Group Review: Lost Lake

Author: Sarah Addison Allen
Series:  Stand alone
Publication Date: January 21, 2014
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 304
Obtained: publisher
Genre: contemporary fiction
Rating: 4.6
Bottom Line: Magical realism at its finest.
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? GRAB!

Blurb: It happens one morning - Kate finally wakes up from the slumber she's been in since her husband's death a year ago. Feeling a fresh sense of desire to take control of her and her young daughter's life, she decides to visit Suley, Georgia-home to Lost Lake. It's where Kate spend one of her happiest summers of her life as a child. She doesn't know what she expects to find there, but it isn't a rundown place full of ghosts and oddities. Kate's beloved Aunt Eby, Lost Lake's owner, wants to sell the property and move on. She's old and Lost Lake's magic is gone. As Kate discovers that time has a way of standing still at Lost Lake can she bring the cottages--as well as her heart and the hearts of all the guests-back to life? Because sometimes lost loves aren't really lost. They're right where you left them, waiting for you to find them again.

Alice's Review:  Lost Lake is everything that is wonderful about Women’s Fiction and Chick-Lit all rolled into one.  This novel has memorable characters, a magical location and so much heart I swear I can see the pages flutter in time to a heartbeat.  The reason Lost Lake is so great is because of her author, Sarah Addison Allen.  I just adore her novels.  It’s like reading pure magic.

She is the author that you must read.  All her novels have left me enchanted and enamored with her words.  She writes about the heart from the heart.  You can feel it yourself as if it’s a tangible thing.  I know my review is more about singing her praises than focusing on the book itself.  She embodies her books.  She harnesses pure magic, she ensnares you in it and you can’t help but to keep going back for more.  My fellow bloggers and I realized she is the only author the four of us truly love and agree on.  I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

We learn so much from her as a reader:  How observant a child is, how receptive they are to change and happiness especially if it benefits those they love.  We learn love is everything.  We learn forgiveness is given and not earned.  There is so much more, but you need to read it for yourself.

So do yourself a favor, and pick up this one.  This is the kind of novel you will share.  You will think about it for a long time after you put it down.  You will wish with all your being that this mystical place was real and that you could vacation there.   You will be happy Kate woke up and you hope she has her happy ending.  You’ll wish that special child Devin was your child.  You’ll wish for half the adventure Eby had. 

As much as I loved Lost Lake, I feel this one isn’t as strong as her previous works but it’s definitely worth the read.  I feel as if telling your it isn’t as strong as the others is unfair because even though this isn’t her best, she is still head and shoulders above many other authors.

Alice's Final Take:  4/5

Jenn's Review:  I adore everything Sarah Addison Allen writes, and Lost Lake is no exception.  This one took me a little longer to get into than some of her novels, probably because we start with Ebby's story and then switch to Kate's.  Kate's story is so heartbreaking that I didn't want to be pulled in, especially after meeting her mother-in-law... and there you have it.  I'm sucked in.  Her characters are so palpable you can't help but become involved in their journey. 

Sarah Addison Allen does a fabulous job of juggling and balancing each character's story, keeping anyone charater from running away with the plot.  Devin reminds me of my own wildly imaginative, observant little girl.  (It never ceases to amaze me how much children see in the world.)  I am glad she finds her way.  Wes's story may be the most surpising of all; I certainly didn't see it coming.  There are many stories to be told here and I found myself wishing the book was twice as long so that I could get to know all of the characters a little better.  

I love that Lost Lake is a collection of misfits.  Lost Lake is a place to find yourself, or be yourself, or even just take a break from yourself.  Everyone needs a Lost Lake and Ms. Allen pens it beautifully.  It's somewhere I want to visit and maybe even stay.

Although her theme of magical realism holds strong, Ms. Allen has ventured away from food-lit, which I missed a little throughout the novel.  Food still plays an important role, just not a central or magical one.  Perhaps because of this, I found the multiple magical elements of the story unexpected.  Some were incredibly conspicuous and some completely ambiguous.  I think I prefer they be somewhere in between.

Honestly, I am looking forward to re-reading this again soon.  Really?  Yes, really-really.  There is something inherently delightful about a Sarah Addison Allen book and I think I may just see a Sarah Addison Allen reading marathon in my future.  I simply can't recommend her novels more!

