That's What She Read

This beautiful historical fiction is now available in paperback!  Highlighting a transitional decade in American history,   DREAMS   OF   FALLING by Karen White   tells the story  of  three young women battling small-town expectations as they come  of  age in the 1950s.  Bound by the dictates  of  the time and their Southern upbringings, the girls decide to keep a terrible secret that will tie them and their families together for the next five decades. 1950s Georgetown, South Carolina.  Lifelong best friends Ceecee, Margaret, and Bitty graduate from high school, bound by their shared  dreams  . . . wishes they write on ribbons and tie to an old tree. Constrained by small town expectations, they plan a last grab at freedom: a graduation trip to Myrtle Beach. But one night on the boardwalk will change everything; and the sacrifices that follow will ripple through three generations. Present day.  L...

The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves  Jonathan and Annika bring out the best in each other, finding the confidence and courage within themselves to plan a future together. What follows is a tumultuous yet tender love affair that withstands everything except the unforeseen tragedy that forces them apart, shattering their connection and leaving them to navigate their lives alone. ⁣ Jonathan and Annika are two of the most relatable characters I've ever read about. I identified so vividly with Annika and her anxiety that I felt like I learned more about myself even as I read this. She learned later in life how to react to her own anxieties and it was very comforting for me to see her journey. This is a great love story because it is so real. They don't just meet, fall in love, have a fight⁣ and break up, only to find each other years later and rekindle their relationship. There is so much more to it than that. These characters have depth, they are complicate...

“This then is the true lesson: there is nothing romantic about love. Only the most niave believe it will save them. Only the hardiest of us will survive it.” - #TheLastRomantics  by Tara Conklin ⁣ ⁣ View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jennifer Roup (@thats_what_she_read) on Feb 15, 2019 at 2:58pm PST Book Review: Thumbs up on this multidimensional story, with layer upon layer of complicated relationships and emotion; not just with the Skinner siblings, but their inner relationships with themselves and the roles they play in their family. Each of the 4 siblings is dealing with the lingering consequences of a traumatic childhood, even in adulthood. The story is told in retrospective point of view with a very interesting setting in 2079, which I found a little hard to understand at times, but the true heart of the book is the story within the story. For anyone who loves sweeping family dramas like Common...

Book Review: Elsey Come Home by Susan Conley She’s a wife, a mother, an artist who doesn’t believe in herself. When her husband Lukas tells her about a retreat called Shashan, she leaves her family for a week of rediscovering herself, waiting for that moment when she is “fixed” from her demons. Here’s an excerpt that really struck me:  “I worked hard then to remember Lukas loved me and my girls loved me and that I wasn’t being punished. I was being helped. I stayed caught between being weak and being helped and in this way Shashan called on me to clarify something about myself. Did I love myself or hate myself? Until I met Lukas, I didn’t know there were people who liked themselves even with the damage they carried…”  This is a story about choices we make, addictions we carry and how we can forgive ourselves our past and try to move on.  Elsey's attention to detail and storytelling is rich. You really get an understanding of what she is going through. Howeve...

Book Review: Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood  This book was heart-wrenching. It was the kind of story that will make any parent stop in their tracks and be awe-struck by the pain that Ginny Richardson has to endure and that's all within just the first few chapters. It's about a mother whose daughter, born with Down's Syndrome, is taken from her against her will and put into a home. It's 1969 and no one understood the gravity of their decisions in regards to those born with developmental disabilities. When Lucy is taken from her, Ginny is devastated but she’s at the mercy of her husband, who convinces her it’s best to let their daughter go. When she hears of terrible conditions at the home they've placed their daughter in, she decides nothing can stand between a mother and her daughter, no matter the cost. This book is based on true stories from a home for disable children that existed in the 1960s and the fact that it's based on things that may have actuall...

Book Review: Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and A Mother's Will To Survive, by Stephanie Land  Why you should read this: To learn empathy, to see the extreme struggle that some people face in trying to support themselves and their children without "abusing the system" because they are truly hardworking, determined people. Stephanie Land is an inspiration and I love how honest she is in the book. It's also very informative about how the government assistance program can both be a help and a hindrance.  An absolute must read- this is a memoir and also a testament to the heart and soul inside millions of mothers, parents and citizen all around the world who work hard every day, not only to live a life that means something, but also just to survive every single day.  Land's step by step accounts of how she navigated crippling poverty while also trying to raise a daughter and earn an education is eye opening, humbling and inspiring. This is a very smooth story,...

It's going to be hard to beat 2018's reading list but here is a great start! Here are just a few of the books that will be on my reading list at the beginning of this year!  Elsey Come Home by Susan Conley, Out January 15, AA Knopf  From the widely praised author of Paris Was the Place–a shattering new novel that bravely delves into the darkest corners of addiction, marriage, and motherhood.  The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin, Out February 2, William Morrow  It begins in a big yellow house with a funeral, an iron poker, and a brief variation forever known as the Pause: a free and feral summer in a middle-class Connecticut town. Caught between the predictable life they once led and an uncertain future that stretches before them, the Skinner siblings—fierce Renee, sensitive Caroline, golden boy Joe and watchful Fiona—emerge from the Pause staunchly loyal and deeply connected. Two decades later, the siblings find th...