I don’t think it’s ever happened before.

I’m slightly embarassed and rather disappointed in myself.

I didn’t read a single novel this summer. NOT A SINGLE ONE.

This from the person who used to keep book logs “for fun” in elementary school. Such a sad state of affairs.

When I received an offer to review She’s Gone Country, I jumped at the chance. A book would be delivered to my house, and since it was a review, I would have to read it! Phew. Summer reading guilt dissolved!

Except that summer got in the way, I didn’t really start reading it until this week. And since MaM started school Monday, technically, summer is already over. But the State Fair is still happening, which actually, then, in my book makes it still summer. I digress.

On the surface, the premise of She’s Gone Country sounds a lot like the movie Hope Floats (remember Harry Conick, Jr as a cowboy?), but reading a few chapters in, this book is a whole lot meatier.

The plot revolves around Shey Callen Darcy, Texan by birth, supermodel by day, doting mother of three teen boys by night. Separated from her “suddenly” gay husband, Shey returns to her family’s ranch licking her wounds and contemplating her next move.

The story unfolds nicely, as the boys’ rebel against their mother, Shey’s brothers continue to see her as a younger sister who needs protecting, and Shey’s first love enters the scene.

I won’t go into too many details, because the story moves along with surprises and twists. It’s a good read, and it involves kissing cowboys. It also involves an almost 40 yr old woman on the edge of something familiar, yet new. Of welcoming back her past, but with adult eyes. Of seeing her hometown for it’s good points and bad points, and discovering what it is she can do to help.

Much like I enjoyed Easy on the Eyes last year,
I really enjoyed this story because it’s a mature love story. It’s a story that takes time to involve the children, the work/life balance and extended family, just like real life does.

Disclosure: The Hatchette Group sent me a copy She’s Gone Country to review. The opinions are all mine.

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So racism doesn’t really come into play in our lives as a component of adoption. But of course, as a white family in midwestern Americana, I know racism does exist. Indiana has an awful history of racism and hatred. In my day-to-day life I don’t see it, but that’s because I’m white.

Anyway.

My daughter attends and I teach at a very nice suburban preschool. It is probably one of the most diverse private schools in the metro area, if not the state. My classroom is nearly 50% non-white.  Many of my daughter’s friends are children of immigrants. Children who visit grandparents in Pakistan, Kenya, New Zealand, India and South Korea. There are children who’ve been adopted internationally (and bi-racially). In central Indiana, this as diverse as it gets.

My son attends the daycare where Mam did. It’s very different from our little preschool, but his class is still nearly 50% non-white. His friends speak Spanish at home and English at the center. His first three caregivers were African-American, as are many of his playmates. I feel like my children have been exposed to as much diversity as we can get in the middle of Indiana.

Given that my children do see faces of people who don’t look like them on a daily basis, I’ve always sort of approached race by not approaching it–my thought was always not to point it out, and my children wouldn’t see it. Or they would see it, but they wouldn’t think much of it.

Then I read Nurture Shock. And realized I was wrong. The authors of Nurture Shock illustrate how children naturally sort and classify the world. If a group of children is divided by say, the color of their t-shirt, they automatically assume allegiance to their color. It makes sense. They further go on to illustrate answers children gave in regards to race, and how they do segregate the world by race, only they don’t talk about it because they’ve learned from their parents not to talk about it. Oh boy. I’m not explaining it well, but suffice it to say, after reading it, I feel like I’ve been doing a disservice to my own children as well my students.

Oh. My. Word. I have some explaining to do to my kiddos. I haven’t quite figured out how to talk to them about this, but I will. I have to. I’m their mom. If I don’t, who will????

Have some thoughts about racism? Link up at Grown in My Heart!!

Help support GIMH! Vote for our Room of Your Own at BlogHer!

Log-in to BlogHer and then vote as an attendee.(you don’t have to actually be going)

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If you are an adoptive parent, do you have a favorite children’s book on the topic? I am working on building our library on the topic…..

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Little, Brown sent me copies of Easy on the Eyes by Jane Porter and I’m So Happy For You by Lucinda Rosenfeld to toss in my beach bag this summer. It’s been too cool to go to the pool, but I’ve bee reading during naptime.

Easy on the Eyes follows the life of a successful TV host, Tiana Tomlinson, who is haunted by a tragic past. She feels like she is on top of her game, but the network execs feel like she’s aging on screen, the ultimate no-no. In her personal life, she’ s beginning to see that she is missin something, but she is afraid to let her guard down. A handsome plastic surgeon, Michael  O’Sullivan, keeps popping up in her life, and after a few chance encounters, she decides to give love a chance. As much as this book is a love story, it also shows on a personal level, the pressure women in the media and in Hollywood are under to not show their age, and how the double standard is still in practice today for men and women in media. After reading this book, I feel compelled to use more mosturizer.

