The Way Life Should be: A Novel

By Christina Baker Kline

On both the inside flap and the back of this book, there is heavy praise from well known writers like Anita Shreve and Jacquelyn Mitchard, as well as rave reviews from publications such as the Boston Globe. I must be a pretty tough critic because I was not overly impressed. Kline starts out with a cute story about a Jersey girl trying to make it big in Manhattan as an event planner. One day at work, Angela finds an ad for an internet dating site that asks, “Do Soulmates Exist?” As she peruses the various listings, she stumbles upon “MaineCatch” who is, not surprisingly, a fisherman in Maine with a quaint seaside cottage, rugged good looks and an adorable dog named Sam. They email, phone and eventually share a romantic one night tryst in Boston. Sounds perfect so far, right?

This is when the story starts to unravel. Unfortunately, Angela’s new love distracts her from an important museum event she’s working on. She makes a fatal mistake that ruins the party and suddenly finds herself jobless, her reputation ruined. She immediately decides to pack up all her belongings and go to Maine to be with MaineCatch, even though she barely knows him. This move also turns out to be a huge mistake, also not surprisingly, when Angela discovers there is no seaside cottage or adorable dog, just a messy, philandering bachelor living alone in a bare, newly built condo. Although I give kudos to Angela for leaving MaineCatch, everything works out a little too perfectly for me when Angela lands on her feet, finding a slightly kooky yet charming group of friends, and a job at a coffee shop that leads her to her dream of teaching the wonders of Italian cooking to all the locals and transplants in her perfect little town. It's all a little too Lifetime movie of the week for me. The only possibly redeeming thing is that Kline included recipes for the dishes that Angela cooks at the end of the novel. I’m kind of scared to try them though; what if they turn out to be as bland as this book?

Good Dog. Stay.

By Anna Quindlen

A short sweet book about Quindlen’s dog, Beau, originally published as an essay in Newsweek. Beau, a beautiful black Labrador Retriever puppy, was a gift to celebrate the author’s fortieth birthday. For fifteen years, Beau lived with the author, one of the few constants in the lives of her and her husband as their bodies aged, the children grew up and left home, and their careers took off. When daily life seems to have grown too painful for Beau, the author and her family must make the painful decision to let him go.
This book is only 83 pages and many of those pages are filled with large black and white photos of dogs of all kinds. Many reviewers on amazon.com complained about the book's short length. However, I think most dog owners and animal lovers will appreciate this loving tribute to a loyal companion, which also serves as a reminder that our time with loved ones, both human and non human, is limited so we shouldn't take anything for granted. I know it made me appreciate the four legged friend at my house even more!

The Department of Lost and Found: A Novel

By Allison Winn Scotch

Natalie Miller is a career woman on her way up the political ladder, with a high powered, exciting job working as a top aide to a NY Senator. Suddenly, at age 30, she is diagnosed with breast cancer despite her healthy lifestyle, and her boyfriend dumps her just a few days later. Suddenly, the things that used to seem so important don’t seem to matter at all anymore and Natalie attempts to create a support network consisting of her parents, a few close girlfriends, and later, her dog Manny and her doctor Zach, as she battles her disease.
This is my second book so far this month about a perky young woman with cancer. I didn’t know the plot of this book when I started reading it, so I guess its just a coincidence. Despite the potentially depressing subject matter, this book is surprisingly upbeat, maybe a little too upbeat for me. It was interesting to see how the cancer diagnosis slowly changes Natalie’s outlook on life for the better. You can’t help but root for her character to overcome her disease and find true love and just be happy. I wish I could believe that this is what cancer is really like. Maybe for some people, it is. This one was just okay for me.

Atonement

By Ian McEwan

For years, I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews of this novel. It seemed a little too literary for me, so I never picked up a copy. However, after watching previews for the upcoming film and reading one glowing review after another (with each one mentioning a big twist ending), my interest was piqued once again. It is undoubtedly one of the best books I’ve ever read. I fell completely for the love story between Cecelia and Robbie and loved Ian McEwan’s beautiful writing style, fascinating characters and unpredictable plot twists. It was just a fantastic book, even though I must admit was hoping for a happier ending.
Can’t wait to see the movie now.

