Books 2019 - The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve
Rats! I thought this book was a Movie Tie-in - I googled it and it said it had been made into a "surprisingly disappointing" film. Except that when I googled this time to try to find a link for this post - no film. Gaaaah! I obviously didn't read something properly... So after all my excitement about having a Bingo! - nope. Ah well, I'm counting it for Mount TBR, so that's something! And I can return it to my friend at last... *g*
Mount TBR so far = 7/24
Lj Book Bingo Masterpost
1947. Fires are racing along the coast of Maine after a summer-long drought, ravaging thousands of acres, causing unprecedented confusion and fear.
Five months pregnant, Grace Holland is left alone to protect her two toddlers when her moody and unpredictable husband Gene joins the volunteers fighting to bring the fire under control. Along with her best friend Rosie, and Rosie's two young children, the women watch in horror as their houses go up in flames, then walk into the ocean as a last resort. They spend the night frantically trying to save their children. When dawn comes, they have miraculously survived, but their lives are forever changed and Grace's bravery is tested as never before.
First of all - wtf? Get a proofreader onto that blurb! "Along with her best friend... the women watch in horror..."? Those are the only two women you're talking about! You mean she watches in horror! Or Grace is with her best friend...and the women watch in horror... Honestly Abacas/Little Brown Book Group/Hachette!
The book was another easy read though, by which I mean it was certainly compelling and I was always happy to pick it up. It's that time and place in history which frustrates me, where women were not only expected to behave a certain way, but actually did it.
To be honest, the plot bugged me a bit too. I absolutely felt for Grace (and Rosie too) all through the book, and the drama of it kept me reading, but then it seemed as if everything just fell into Grace's lap, when she'd been presented as someone struggling to stand up for herself, but getting there. When she needed a house, there was her missing husband's dead mother's gorgeous mansion house. When she needed cash, there were her dead mother-in-laws jewels sewn up into hems that her husband probably had no idea about and were thus hers to use. When she needed a job, she was offered the first one by the first person she'd met and recognised after the fire - who just happened to the town's new young and handsome doctor who's ready to do anything for her. When she needs advice about buying a car, he knows what to do. When she needs childcare so she can work for said handsome doctor, her mother is there. When she needs to escape her abusive husband, she therefore has so much money that she can hire a nurse and housekeeper for her husband so that she/we don't feel she's abandoning an injure hero, buy her mother a new house so she's not abandoning he (hers burnt down too), and - oh look, when she doesn't know where to go that Gene can't find her, her best friend Rosie has moved to Nova Scotia, which her husband has no idea about. Oh, and the gorgeous concert pianist who was squatting in her mother-in-law's house, but was happy to convert quickly to paying rent for a room, then fall in love with her, but then have to move on for work? Well he just happens to play a gig in Nova Scotia... I mean, she deserved to be happy, and I wanted to see it, but... I wish life really did work that way. I could use a few jewels worth US$45k... *g*
All of that said, it was still well worth reading, so I hope I haven't spoilered it for you if you come across it (although I also figure that me talking about a book under a cut is kind of fair game for spoilers, and I always assume they'll be there if I'm reading a book review, so... *g*
Booklist 2019
1. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift (bookgroup)
2. You take the Hippy, I'll take Goldilocks by Gil Hale (fanfic re-read)
3. In a Land of Shadows by Gil Hale (fanfic re-read)
4. The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham (MountTBR, LjBookBingo)
5. A Walk on the Beach by E.T. (fanfic re-read)
6. Chasing the Light by Jesse Blackadder (Mount TBR, LjBookBingo)
7. November by Sebastian (fanfic re-read)
8. Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford (Mount TBR, LjBookBingo)
9. The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore (Bookgroup, LjBookBingo)
10. Cold Water Morning by Fictonwriter (fanfic)
11. All or Nothing by Kate MacLean (fanfic re-read)
12. Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (LjBookBingo, Mount TBR)
13. Chameleon's Dish by Kitty Fisher (fanfic re-read)
14. Less by Andrew Sean Greer (LjBookBingo, Mount TBR)
15. Gravity's Angel (by Jenny Parkinson?) (fanfic re-read)
16. Band Sinister by K.J. Charles (LjBookBingo, re-read on paper)
17. Whisper of a Kill by Lois Welling (fanfic re-read)
18. Redemption by Kate Maclean (fanfic re-read)
19. What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera (new book, LjBookBingo)
20. The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli (new book)
21. The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan (Mount TBR, LjBookBingo)
22. The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve (Mount TBR)
Mount TBR so far = 7/24
Lj Book Bingo Masterpost
1947. Fires are racing along the coast of Maine after a summer-long drought, ravaging thousands of acres, causing unprecedented confusion and fear.