Jenn's Final Take:   4.75/5

Julie's Review: Lost Lake is a magical story about love, loss, life, and friendship. Sure it's magical in the way that there is mystical parts of the novel but it's magical because of the way Ms. Allen writes her characters. They are all quirky and free-spirited but together they are wonderful.

Ms. Allen has always had a way of setting the scene that makes it a mystery and magical all in one. Lost Lake is just that. It has a history for the people of Suley, Georgia but it also has a very personal history for Wes and Kate. It is where they left their childhoods behind one summer when they were 12 for very different reasons. The book is not about Wes and Kate finding their way back to each other but it about all of the characters finding their way.

Lost Lake is a haven for the regulars who come here annually. They feel that is has given their life purpose. For Lisette, it is where she has worked for 50 years after escaping her past in France. For Jack, it's where he comes to admire Lisette from a far but will this be the last summer he sees her? Will he be brave enough to tell her his feelings? For Selma, she's on a mission to find her last husband. Can Lost Lake help her find him? For Bulahdeen, it's the fact that she comes to Lost Lake to know that things will be ok, that she can keep writing her story and changing the ending. For Eby, it's where she and George spent their happiest years together. It's where she feels the safest. For Devin, it's where she gets to be herself again without any pressure to conform. For Kate, it's where she realizes she does have what it takes to move on from the death of her husband and to be the mother Devin needs. For Wes, it's the feeling of loss, guilt and hope that keep him anchored there.

Ms. Allen makes you fall in love with each one of these characters because of the way she tells the story. Each of them brings something unique and thoughtful to the story. Each of them have a way of changing the course of the story. Each of them is control of writing and re-writing their endings. It is how they come together that makes this novel gorgeous.

Lost Lake is full of magic and mystery. It is full of life lessons. It is full of wit, humor and charm.
There were moments when I laughed and moments when I cried. Mainly I was transported to Lost Lake. I felt like I could smell the food and the moss on the trees. I felt that I was a part of the story too. Perhaps as an by-stander but still a part of it. Perhaps that is the magic of the novel, making you feel like you are one of them.

Everytime I read one of Ms. Allen's novels I feel like I'm in a trance, that's how spellbinding her writing is. I can't recommend Lost Lake highly enough. I have been in love with her novels since Garden Spells and it is a love that continues to grow.

Julie's Final Take: 5/5

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for our ARCs of this novel. We couldn't be more thrilled!

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Children's Corner: Scooby-Doo! Sight Words Box Set

We have lots of first readers around our house, but this set is one of our favorites.  Don't get me wrong, we love our BOB books, but they aren't always the most interesting subject matter.  The Disney ones are good too, but sometimes they are a little 'fluffy' too when it comes to content.  Each of the Scooby-Doo readers contains a mini-mystery.  It's great to have ones with subject matter that holds our attention.

These are meant to be read by the adult with the child reading the sight words, but we have progressed to Kidlet reading the whole of it to us, with a little assistance.  There are more of these books in the series, and I will be expanding our collection, because these books pull her in with humor and mystery.  It's a fabulous way to learn how to read.

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Julie's Review: Belle Cora

Summary: A sweeping historical novel based on the extraordinary life and times of Belle Cora, the daughter of a New York merchant who went on to become a millworker, a prostitute, a notorious madam, a murderess, and eventually one of San Francisco's richest and most revered dowagers. Some people remember her as Arabella Godwin, others as Harriet Knowles, and still more as Frances Andersen or other names too numerous to list. But let there be no confusion, this is the legendary story of Belle Cora (1828-1919), who survived by her wits and made a fortune off the greed and lust of men. Orphaned at age nine, Belle and her brother, Lewis, are sent to live with their devoutly religious aunt and uncle in rural upstate New York. Nothing can prepare her for the cruelty of her watchful, jealous cousin Agnes, who would become a lifelong rival and enemy. Yet there, Belle also meets the love of her life, Jeptha Talbot. As she blossoms into a true beauty, however, two horrendous events separate her from Jeptha and Lewis. Heartbroken, Belle flees the countryside and finds work in a mill, where she is exposed to the looser morals of hard luck women and begins to harden into the powerful, cunning woman she will become. Soon Belle finds herself in New York, where life takes a dark but alluring turn as she succumbs to the indulgent lifestyle of a highly sought-after prostitute to the city's wealthiest men. But beneath the silk and taffeta layers, she harbors a deep longing to be reunited with Jeptha, now a respected preacher. The road back to him will take her on a treacherous journey from the town houses of Manhattan to the dusty streets of San Francisco at the height of the Gold Rush. It's a road of good intentions, but paved with secrets and lies on which the conniving, sometimes ruthless Belle must transform herself again and again to get what she wants. This is the spellbinding story of the devious exploits of a singular woman ahead of her time. Be prepared to be swept away by Belle Cora. ~powells.com 

