Fortune Teller

The House of Velvet and Glass

Katherine Howe

Fiction

This book started out really slow. So slow I almost abandoned it a few times. But I found myself interested in the love story and managed to stick with it until the end.

The House of Velvet and Glass is about the Allston family. Eldest daughter Sibyl is still reeling from the deaths of her mother and sister aboard the Titantic a few months ago. Her father closes himself off from everyone, and her younger brother has been kicked out of college. Then Sibyl notices the visions she begins to have, visions about her mother and sister and maybe even the future. Can she stop the people she loves from being hurt before they realize what’s happening?

There were also scenes with the mother and sister that I found non-relevant. I mean, we knew they were going to die, so those scenes had no point. I really liked Sibyl but can’t say I was drawn to anyone else. The ending was slightly disappointing, too, but I should know not to expect too much from a novel that doesn’t classify itself as a romance.

If you like Katherine Howe’s other book and you enjoy historical fiction, you might like this one. If not, skip The House of Velvet and Glass.

Get Smart

The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

A.J. Jacobs

History/Memoir

A.J. Jacobs is hilarious. I read his other book, Drop Dead Healthy, and really liked it, so I decided to pick up his first book. I’m so glad I did because I had forgotten how laugh-out-loud funny he is.

The Know-It-All begins with Mr. Jacobs telling us how he suddenly realizes how much information he has forgotten over the years and how his head is filled with all sorts of trivial crap now. Then a brilliant idea comes to him. Why not read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica set? He does so, over the course of a year, and each letter gets a chapter where he drops interesting information and talks about what’s going on in his life.

In theory, it sounds boring but Mr. Jacobs makes it very worthwhile reading. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys humor and learning new things. You will laugh and expand your brain power. Amazing!

The Fairytale is Over

Groundswell

Katie Lee

Fiction

Katie Lee is the ex-wife of Billy Joel and a semi-celebrity chef whose two cookbooks I bought (she has some pretty good Southern recipes). The difference between her book and Bethenny Frankel’s book is that her book is actually good.

Emma is a small-town Kentucky girl looking for her big screenwriting break in NYC. One day, she stumbles upon a PA job on a local movie set. It’s there that she meets Garrett, a big-time movie star. Garrett hones in one her and soon they’re dating, then engaged. But even though Emma’s in love, she’s not all that happy. When she discovers Garrett’s been cheating on her, she leaves NYC for a small town in Mexico, hoping to put her life back together. It’s there that she meets Ben, a local surfer, who teaches her how to enjoy herself again.

So yeah. Another semi-autobiographical novel written by a D-list star. Only this one’s a lot better than Skinnydipping. Emma is a sympathetic character and you root for her to succeed. Some of the other characters are quite cliché but Ms. Lee’s writing saves that. It’s a quick read and definitely for the beach.

I would recommend Groundswell to everyone.

Somewhere Only We Know

Overseas

Beatriz Williams

Fiction

Hmmm. Where to start with this one? I’m just not sure.

Overseas is the story of Kate and Julian. Kate’s an aspiring broker on Wall Street when she meets a new client, Julian. He seems quite taken with her and soon the two are sort-of dating. Until Julian drops the bomb that he’s actually a soldier from World War I who traveled through time to find her. Meanwhile, in a parallel storyline, Kate has traveled back in time to find Julian and warn him that’s he going to die and stop it before it happens. 

So yeah. Lots of time travel and wonky stuff happening here. I generally don’t tend to go for those type of books, but I’m glad I did this time. Not only is the cover awesome, but Ms. Williams is a great writer and she totally sucked me in. I didn’t fall in love with Julian and Kate as much as I would have liked, but I still found myself rooting for them. The ending confused me quite a bit, which is why I don’t like time travel books, but if you can get past logic and certain things not making much sense, you’ll enjoy this book.

I would recommend Overseas. It’s a nice love story with a good bit of history shoveled in.

A Star is Born

Skinnydipping

Bethenny Frankel

Fiction

Where to start with this hot mess? How about why I even bothered to pick it up in the first place. Of course, I can’t recall now but I assume I read a semi-good review of it somewhere and decided to to put it on my list, despite the fact that the “author” is Bethenny Frankel of the Real Housewives of New York fame.

Skinnydipping is the story of Faith, a young college grad from NYC determined to make it as an actress in LA. She moves out there and after a series of humiliating ups and downs (both personal and professional), decides to move back to New York. Then, while in the middle of launching a new vegan muffin business, she’s picked to be on an Apprentince-style show and battles it out with eleven other hopefuls to get her business to be taken seriously. Along the way she falls in love.

First of all, as you all know, I loathe reality shows. So I was none too pleased when I got to the second part of the book and realized Faith would be competing on a reality show. Can you say boring? I can. The name-dropping and showbiz stuff in LA didn’t thrill me, either. And Faith wasn’t all that interesting of a character. She was obsessed with why her parents didn’t love her and being skinny and dieting (gee, that sounds an awful lot like the author’s life). There was just too much stuff going on and too many people and plotlines fading in and out.

If you’re looking for a trashy beach read, this novel’s for you. Otherwise, skip it.