A Girl's Guide to Moving On by Debbie Macomber, boring and formulaic

A Girl's Guide to Moving On by Debbie Macomber
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

As a librarian, I am tasked to familiarize myself with a variety of authors. Sometimes the books of a particular author are not to my personal taste, but it is to my benefit to be familiar with what our patrons enjoy and request. I have always known about Debbie Macomber, but A Girl's Guide to Moving On is the first actual title of hers I have read. Unfortunately, this will remain an author that is not to my taste.

A Girl's Guide to Moving On is the story of Nichole and Leanne, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. Jake, Nichole's husband and Leanne's son, has been cheating on Nichole and his current girl is pregnant. Nichole determine's to leave Jake, who she believes has been unfaithful for some time.

Leanne has lived with her husband, Sean, for 35 years, but determines she will follow in Nichole's footsteps, as she has suffered from her husbands infidelity for just too many years. In addition, he cruelly undermines her self-image by telling her she is no longer attractive to him.

Both women file for divorce, with Leanne completing hers quickly, but Nichole must fight Jake every step of the way as he is not interested in splitting up. The two women become each others greatest supporters, and share their love for Nichole and Jake's young son. They set out to move on with their lives, and they start by writing down a guide to assist them. The guide contains ideas such as making new friends, staying positive, focusing on others to prevent themselves from falling into despair, etc.

Nichole starts work in a charity shop that dresses women who are starting back into the work world. She befriends Shantelle who encourages her to pursue a new relationship with Rocco, the owner of a towing company that Nichole met when she backed into a ditch. Meanwhile, Leanne begins teaching English as a second language classes in a local school. Here she meets Nikolai, a Ukrainian baker who brings her marvelous home made bread that he bakes for her alone.

The concept of the story is certainly of interest. However, a divorced woman moving on with her life is not the most unique of concepts. In addition, I found the first couple of chapters to be written in a jarringly pedestrian manner. I found myself bored very quickly. After reading a dozen chapters or so, I had had enough. I determined my theories as to how the story would proceed and moved to read the last two chapters and epilogue. Each of my theories was accurate. There were very few unique aspects to the story. Formulaic is the word that comes to mind.

Debbie Macomber is an exceedingly popular and successful author. Her many fans enjoy her formula and find comfort in the predictability of her stories. To these fans, I can recommend A Girl's Guide to Moving On. The characters are engaging, and the story is a comfortable one of women overcoming their life obstacles and moving forward to find love, fulfillment, and contentment.

However, many readers are looking for something new and original when reading. I fall into that category in most instances. I cannot recommend this title to those readers as the story is just too predictable, and in my mind, a bit dated in the ideas of today's women and their lives.

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Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show - a pleasure - 4 Stars

Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show by Daniel de Visé
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was such a pleasure to read this biography of Andy Griffith and Don Knotts. It is also kind of shocking to think I was watching the Andy Griffith show about 50 years ago as a young child.

Andy Taylor and Barney Fife were cousins and best friends on the Andy Griffith show created in the 1960's. However, the audience may not have realized the actors Andy Griffith and Don Knotts truly admired each other and were close friends until Don passed away in 2006. This biography focuses on the relationship of the two actor/comedians, both on and off-screen.

Both actors were beloved for their aw shucks characters, but we find in "Andy and Don" the more complex people they were in reality. As with most people, their lives were full of moments of self-doubt and jealousy. Both men experienced failed marriages, unemployment and losses of loved ones. However, we also see how both men stuck it out and pushed forward into successful careers, and second careers, and third careers! And, throughout, they remained friends and supporters of each other.

A very interesting telling of the lives of two men who appear on television to this day and have fans of every age. The story is told by Daniel de Vise', Don Knotts brother-in-law.

Recommended for fans of the old Andy Griffith program.

advanced copy received from Edelweiss/Above the Treeline

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Better than Fiction 2: True adventures from 30 great fiction writers by Lonely Planet - solid 5 Stars

Better than Fiction 2: True adventures from 30 great fiction writers by Lonely Planet

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A whole slew of fiction writers are asked by Lonely Planet to write a chapter telling of a travel experience they would like to share: Scary, funny, embarrassing, eye-opening, puzzling, etc. The locations are a wide variety around the world.

