Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion: A Novel by Fannie Flagg, read by the author



The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion: A Novel by Fannie Flagg, read by the author

This is my new favorite Fannie Flagg book! This had just the right amount of humor, emotion, and family drama to make it a perfect mix and a great story.

Mrs. Sookie Poole has accidently found out some life altering information, that changes how she sees herself  and who she thinks she is,  which honestly she was already struggling with before any of this happened, since she just married off her last daughter. She has an overbearing mother who she thinks is never happy with anything Sookie does. She is lucky that she has a wonderful, understanding husband and great kids that help her through this difficult time.

We also meet Fritzi  in the 1940’s, her family runs a gas station but when her father takes sick and her brother is sent off to war the girls of the family take over the station and make it a big hit with an all-girl staff. This works for a while but what Fritzi really loves to do is fly, and here is where we learn some great history of the WAF’s and how these sister’s became an integral part of that, it was a great history lesson of a little known part of the stateside war effort.

This was somewhat of a coming of age book for Sookie, she became something so much more than she ever thought she could be by the end but what I loved is that her kids and husband knew how great she was all along but she couldn’t see it. There is some great laugh out loud moments, and the relationship between Sookie and her mother Lenore is interesting and makes you realize sometimes people don’t see you the way you think they do.(and vice versa)

I loved this book and when I finished it I thought about starting over from the beginning again.

As always Fannie Flagg is one of those rare breed of authors that excels at reading their own work, try the audio you won’t be disappointed!


5 Stars


I actually won an Early Review copy of this book from Librarything but I didn’t get my copy yet and I’ve been waiting for this far too long to wait any longer than I had to, so I bought the audiobook.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Audiobook Marathon LIVE An ALS Charity Event

This event is personal to me because I lost my Godmother and namesake to this awful disease. If you love audiobooks and/or would like to help out this wonderful cause, check out the poster below!

You don't have to attend the live event to participate, there is an online auction here with proceeds going to ALS research.

Here is a list of events and some of the auction items.


Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Seven for a Secret By, Lyndsay Faye narrated by, Steven Boyer


Seven for a Secret (Timothy Wilde Mysteries #2)  By, Lyndsay Faye narrated by, Steven Boyer

I sort of finished Seven for a Secret by, Lyndsay Faye narrated Steven Boyer, I say sort of because I dnf'd it with about an hour left I just didn't care to listen anymore and I am not sure if the story got boring or if the narrator sounded bored so I was too. I wanted to like this book so much, since I loved Faye's Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson but it just didn't do it for me.

This book reminded me of the TV show Copper which I love but this story got a bit long winded for me and by the end I just wanted it over. The middle of the story was interesting and she does give a great feel of New York in this time period, but I just wanted her to get on with the story and have it come to a conclusion. The copper star in this book Tim Wilde at times doesn’t seem too bright, and I felt that even for an abolitionist he seemed pretty forward thinking, again in that way it reminded me of the show Copper, and possibly that is why I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would because of the comparisons.

Steven Boyer’s narration was really good at times, let me clarify the main character had this kind of boring one note dialect he sounded bored or depressed but his other characters and accents were very well done including a southern woman that I thought was very good, I think that may be why the main characters voice was so strikingly boring compared to all the other great voices he did.

I will read more Lyndsay Faye books as I said I absolutely loved Dust & Shadow and if she writes more Holmes books I will be thrilled, however I probably won’t read anymore in this series or if I do I will read them in paperform.

3 stars


I received the paperbook from Librarything Early Reviewers but got behind and bought it on audio. 

Monday, November 4, 2013

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen


Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

Another great book from Sarah Addison Allen, it’s magically beautiful! Now, I have to tell you, there is a bit of predictability to this book BUT it is the journey they take to get there that makes it so worth the read.

There are two stories at the beginning of this book that eventually intertwine the story of Kate who a year ago lost her husband and has been sleepwalking through life not being present in her or her daughter Devin’s life, in fact, in that year she has let her mother in law, Cricket , pretty much take over her life, which is ironic considering her husband always wanted her out of their lives. Then we have the story of Eby Kate’s great aunt who in the 60’s married the love of her life, George, who was also very rich not that Eby ever cared about that, while they are in Paris they meet Lisette (I won’t tell you how …Spoilers). When they finally come back to the states Eby’s family just wants and wants so Eby & George get rid of their money and buy a hotel/resort in Georgia called Lost Lake and are very happy for many years. Kate spent one glorious summer there when she was 12 and when she & Devin find an old postcard Eby sent to Kate years ago they decide to go visit Lost Lake much to the chagrin of her over bearing mother in law.

Devin & Lisette have become my new favorite characters from this author. I love Devin she is precocious yet so wise beyond her years she sees her mother sleepwalk through a year after Devin’s father dies and now that her mom is awake again she just wants things to work out and they aren’t going to work out moving in with her grandmother Cricket. Devin’s journey is so magical and wonderful. I just love her I can’t help it. Lisette is such an interesting character and I truly fell in love with her quiet wisdom too. I enjoyed every scene she was in. There is a slew of interesting characters besides the ones I have already mentioned, there is Selma and her charms, and Bulahdeen is hilariously over the top. These two ladies have been coming to Lost Lake for years and cracked me up most of the time, I loved that the author gave us a good background on these characters and not just here they are.


As with other Addison books there is some big time magical realism going on here in more ways than one which made this one unique, there are a few different magical realism stories here and they are so different yet the way they fit into this story is so well done that I believed it all.

All this makes this book almost impossible to put down, between the magical story and the great characters this is a must read especially if you are a southern fiction fan or a fan of magical realism.

Sarah Addison Allen did not disappoint in this long awaited book and I am so glad she updated her fans on her breast cancer progress that she has had 2 clean scans.. Hoorah!

5 Stars

Full Disclosure I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss & the Publisher for a fair and honest review.