Coming Home

Colm Tóibín’s Long Island is a sequel to his acclaimed novel Brooklyn, reuniting readers with Eilis Lacey two decades after her initial journey from Ireland to America. Set in 1976, Eilis is now settled in Lindenhurst, Long Island, with her husband, Tony Fiorello, and their two teenage children. Her seemingly tranquil life is disrupted when a stranger arrives, revealing that his wife is pregnant with Tony’s child, a revelation that propels Eilis to return to her hometown of Enniscorthy, Ireland, for the first time in twenty years.

Eilis returns to Ireland to reassess the life she built in America. She falls back in with her old friends and her former lover, stirring up long-buried emotions and forcing her to confront not only her past but also the person she has become. Torn between the familiarity of her roots and the life she has carefully constructed across the ocean, Eilis’s journey becomes one of profound self-reflection and reckoning.

Our book club was torn on this book. Some absolutely fell in love with the language and the way the story rolled along, appreciating how Tóibín delicately portrays Eilis’s struggles and the complexities of life. The novel’s exploration of the choices that define us struck a chord with many of us, offering a poignant look at the intersections of identity, loyalty, and belonging.

Others in the group, however, found the pacing slower than expected and wished for more resolution in certain plotlines. The tension between Eilis’s old and new lives, while beautifully written, left some readers craving a clearer sense of closure.

Rating: 7

Suburban Chic and Scandal: A Look at When Life Gives You Lululemons

Lauren Weisberger’s When Life Gives You Lululemons is a sparkling, witty sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, shifting the focus to the glamorous yet tumultuous life of Emily Charlton, Miranda Priestly’s sharp-tongued former assistant. Now a high-profile image consultant, Emily faces a career crisis when her A-list clientele begins to dwindle.

The story unfolds in the affluent suburbs of Greenwich, Connecticut, where Emily joins forces with her old friend Miriam, a former high-powered attorney turned stay-at-home mom, and their mutual friend Karolina, a supermodel navigating a messy public scandal. Together, they tackle Karolina’s personal and professional dilemmas, exposing the absurdities and pressures of suburban life.

Weisberger’s satirical take on wealth, privilege, and the cutthroat world of image-making is both biting and hilarious. The characters are vividly drawn, with Emily’s sardonic wit and no-nonsense attitude providing the perfect counterbalance to the novel’s more heartfelt moments. Themes of friendship, reinvention, and resilience shine throughout the narrative, making it as empowering as it is entertaining.

Our book club loved this book – it was so much fun. It was light, funny, and full of drama. We talked about how Emily and her friends navigated all the crazy society challenges with humor and grace. It certainly shows how friends can help you get through anything. Enjoy the fun.

Rating: 8.5

Summer Breeze

Jennifer Weiner is a favorite storyteller of some of our book club members.  We enjoyed Mrs. Everything last year and so for our August book club we read Big Summer.  

The novel begins with Daphne Berg, who is a plus-size woman trying to capitalize on her writing and creative abilities by showcasing her zaftig figure in a positive way drawing online support and creating her own community.  What could possibly go wrong?

The influencer idea came from a particularly cruel “mean girl” type of event instigated by her then best friend, Drue Cavanaugh.  Years later, Drue comes back into Daphne’s life and begs her to be her maid of honor at her upcoming wedding.  Huh?

Drue, the extremely rich, beautiful socialite didn’t have any real friends. At least, that’s what she told Daphne.  And she really needed her to be in the wedding.  Drue didn’t trust anyone else.  Daphne would be able to post all the events surrounding the wedding and even had an upcoming designer had agreed to dress her for the part. As we read the book, we were all screaming – don’t do it, but w’ere older and allegedly wiser.

After Daphne agrees to do this favor for Drue, all sorts of crazy things start happening.  The story line even has a murder in it. 

Weiner beautifully captures Cape Cod and the complications of female friendships especially younger women.  We would have loved more of that and less of the murder.  Weiner has a lovely, young, bubbly way of creating these moments that are so believable and accessible.  We want more of that!

Our book club talked about the social media circus and how fortunate we are not to be so engaged in it. We post on Facebook and some a little on Instagram, but cautiously.  We do choose to live out loud but not so much online. An easy, breezy read.

Rating: 7

Photo by Alexandra Lowenthal on Unsplash

Mayhem in Surburbia

Wedded Bliss. Growing up in the 1960’s I viewed marriage as something easy and gentle, like what I saw on The Donna Reed Show or Father Knows Best.  Although my parents certainly didn’t have that vibe going on. As a young child I kept trying to get them to watch the TV show and learn from it. Silly me.