Review: Belle Cora makes it easy for a reader to fall in love with her. It's her memoir we are reading and she's being honest with us and herself at the end of her life. Plus she's lived an exciting and adventurous life in the 1800s. Life doesn't always deal Belle the life she has to live, but she doesn't feel sorry for herself. She takes the deck she's dealt and makes the best of it. Think about it, back in the 1800s there weren't a lot of opinions for women who weren't married. She did the best she could and she did it well. This book is long but Belle's story completely commands your attention.

You want to know what happens to her during each phase of her life. How does a young, privileged girl from NYC adapt to living & working on a farm in rural NY? What will happen to her as she leaves the farm and goes to work in a mill? How does she become on of the most successful madams in NYC and then San Francisco? Belle isn't always honest in her ways but she's true to herself and does what she thinks is best for those she loves.

Not only is Belle quite the character but so many of the people throughout the story are as well. One of my favorites was Charles, aka Charley, Cora. While Jeptha might have had her soul and her heart; no one understood her like Charley. Charley loved her for who she was, no matter what was her line of employment. Isn't that really all one can truly want? Charley was his own man and Belle was her own woman; they didn't need each other to be complete but they made each other whole.

I won't say that I would ever give the green light to prostitution but I will say that it seemed to be a bit safer for the girls when women were running the show instead of men. I'm not saying this is every case but the girls had a roof over their head, food in their bellies, beautiful clothes, they were looked after and they had friendships. Some who lasted a lifetime. It isn't to say that Belle didn't have her share of problems, but it seemed like she knew who to turn to when things got rough. Belle was definitely political. If there had been more options for women back then, Belle would have made one hell of a CEO. There is so much to say about this book, but really you should just read it. Mr. Margulies is a gifted story-teller.

He writes Belle Cora as a memoir within a novel. It felt like I was sitting down to tea, or maybe some whiskey with Belle and she was divulging her life story to me. I couldn't get enough of her. I kind of know how all the men around her felt. ;) It is obvious that a ton of time and research went into this novel, since Mr. Margulies uses historical figures throughout the book and the roles they played in shaping our history and the time period in which Belle lived.

I have so much love for this book, that it is hard for me to put into words. I just found Belle and her world so fascinating. There were times when the book languished in certain periods and then times when I felt that I didn't get enough about another period in her life but overall it didn't affect my feelings.

As a side note: Doubleday some pretty cool things going on to promote this book, make your way to Pinterest for a contest and/or GoogleMap to see what they've done.

Final Take: 5/5

 Thanks to Lauren Hesse at Doubleday for my ARC of the novel.

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Julie's Review: The Invention of Wings

Summary: Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world. Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimkes daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women. Kidds sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarahs eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid.We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each others destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love. As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women's rights movements. Inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented, including Handfuls cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in her search for something better. This exquisitely written novel is a triumph of storytelling that looks with unswerving eyes at a devastating wound in American history, through women whose struggles for liberation, empowerment, and expression will leave no reader unmoved. ~powells.com

Review: The Secret Life of Bees is on my top list of books of all time. Yes, it's that good. The movie is wonderful as well. For those of you wanting another Bees, The Invention of Wings is not. Now, don't go running away from it; it's brilliant. It is well-researched, well-written and a fantastic story. The women in this book are strong, even when they don't think they are being so. As in most historical fiction novel, these women are ahead of their time.

The thing is, Sarah Grimke is a true historical figure. It's not the events around this book that are fascinating it is her. It is her and Handful's story. It is a period in history that none of us like to read about because slavery makes all of us uncomfortable. What I was expecting was a story of forbidden friendship between a young girl and her handmaid, but it is and it isn't. They don't have the bond I would have thought would have developed but there is a deep caring and understanding between the two.

Sarah is on her own path that will eventually take her north to Philadelphia where she will want to claim her independence from her family and all that comes with the name. She is desperately trying to find her voice and her path in life. She sacrifices love as well as her family to pursue the thing she believes deep in her heart; slavery is morally wrong. She and her sister, Angelina, make it their lives work to end it.

