I am a big reader, always have been. My parents didn’t read much but my grandmother and aunt sure did. If there was a long drive, or spending time at the family cabin, or just relaxing in the living room, you better believe they were reading. Louis L’amour was read by the grandparents, and most of the uncles. My grandmother was a fan of Harlequin but often throw them in the trash when she was done. Later on in life, she switched to Christian romance because “they waited until they were married to have sex”, to which my grandfather would reply with a chuckle, “they get married in the first chapter”. Probably around the time I was 9 or 10, my aunt started lending me her Trixie Belden novels that she had saved from her own youth; those were the best! I then moved on to the Sweet Valley High and other Young Adult novels from the 80’s. By the time I was in my late teens, my aunt was handing me over her Danielle Steele books. Now, all these years later, I host a book club every month. There are a few of us “base members” and we trade months choosing. So, if you’re looking for something to read, and would even like book club questions to go with it, here you go! Don’t worry, I don’t give anything major plot twists away.
We love Chanel Cleeton’s other two books about the Perez family, Next Year in Havana & When We Left Cuba. So, we chose this for our July 2020 book club pick.
What do you do when the author replies to your Instagram post suggesting this book? You read it, and get lost in the world of 1970, 2001, and 2013, wondering what you would do if your child had a heart condition that could not be corrected in 1970… Make sure that all of your chores are done because you WILL NOT want to put this down.
You can hear each drag of the cigarette, each sip of whiskey… You can see the men crossing their arms while they lean back in their chairs, the women fidgeting by touching their hair, and each person casting their eyes downward as they admit their histories. This is a book that will take you back to when sex, drugs, and rock & roll was the reality for musicians with dreams of singing their music to the people, and getting caught up in its world.
The story about a young girl that learns that the fairy tales her granny used to tell her, are actually special lessons about people.
One Family, One Last Summer….
Per Amazon, “The heartbreaking, yet hopeful, story of a mother and daughter struggling to be a family without the one person who holds them together—a perfect summer read for fans of Jojo Moyes”.
Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from a friend. Book cover and photo are credited to Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website or my own.