning to re-read. I have a lovely old hardcover copy on my shelf and will have to add it to my list of suggestions for my book club for 2021.

Looking Back - Dear Exile

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Dear Exile: The True Story of Two Friends Separated (for a Year) by an Ocean by Hilary Liftin and Kate Montgomery
Nonfiction
1999 Vintage
Read in September 1999
Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A funny and moving story told through the letters of two women nurturing a friendship as they are separated by distance, experience, and time.

Close friends and former college roommates, Hilary Liftin and Kate Montgomery promised to write when Kate's Peace Corps assignment took her to Africa. Over the course of a single year, they exchanged an offbeat and moving series of letters from rural Kenya to New York City and back again.

Kate, an idealistic teacher, meets unexpected realities ranging from poisonous snakes and vengeful cows to more serious hazards: a lack of money for education; a student body in revolt. Hilary, braving the singles scene in Manhattan, confronts her own realities, from unworthy suitors to job anxiety and first apartment woes. Their correspondence tells--with humor, warmth, and vivid personal detail--the story of two young women navigating their twenties in very different ways, and of the very special friendships we are sometimes lucky enough to find.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Good. Not great, but not bad. Entertaining. Quick read. 

My Current Thoughts:

I have no idea what led me to this book. Maybe, as a letter writer myself, I was drawn to the correspondence between these two women, but I don't remember a thing about their lives or this book.

Looking Back - The Inn at Lake Devine

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman
Fiction
1999 Vintage (first published 1998)
Read in September 1999
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

It's 1962 and all across America barriers are collapsing. But when Natalie Marx's mother inquires about summer accommodations in Vermont, she gets the following reply: The Inn at Lake Devine is a family-owned resort, which has been in continuous operation since 1922. Our guests who feel most comfortable here, and return year after year, are Gentiles. For twelve-year-old Natalie, who has a stubborn sense of justice, the words are not a rebuff but an infuriating, irresistible challenge.

In this beguiling novel, Elinor Lipman charts her heroine's fixation with a small bastion of genteel anti-Semitism, a fixation that will have wildly unexpected consequences on her romantic life. As Natalie tries to enter the world that has excluded her--and succeeds through the sheerest of accidents--The Inn at Lake Devine becomes a delightful and provocative romantic comedy full of sparkling social mischief.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Very entertaining, light read. Funny. Reminiscent of Lorna Landvik's Your Oasis on Flame Lake. Likeable and memorable characters.

My Current Thoughts:

The only thing I remember about this book is the humor - not the characters or plot. I had it on my shelf for many years, but decided not to keep it when we moved a few years ago. I haven't read anything else by Lipman, but I may look into some of her more recent books, especially if they're funny.

Looking Back - Turtle Moon

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Turtle Moon by Alice Hoffman
Fiction
1997 Berkley Books (first published 1992)
Read in September 1999
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Turtle Moon transports the reader to Verity, Florida, a place where anything can happen during the month of May, when migrating sea turtles come to town, mistaking the glow of the streetlights for the moon. Lucy Rosen, a transplanted New Yorker, is determined to start a new life in Verity, along with her twelve-year-old son, Keith. But neither Lucy nor Keith could begin to imagine what the town holds in store for them. Everything they’ve ever hope for, everything they’ve ever feared, begins to happen. When Julian Cash, Verity-born and fierce enough to paralyze bees with fright, enters their lives, nothing will be the same – for Lucy, and her son, or for Julian.

Sensual, suspenseful, dangerous and magical, Turtle Moon is Alice Hoffman’s most beloved book.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Very Good! I couldn't put it down, yet didn't want it to end. Magical realism. Murder mystery. Romance. Better than Here on Earth. I like her writing style. Very quick and easy to read. Good entertainment!

My Current Thoughts:

I only have a vague recollection of this novel, but it sounds like I really enjoyed it. 

Looking Back - Saying Grace

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Saying Grace by Beth Gutcheon
Fiction
1995 HarperCollins
Read in September 1999
Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Rue Shaw has everything--a much loved child, a solid marriage, and a job she loves. Saying Grace takes place in Rue's mid-life, when her daughter is leaving home, her parents are failing, her husband is restless and the school she has built is being buffeted by changes in society that affect us all. Funny, rich in detail and finally stunning, this novel presents a portrait of a tight-knit community in jeopardy, and of a charming woman whose most human failing is that she wants things to stay the same.

Saying Grace is about the fragility of human happiness and the strength of convictions, about keeping faith as a couple whether it keeps one safe or not. Beth Gutcheon has a gift for creating a world in microcosm and capturing the grace in the rhythms of everyday life.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

I liked this book, but didn't love it. There were far too many characters to keep track of and only one that I felt connected to. And, it was sad. Death, affair, separation, child abuse, etc. Not a very upbeat story and a lot of loose ends. 

My Current Thoughts:

This was the second book of Gutcheon's that I read in 1999. I don't remember anything about it and no longer own a copy, so it's definitely not one I'm likely to read again. Quite frankly, it sounds dreadful!

Looking Back - A Gracious Plenty

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

A Gracious Plenty by Sheri Reynolds
Fiction
1997 Crown
Read in August 1999
Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

In the lush and isolated cemetery of a small Southern town, Finch Nobles, the narrator of this brilliantly inventive novel, tends to the flowers and shrubs that surround the monuments of people who were not known to her while they lived but who in death have become her lifeline.

Badly burned in a household accident when she was just four, Finch grows into a courageous and feisty loner. She eschews the pity and awkward stares of the people of her hometown and discovers that if she listens closely enough, she can hear the voices of those who have gone before. Finally, when she speaks, they answer back, telling their stories in a remarkable chorus of regrets, explanations, and insights. But the infant Marcus, son of the town's mayor, died before he learned to speak and can only wail away the hours. The roots of his anguish are revealed in a crescendo of lasting resonance that ties together the outcast Finch, her dead friends, and the living community outside the cemetery's gates.

With prose that is spare, yet richly poetic, Sheri Reynolds creates a vision of a world that is at once fantastic and palpably real. She teaches us that neither our capacity to suffer nor our ability to be healed ends with the grave--and that love is all we have. A Gracious Plenty is a reading experience you will not soon forget.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

What an interesting and enjoyable book! Quite imaginative. 

My Current Thoughts:

I didn't care for this one quite as much as The Rapture of Canaan, which I read a couple of years prior to this one. As with most of the books I read during this time period, I'm sure it was a book group selection. These are the only two books I've read by this author.