Necessary Arrangements: A Novel

By Tanya Michna

Sisters Asia and Lucy Swenson have always been best friends despite their many differences: Asia is the confident, smart one with a great career while Lucy is the sensitive, nice one with lots of friends. In an unbelievable coincidence, on the same day that Asia is preparing to tell her family that her breast cancer has recurred after a brief remission and metastasized to her bones, Lucy is also planning to announce her engagement to her boyfriend Michael. Lucy is determined to have Asia stand beside her at the ceremony and plans a wedding just a few months away. As the family tries to happily make the wedding arrangements, they must also deal with the sadness of Asia’s medical treatments and deteriorating health. Lucy cheerfully supports Asia anyway she can as her life slowly changes at work (reducing her workload) and in love (reluctantly falling for a charming coworker).
This book was just okay for me. On one hand, it was good to find a book about this serious and important topic that families deal with every day. Michna’s attempt at portraying this bittersweet and challenging situation is appreciated. However, the level of writing never really rises above typical “chick lit” and I couldn’t help thinking that in the hands of a more ambitious writer, this might have been a much better book.

Ivy Briefs: True Tales of a Neurotic Law Student

By Martha Kimes

No one was more surprised about her acceptance into Columbia Law School than Martha Kimes. Stuck in that purgatory-like state between college graduation and a career, Martha wasn’t sure what to do with the rest of her life after she graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She’d always excelled at multiple choice exams and being a lawyer sounded intriguing, so she decided to take the LSAT. She was shocked when she scored in the 98th percentile; hello, Ivy League! She’d always wanted to live in the Big Apple so upon her acceptance into the best law school in NYC, she and her college boyfriend got married and moved to Manhattan.

Martha soon discovers that law school is incredibly difficult, extremely competitive and completely exhausting. “Conventional wisdom holds that during your first year of law school, they scare you to death, during your second year, they work you to death, and during your third year they bore you to death.” In addition to attending classes, completing mountains of assigned reading and passing grueling exams, Martha must also participate in moot court, write for a law journal (preferably the most prestigious one, Columbia Law Review), complete important summer internships AND pass the bar exam. Her first year grades will determine her entire future.
If you've ever considered attending law school or even if you just enjoy a good law-related tv show like LA Law or Law and Order, this is a fascinating look at what it's like to attend one of the best schools in the country. It was both entertaining and informative, and hard to put down. Hopefully, Ms. Kimes will write another great book about her life as a lawyer!

Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited

By Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein

“Twins have been seen on sonogram images in the womb kissing, punching and embracing. Clearly, a powerful connection between twins begins even before birth. Nevertheless, having shared the womb together for nine months, when we met at age thirty-five, we were strangers…”

In the fall of 2002, Elyse Schein, an American filmmaker living in Paris, submitted an internet request for information about her birth parents at age thirty-three; it was a decision that changed her life forever. Elyse had always known that she was adopted and although her mother died when she was just 6 years old and her family was not extremely close, she loved her father and brothers very much. Soon, she received some startling information: she has an identical twin sister who was adopted by another family. Elyse was ecstatic; she always felt like she was missing something in her life and suddenly things make sense.
Paula, on the other hand, was happily living in Brooklyn with her husband and baby daughter, not even thinking about searching for her birth parents. When she was contacted by the adoption agency and told that she has a twin sister who is looking for her, she was completely stunned. Paula had lived a mostly happy life, with wealthy adoptive parents, and an Ivy league education. At first, she was overwhelmed and very apprehensive about having a twin.
The sisters nervously made plans to meet each other, each afraid of losing their individuality and seeing a stranger with the same face as theirs. Slowly, they began to get to know and trust each other, discovering many shared characteristics and interests.

Further research into their background made both women wonder why a highly respected adoption agency would separate twins and what happened to their birth parents. The further they dig, the more disturbing the results are. They later learned that their mother was bi-polar and hospitalized in a Staten Island mental hospital for a suicide attempt weeks before they were born, that she did not know who their father was, but realized that she could not care for a baby. Elyse and Paula were unknowingly part of a controversial experiment conducted by the adoption agency for a study about nature v. nurture in children with a history of mental illness in their families. Their adoptive families were never told about their twin or their mother’s schizophrenia.
This is a riveting memoir about the search for identity and family. The chapters leading up to the reunion are exciting, and so is the twins’ search for information about their birth mother. It's almost like watching a real life mystery unravel before your eyes. The sisters aren’t extremely likeable, especially Paula, who isn’t sure if she wants Elyse in her life and is hesitant at times about researching their past. There is a lot of fascinating background information about twins scattered throughout the book; I just skimmed it at times if it was too distracting. Overall though, this was an interesting and informative book.