Five months pregnant, Grace Holland is left alone to protect her two toddlers when her moody and unpredictable husband Gene joins the volunteers fighting to bring the fire under control. Along with her best friend Rosie, and Rosie's two young children, the women watch in horror as their houses go up in flames, then walk into the ocean as a last resort. They spend the night frantically trying to save their children. When dawn comes, they have miraculously survived, but their lives are forever changed and Grace's bravery is tested as never before.
First of all - wtf? Get a proofreader onto that blurb! "Along with her best friend... the women watch in horror..."? Those are the only two women you're talking about! You mean she watches in horror! Or Grace is with her best friend...and the women watch in horror... Honestly Abacas/Little Brown Book Group/Hachette!
The book was another easy read though, by which I mean it was certainly compelling and I was always happy to pick it up. It's that time and place in history which frustrates me, where women were not only expected to behave a certain way, but actually did it.
To be honest, the plot bugged me a bit too. I absolutely felt for Grace (and Rosie too) all through the book, and the drama of it kept me reading, but then it seemed as if everything just fell into Grace's lap, when she'd been presented as someone struggling to stand up for herself, but getting there. When she needed a house, there was her missing husband's dead mother's gorgeous mansion house. When she needed cash, there were her dead mother-in-laws jewels sewn up into hems that her husband probably had no idea about and were thus hers to use. When she needed a job, she was offered the first one by the first person she'd met and recognised after the fire - who just happened to the town's new young and handsome doctor who's ready to do anything for her. When she needs advice about buying a car, he knows what to do. When she needs childcare so she can work for said handsome doctor, her mother is there. When she needs to escape her abusive husband, she therefore has so much money that she can hire a nurse and housekeeper for her husband so that she/we don't feel she's abandoning an injure hero, buy her mother a new house so she's not abandoning he (hers burnt down too), and - oh look, when she doesn't know where to go that Gene can't find her, her best friend Rosie has moved to Nova Scotia, which her husband has no idea about. Oh, and the gorgeous concert pianist who was squatting in her mother-in-law's house, but was happy to convert quickly to paying rent for a room, then fall in love with her, but then have to move on for work? Well he just happens to play a gig in Nova Scotia... I mean, she deserved to be happy, and I wanted to see it, but... I wish life really did work that way. I could use a few jewels worth US$45k... *g*
All of that said, it was still well worth reading, so I hope I haven't spoilered it for you if you come across it (although I also figure that me talking about a book under a cut is kind of fair game for spoilers, and I always assume they'll be there if I'm reading a book review, so... *g*
Booklist 2019
1. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift (bookgroup)
2. You take the Hippy, I'll take Goldilocks by Gil Hale (fanfic re-read)
3. In a Land of Shadows by Gil Hale (fanfic re-read)
4. The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham (MountTBR, LjBookBingo)
5. A Walk on the Beach by E.T. (fanfic re-read)
6. Chasing the Light by Jesse Blackadder (Mount TBR, LjBookBingo)
7. November by Sebastian (fanfic re-read)
8. Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford (Mount TBR, LjBookBingo)
9. The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore (Bookgroup, LjBookBingo)
10. Cold Water Morning by Fictonwriter (fanfic)
11. All or Nothing by Kate MacLean (fanfic re-read)
12. Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (LjBookBingo, Mount TBR)
13. Chameleon's Dish by Kitty Fisher (fanfic re-read)
14. Less by Andrew Sean Greer (LjBookBingo, Mount TBR)
15. Gravity's Angel (by Jenny Parkinson?) (fanfic re-read)
16. Band Sinister by K.J. Charles (LjBookBingo, re-read on paper)
17. Whisper of a Kill by Lois Welling (fanfic re-read)
18. Redemption by Kate Maclean (fanfic re-read)
19. What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera (new book, LjBookBingo)
20. The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli (new book)
21. The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan (Mount TBR, LjBookBingo)
22. The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve (Mount TBR)