Book Review: The Matchmaker

Yesterday I finished The Matchmaker by Elin Hildebrand. The book is a light read about a woman who is determined to find love for those she loves before it is too late.

Elin Hildebrand weaves an intricate story of love - first love, companionship love, dangerous love and family love. Dabney Kimball Beech is the unofficial matchmaker of Nantucket Island. She has spent her life finding love for others yet regretting the love she lost many years ago when the man who holds her heart left the island. Fear keeps her on Nantucket. Married with a wonderful job and a grown daughter, Dabney must come to terms with the return of her first love, a stagnant marriage, a pending engagement for her daughter and life-threatening discovery.

Who doesn't want to read a book set on Nantucket in the summer during some of the coldest days of winter here in Pittsburgh? I love Elin Hildebrand's books, as predictable as some of them maybe they offer an escape to summer in a beautiful location. The books always have a story line that makes it hard to put the book down, always wanting to find out what happens next. I love her books because although the books are not a series, there are always characters that appear in more than one. The more you read, the more you realize these connections.

Obviously, I love Elin Hildebrand's books and not just because they are set on Nantucket. She's a great writer as well. I read more fiction now than I used to but there are really only three authors I highly recommend for beach reading - J. Courtney Sullivan, Jennifer Weiner and Elin Hildebrand. If you haven't read one of hers or their books, do! I normally only read them in the summer but let me tell you that reading it in the winter might have even been better! Bundle up, go to the library and check the book out and return home for a nice little escape to the beach!

Happy Reading!

My Favorite Books: A-Z (Part 1)

Vacation season is upon us, so have you picked out some books to read while you are traveling? Need some selections for book club? Why not try one of these? 

I'm always getting asked for book suggestions, so here are my favorite books from A-Z (Part 1). There is a good variety here and I tried to mark the genre of each book.

There are summary paragraphs and links to my reviews for some of them. Some were so much harder than I thought to pick just one, so there are more than one for most! And of course I'm probably forgetting some!

A

Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery (Children's, Classic)

Anne of Green Gables is the classic story of a young orphan girl who is adopted by a brother and sister who never married on the beautiful island of Prince Edward Island. Anne has a wild imagination and is always creating tales and assigning clever names to the island’s landmarks. She becomes bosom buddies with Diana Berry. Her other classmate Gilbert teases her about her hair, which is as red as carrots. The delightful story chronicles Anne’s life on PEI and the adventures she and her friends embark on. The movies are also fabulous!

Astronaut Wives Club - Lily Koppel (Nonfiction, Book Club)

Check out my GoodReads review here. The TV show is great as well.

Others: Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons (Beach Read, Fiction, Book Club), Apollo 13 (Nonfiction), All the Summer Girls (Beach Read, Fiction)

B

Bloom:Finding Beauty in the Unexpected--A Memoir - Kelle Hampton (Memoir, Book Club)

Check out my blog post about this title here.

Others: Burn for Burn (Beach Read, Teen), Bridget Jones' Diary (Fiction)

C

The Castaways - Elin Hildebrand (Beach Read, Fiction)
The Castaways starts with the death of Greg and Tess, a couple trying to recover from some marital problems. After leaving their twins with friends, the couple sets out on a sail for Martha's Vineyard, drowning on the trip. The rest of the book details the summer following their deaths and how the three other couples that Greg and Tess are friends with deal with the loss. The books is full of surprises that anything else written would give away the plot twists! This is an enjoyable beach read that reminds readers to treasure friendships and the time spent together because life is short. Fans of The Castaways should also read Summerland and Summer People by the same author.

Commencement - J. Courtney Sullivan (Fiction, Book Club)
Check out my GoodReads review here.

Others: Cheaper by the Dozen (Memoir)

D

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - Rebecca Wells (Fiction, Book Club)

E

Engagements - J. Courtney Sullivan (Fiction, Book Club)
Check out my GoodReads review here.

F

Forget-Me-Not Summer - Leila Howland (Middle Grade, Beach Read)
Check out my blog post here.

Others: First Lady from Plains (Biography), From Love Field: Our Final Hours with President John F. Kennedy (Memoir)

G

Girls from Ames - Jeffery Zaslow (Memoir, Book Club)
Check out my GoodReads post here.

Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls (Memoir, Book Club)
Check out my GoodReads post here.

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer (Fiction, Book Club)
Check out my GoodReads post here.