Handful is smart and eager to forge her own path as well. The problem is, the path she has chosen just might get her killed. Her bond with her mother is touching and strong. They are built from the same cloth; strong and foolish. You want Handful to succeed but you also know her strong-willed temperament will do her more harm than good.

What I loved about The Invention of Wings, among many things, was the story quilt that Charlotte put together for Handful. It was a beautiful way to tell her story since she was illiterate. You could vividly picture it as you read about it. It was what kept Charlotte close to Handful for many years.

If you are looking for a fantastic way to start off 2014, then look no further than Ms. Kidd's newest novel. The Invention of Wings will leave you wondering if you could truly follow your own convictions.

The Invention of Wings will be released on 1/7/2014.



Final Take: 5/5Thank you to Viking books for my e-galley through Net Galley


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Alice & Julie's 2014 List Swap Challenge

It's that time of year again. Alice and Julie are doing their List Swap Challenge again. Although, this year it is slightly different. This year we just picked 5 books for each of us to read and one to read together. So, here they are:

Book Together:

The Time in Between by Maria Duenas  

Alice's Picks for Julie:

He's Gone by Deb Caletti
Parlor Games by Maryka Biaggio

The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffmann

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

Julie's Picks for Alice:

Six Years by Harlan Coben

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams

The Book of Someday by Dianne Dixon
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

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Julie's Review: Starter House

Summary: Promising talent Sonja Condit makes her debut with Starter House, an eerie and mesmerizing tale about a young couple whose new house holds deadly secrets from the past, sure to appeal to fans of Heart-Shaped Box and The Thirteenth Tale. From the moment Lacey sees the house with the beautiful wood staircase, she knows she’s found her dream home. Growing up rootless with her flighty mother, Ella Dane, a self-proclaimed psychic, Lacey is determined to give her unborn baby the stability she never had. But shortly after she and her husband, Eric, move in, the warm and welcoming house becomes cold and dark. There is something malevolent within these walls that wants to hurt her unborn child—a terrifying presence that only she can sense. And there is Drew, a demanding and temperamental little boy who mysteriously appears when Lacey is alone. To protect her unborn child and save her family, Lacy must discover the truth about her dream house and the troubled Drew—a decades-old mystery involving secrets, violence, and guilt—and confront an evil that has lingered in wait for years. ~harpercollins.com

Review: I don't typically do horror or creepy books. I like my thrillers with a psychological bent but Starter House peaked my interest when reading the summary. I thought "ooh, it's a mix of all the things I like in my books". Yeah, a mix it was but in a way that made you crazy.

Off the bat the husband, Eric, bothered me. He has no backbone at all. He speaks his mind but only when it's too late and cruelly. He is extremely self-centered and self-pittying. There is a point in the book when he's making a list of reasons why Lacey should come home and instead of "Because I love you" being number 1, it's number 9. That struck me as cold. Lacey isn't much better. I think I would have liked pre-marriage Lacey better. Plus as a couple I never felt the love for each other through the book. I felt that they were married for convienience or some other reason.

Starter House was all over the place. There were subplots within subplots. It was like Ms. Condit was trying to cram three different books in one. Some of the subplots were out of left field making you wonder WTF? Not necessarily in a good way. It got to the point where I just wanted to know the story with Drew and to see if they could get him out of the house. Even that resolution was a bit perplexing.

What Ms. Condit does well is to keep you in suspense throughout the novel. She knows how to hook you and keep you intrigued enough to stick with it. The downfall of the novel is that it meanders. I never sticks with one or two plots to focus on. I would definitely be interested to see how her writing changes from this debut novel to her next one. I don't think I'll run out and get it but it might be library book.

Final Take: 3/5



TLC Tour Dates:
Tuesday, December 31st: Jenn’s Bookshelves
Wednesday, January 1st: Girls Just Reading
Thursday, January 2nd: A Bookworm’s World
Monday, January 6th: Kritters Ramblings
Tuesday, January 7th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Wednesday, January 8th: BoundbyWords
Thursday, January 9th: Ace and Hoser Blook
Monday, January 13th: Sweet Southern Home
Tuesday, January 14th: Booked on a Feeling
Wednesday, January 15th: Book Addict Katie

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