Fast forward forty years. Marriage is neither easy nor gentle and a great place to find all the tension any author could ever need to keep readers reading. Lianne Moriarty gives her readers these telescopic views into her characters’ lives fleshing out all their quirks and traits. Some of them you instantly relate to, some of them hit you between the eyes shocking you, and some are elusive and you can’t quite pin them down. All of her characters have a solid realism to them, like you’ve met these people before.

Truly, Madly Guilty involves three married couples: Clementine and Sam, Erica and Oliver, and Tiffany and Vid. The story revolves around Clementine and Erica who have been friends since Clementine’s mother insisted she befriend Erica in grammar school. The relationship is lopsided at best, with Clementine grudgingly going along with her mother’s request. Even into adulthood their relationship is marred by that request and never blooms, remaining stagnant.

Moriarty loves her mayhem in suburbia and teases her reader about an incident at a barbecue through the first half of the book. She unwinds the story slowly, but with an eye on character development. By the time the incident reveals itself, the characters are well formed. Will the characters behave the way you think? Or act differently?

Tiffany and Vid are neighbors of Erica and Oliver and host the barbecue. Vid invited his neighbors over and asked them to bring that fun couple they’re friends with. While the fun people Tiffany, Vid, Sam and Clementine are having a great time together, Erica and Oliver feel left out. As the four fun people are enjoying each other, Tiffany looks at the younger couple thinking:

“Tiffany watched Sam and Clementine look at each other, their faces flushed, their pupils dilated. It would be a kindness. A public service. She could see exactly where their sex life was at.  They were tired parents of young kids.  They thought it was all over, and it wasn’t, they were still attracted to each other, they just needed a little electric shock to the system, a little stimulus, maybe some sex toys, some good-quality soft porn. She could be their good-quality soft porn.”

Well, that should have you thinking.

After the incident at the barbecue, Sam and Clementine look deeply at their lives and Erica and Oliver make some important decisions. The chaos that spins out of the barbecue will become live-altering for the two couples.

We really enjoyed this book at our meeting. We all loved Oliver. He’s the best husband out of all of them. We talked about marriage, life-trials, hoarding and other mental illnesses, and about the outcome.  We were all happy for Erica in the end. Book clubs will enjoy the discussions guaranteed to come out of this book.

Rating: 8.5

Holiday Cheer – December 2015

Holiday party 2015

 

Between Friends Book Club enjoyed another holiday party at Son Cubano in West New York on Friday.  What a view!  Our lovely clubette, Fran, graciously hosted the pre-party with a festive signature drink.  Quite tasty and strong.  Then we boarded into a shuttle and were whisked away toasting the evening with champagne.

Always the best part of the night are the people you are with.  A few of our clubettes couldn’t make it, but we soldiered on. Book club is always so much more than just reading.  Over time you come to understand and appreciate everyone for the unique person they are.

I pray we have hundreds more amazing moments and that we all grow old together, reading and laughing.

 

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August 2012

We decided to read two articles from More Magazine this month because of our scattered vacation schedules and it was only two weeks from our last book club. The first article was “Were did our friendship go wrong? by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Mitchard’s first novel “The Deep End of the Ocean,” was incredible, so I was excited to read this article in the July/August edition.

The article chronicles Mitchard’s break up with a close friend. All should note, never piss off a writer, it will come back to haunt you. Mitchard morns the lost of her friend, and you feel her anguish throughout the story. She tried hard to make up, but finally was forced to accept the fact that the friendship was over. As the group Goyte sings, “Now you’re just someone that I used to know.”

The second story was in the same issue and titled “Resilient.” It’s the true story of Michelle Glenn and her miraculous survival after being attacked by a shark. She was lucky that the boat had doctors on it. Glenn states that while in the hospital she had to focus on something every minute, or she would relive the shark attack over and over. Quite clearly Glenn took action both in the attack and the aftermath towards her recovery. The shark took a chunk out of her armpit and part of her shoulder, which hemorrhaged. It took 7 1/2 hours to get back to land. She knew it was really up to her and she forced herself to stay awake through all the pain. That’s just the beginning of her long ordeal. She is incredibly brave and full of positive feelings and that’s what it took to overcome this devastation. Quite a story. Of course, not the best story before vacation, and we definitely thought a little before going in the ocean.