Others: Grayson (Memoir), Great Gatsby (Fiction, Classic, Book Club)

H

Hurricane Sisters - Dorothea Benton Frank (Fiction, Beach Reads, Book Club)
Maisy is the family matriarch in The Hurricane Sisters. The story begins with an hilarious scene where Maisy’s daughter, Liz and son-in-law, Clayton are bailing her out of jail for walking a llama down the street. Maisy is full of spunk and passionately in love with her chauffeur who is much younger and was hired by Liz and Clayton to drive her around. The story unfolds through the voices of each of the main characters but is the story of the women, the hurricane sisters, that shines through. Liz is struggling with the homosexuality of her grown son, the infidelity of her husband and the immaturity of her young daughter, Ashley. Ashley, an aspiring artist, and her roommate, Mary Beth, are living rent free in Clayton and Liz’s beach house trying to struggle with achieving their dreams or coming to terms with reality. The theme of domestic violence is woven through the story as Liz works for a domestic violence organization and Mary Beth is a survivor after witnessing her father abuse her mother growing up but when tragedy strikes within the family, they pull together and support each other with love and encouragement. The Hurricane Sisters is a beautiful story of family and the low country of South Carolina. In the end, no matter how crazy family is, the characters realize that they do need each other more than ever.

Others: An Hour Before Daylight (Memoir)

I

In Her Shoes - Jennifer Weiner (Fiction, Beach Read, Book Club)

Others: The Island (Fiction, Beach Read), I Love You, Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan (Memoir), In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir (Memoir)

J

Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot - Randy Taraborelli (Biography)

Others: Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life (Biography), Just Kids (Memoir, Book Club)

K

Kate: The Future Queen - Katie Nicholl (Biogaphy)
Check out my GoodReads review here.

Others: The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years (Biography), The Kennedy Women: The Saga of An American Family (Biography)

L

Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead - Sheryl Sandberg (Memoir, Business)
Check out my blog post here.

Others: The Last Summer of You & Me (Fiction, Beach Reads), The Last Lecture (Memoir), Leeway Cottage (Fiction, Book Club), Letters from Skye (Fiction), Life as We Knew It (Teen, Book Club), Light Between Oceans (Fiction, Book Club), Little Earthquakes (Fiction), Love Lucy (Biography)

M

Maine - J. Courtney Sullivan (Fiction, Beach Reads, Book Club)

The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards (Fiction, Book Club)

Others: Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog (Memoir), Moon Shell Beach (Fiction, Beach Reads), Mrs. Kimble (Fiction), My Dear President: Letters Between Presidents and their Wives (History), My Father, My President: A Personal Account of George H. W. Bush (Biography)

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Island Girl

It never fails. Summer starts and all I want to read is books perfect for enjoying poolside or on the dock. Typically these books take place in summer destinations I have visited and feature a group of friends. Elin Hilderbrand's books fit these requirements perfect.

I added Silver Girl to my summer reading list because I knew it would not be complete without one of Elin Hilderbrand's titles. The book was published in 2011, so its older but I'm not sure how I missed it. I treated myself to a new book a few weeks ago and this was the choice - mostly because it was a bargain book at Barnes & Noble.

As with all of Hilderbrand's books, this one takes place on Nantucket. Even though I haven't been to Nantucket in more than 10 years, after reading all of these books I feel like I visit every summer. That's because Hilderbrand gives such a wonderful tour of the island.

Island Girl follows two former best friends who retreat to the island as an escape - for one that is an escape from grief and another it is an escape to safety. Meredith Delinn has spent the majority of her adult life as a wealthy New York socialite. She served on numerous charitable boards and enjoyed a life of luxury with houses, clothes, cars and memberships to prove it. She, as well as many other investors, thought that her husband was an economic genius, making millions and billions when it seemed impossible for others. Suddenly, the luxurious lifestyle comes to an abrupt end when Freddy Delinn is accused of running a very elaborate Ponzi scheme. Soon Meredith and one of her children are also accused of being in on the cheating that lost hundreds of investors billions of dollars. Not knowing what to do when her husband is sentenced to life in prison and the press are constantly at her door, Meredith turns to her former best friend for help.

Connie and Meredith grew up together in suburban Philadelphia but as the women age Meredith's wealth and husband start to pose challenges for the friendship. Connie, a widower, is shocked to hear from her best friend and cautiously agrees to help. She herself is going through her own troubles - grief at the loss of her husband and sadness at the thought of her estranged daughter. Escape for both Connie and Meredith includes a summer at Connie's house on Nantucket. Throughout the course of the summer, the women attempt to repair their friendship and prepare for life off island come fall.

Head to the library this weekend and check out this book. Find out if life on Nantucket provides the happiness and safety these women crave.

Here are some other Hildebrand titles and reviews that I have enjoyed:

The Island

Summerland

The Castaways

Beautiful Day

Summer People

Happy Reading!