As you can imagine, people who write fiction for a living can write a pretty well-defined and fascinating travel tale. The descriptions of the people, locations, foods, etc. are amazing. The authors are simply travelers like ourselves, experiencing new locations or beloved locations. However, they have the advantage over us as they have the advanced language to truly bring the travel experience to life.

I have not read the first version of Better than Fiction, but I certainly will now. This is a wonderful book - highly recommended for those who love to travel and/or love to read about out of the way places and travel experiences. I loved it.

Recommended for purchase by my library system.
advance copy received from Edelweiss/Above the Treeline

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The Passenger by Lisa Lutz - recommended for lovers of Gone Girl and Girl on a Train 4 Stars

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

Expected publication: March 1st 2016 by Simon & Schuster

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Passenger is an interesting and thrilling ride. It is the story of a young woman taken advantage of by just too many people. In most of these cases they were allowed to continue in their lives as if nothing changed, but she must quickly find another identity and take off. We follow her across the country as she seeks some semblance of a life and a future. Why is she running, who can she trust, will she get out alive?

The Passenger starts with a death. Our heroine comes downstairs and finds her husband has fallen down the stairs and has died. It is an accidental death. Tanya has been the ordinary housewife, working side by side with her husband at their bar. So, why now does Tanya flee? Why doesn't she just stay and be Frank's widow getting the bar and everything else? She was having an affair with her chiropractor, she could continue that. But, Tanya runs, and we are left wondering why she married Frank in the first place and what she is running from.

Her first action is to contact Mr. Oliver to obtain a new name and new identity. Who is this guy? Why does she contact him? And, then, why does he try to have her killed? Her new name is Amelia, but this isn't working for her either. Luckily, she meets Blue, who is also in need of a new name. Her real name is Deborah, so the two of them switch identities, and off they run, both needing a new life.

In the meantime, we see Tanya/Amelia/Deborah emailing Ryan and signing her emails Jo. This is when we discover our heroine is truly running from something she has done in her hometown. Ryan (his real name) is part of that something, and loves Jo. Their emails are the only time Jo is her real self. What happened?

The Passenger is a very quick read and I expect it to appeal to the same readers who enjoyed Gone Girl and Girl on a Train. This is not great literature, but that is not the intent. It is the story of a young, naive girl who trusted too much and was truly taken advantage of by people who wanted to protect their own. But, her new life, or lack of a life, changes her and creates even more problems. Will she ever find a way out?

I really enjoyed The Passenger. It truly is a roller coaster ride full of intrigue. The marketing plan tells the reader to "buckle-up", and really, you should. I give it four stars and think it will be very popular when it comes out.

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Mastering Basic Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell - Step by Step and Very Well Written

Mastering Basic Cheesemaking: The Fun and Fundamentals of Making Cheese at Home by Gianaclis Caldwell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For anyone interested in learning about cheese and how to make it, this is a really well done guide.

Gianaclis Caldwell is a professional cheese maker who has written a text book for those interested in learning to make cheese. The book is not really one you would sit down to read. Instead it is a series of lessons. The lessons increase in difficulty and demonstrate not only how to make a specific form of cheese, but also provide a technique that can be built upon by the student.

Mastering Basic Cheesemaking starts with some historic background on the making of cheese. It is fascinating to see how similar forms of cheese have popped up around the world. But, the history lesson also includes some of the fundamental science behind cheese by describing the most likely methods used by primitive humans, and how those processes have evolved.

We then move on to the ingredients of cheese making, including the milk, the acid, the coagulant, the salt, etc. A discussion of the tools and processes then rounds out the introduction. Then each chapter becomes a lesson with the student learning a new process and recipe. The author recommends doing the lessons in order, as they are not simply recipes, but techniques that will be utilized further along as the reader becomes a more accomplished cheese maker.

What I liked about the lessons is how clear they are. All of the tools and ingredients are listed to help the reader gather everything they will need. A very high level list of steps is provided with a time approximation. Finally come the step by step instructions for completing the lesson, including troubleshooting techniques.

I have not started any of the lessons, but I am excited to give them a try. This book looks like a really fine way to get started at making cheese at home with a well-developed curriculum that is step by step easy to follow. I will update this review after trying a lesson or two.

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