I’m So Happy for You:A Novel About Best Friends, by Lucinda Rosenfeld is a look on the dirty underbelly of friendship. What, you ask, you didn’t know there was a dirty side to friendship? Neither did I. The book centers on two thirtysomething friends, in New York City. Wendy,  who is married, ttc  and gainfully employed, has a sense of superiority and mothers her jobless friend Daphne, who is involved in a nowhere affair. As the story moves along, Wendy’s life slowly unravels and Daphne’s starts to come together. As the tides change, envy rears it’s ugly, ugly head. The book gives a good portrayl of how all-consuming and depressing it can be to try to concieve a baby when the world around you is pregnant and you aren’t.  The book gets depressing though, as Wendy spirals more and more out of control. A more cynical person may find it entertaining, I found it sad and dark.

Both books are available on Amazon–happy reading!

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What I am giving away:

Little Brown would like to provide three lucky winners with both a copy of The Castaways, and A Summer Affair.

All you have to do is a leave comment here by noon on Saturday, July 11th, telling me a favorite read of yours. Make sure you leave me a way to contact you!

Once you’ve entered once by telling me your favorite read, you can earn extra entries by:

Tweeting this giveaway, and telling me that you did so in a seperate comment.

Blog about this giveaway, and telling me that you did so in a seperate comment.

Facebook this giveaway, and telling me that you did so in a seperate comment.

Good luck and happy summer reading!

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Last summer, I was able to read and review A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand, which I really enjoyed. When I was asked if I’d like a copy of Hilderbrand’s newest novel, The Castaways, I said sure! I knew there would be no twenty-something career girls roaming the streets of NYC or London to irritate me.

Elin Hilderbrand lives, breathes and writes Nantucket. A look at any one of her book covers implies that. I was curious about the title, and the story didn’t disappoint.

The Castaways is the name of a group of friends–four couples who aren’t native to Nantucket, but have called the island and each other home for a long while. Each couple has a unique history, and because Nantucket is a small place, a history with each other.

The story opens as one couple, Greg and Tess, have capsized on a sailing trip, dying and leaving their young twins without parents. The rest of the story revolves around finding out more about their rocky relationship (sure, it looked like an accident, but was it?), the couple’s relationships within their groups of friends, and how that tight-knit group handles their grief at such a shocking loss.

As much as the setting is rather somber and depressing, the book is not. The book illustrates friendship that is deep and true, friendship amongst adults that spans years of good times, and friendship that weathers the bad times. It made me think of my group of “couple” friends, and how devastating it would be to suffer a loss like this. Island living, love affairs and excessive drinking/pill taking aside, this could totally be my group of friends.

As with the other Hilderbrand novels I have read, this book begs to be taken along in a beach tote and read at the nearest beach or pool. It’s a perfect summer read that doesn’t disappoint.

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I just can’t.

Up until last summer, I still enjoyed those kinds of books. I grabbed two such pieces of chic-lit at the library last week, and about 50 pages into each, I lost interest.

SO. If you are over, say, 28 and are a fully-functioning grown up (or appear to be), tell me, what are you reading this summer???

Oh, and hey, if you like yogurt, check out my giveaway on the post below!

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In A Summer Affair, Elin Hilderbrand has crafted an idyllic setting for the most illicit of affairs. Claire Danner Crispin is married to an attractive, dedicated man and together they have built a life straight out of a magazine: a custom built home on Nantucket Island, four beautiful children, an au pair, and to top it off, a glass blowing workshop behind the house for Claire to practice her art.

Even though it looks like perfection from the outside, Claire is restless. She’s up to her ears in children’s activities, worrying about developmental milestones, laundry, and dinner preparations (sound familiar?).

Things take an interesting turn when a local philanthropist asks her to chair the biggest fundraising event of the year–and to make the item up for auction as well. I don’t want to give out any spoilers, but put the pieces together as to why the book’s title is what it is.

Hilderbrand has crafted a tale that takes you away to the island–the dialogue is real and rich, the relationships complex and there are a few plot twists. I liked how she changed perspectives–the majority of the book was written focused on Claire, but other characters get their due as well. Claire’s best friend, who is not exactly equal in social status sees the whole situation differently than her best friend. One of the characters/relationships I enjoyed the most was that of Claire and her high school sweetheart, Max. Claire calls on him to deliver for the fundraiser, and he does so with gusto. It brought to mind some the friendships I made in high school, and how yes, if any of those friends called on a whim, I do whatever I could to help them. Hiderbrand’s descriptions of their young love, of how adolescent friends know you in a way people later in life just can’t, really struck a chord.

Of course, all plot lines in the book come to a climax at the actual fundraiser, one plot line literally comes crashing down around the event.

This book kept me interested the entire time–I read it over the course of about two days. It’s available through Amazon.com, and would fit well in anyone’s beach bag!

This post is part of the MotherTalk blog tour for A Summer Affair. Check out what other bloggers have to say at MotherTalk.com!

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