Book Review: Here I Go Again

I love basically anything Jen Lancaster writes. Seriously. I find her memoirs to be (literally) laugh out loud funny and so spot on when it comes to her observations. And that didn't change when it comes to her novels, the second being Here I Go Again.

Here I Go Again is the story of a popular girl's reality 20 years later, and how her glory days of high school have affected her current not-so-glorious present. At her high school reunion, she is made aware of the success of everyone she used to look down on has had and is then given a chance to go back and change her decisions so she too will have the life that she wants. But changing the outcome of everyone's life won't be as easy as she thought.

What I love about this book is the character development, and how Lissy eventually realizes what truly matters to her and what kind of life she wants to lead. I thought that it was hilarious, yet also had serious undertones that tugged at my heartstrings, such as the relationships between parents and children, popular kids vs. not popular kids, and of course, Lissy and the men in her life.

I also love the high school reunion concept and even though I didn't go to high school in the '80s, I loved all of the pop culture references. I have always looked forward to my high school reunion, even when I was in high school, but now that it's a year away, it doesn't seem to be as exciting as it once was. I have often wondered what effect Facebook has had on reunions, in that it used to be you would learn all about people from your past every 10 years or so, but now, you know what everyone's up to every 10 minutes or so. But what's super fun about this book is that Lissy uses Facebook in her book, which I always love to see.

Chicago Book Reviews: Ernest Hemingway

I love Ernest Hemingway, as evidenced in this book review of The Sun Also Rises and The Paris Wife. And I have been lucky enough in my travels to see two of his (many) homes.

Oak Park is where Ernest Hemingway was born and raised, and back in 2010 my mom and I were able to tour his childhood home and the museum that is also in Oak Park.

Both were very enlightening for me in terms of learning about Ernest Hemingway and his early life and how that played into the person and the writer he became. Plus, I love touring any kind of historic house. Definitely worth checking out (with the Frank Lloyd Wright houses) should you ever find yourself in Chicago.

Chicago Book Reviews: Loving Frank

One of my favorite things about reading is all of the places you can go just by opening a book. But one of my other favorite things traveling and actually seeing some of the places in a book. And since Nathan and I spent Easter weekend in Chicago, I thought I dedicate a week to the city, featuring novels that take place in or around the city.

The first of these books is Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan. I read this several years ago after my mom and I took a trip to Chicago to celebrate my graduation. We actually spent the day in Oak Park outside of Chicago, which is not only a Frank Lloyd Wright destination but as we found out, an Ernest Hemingway destination. But more on Ernest tomorrow--today we're focusing on Frank.

Mom and I spent the afternoon on a walking tour checking out some of the masterpieces in the area, or as the web site calls it, the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District. Here's one of my favorites. Wouldn't you love to live here?

But back to the book. Loving Frank is the story of the relationship of Mamah Borthwick Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright, which starts when Mamah and her husband commission Frank Lloyd Wright to design a home for them. Both have spouses and children, but soon the relationship between the two quickly deepens into something deeper.

The story takes us through their affair, to Europe and back to Chicago, and we see this affair through their perspectives on how it changes their lives and the effect it has on their families, particularly their children. We see Frank and Mamah through each other's eyes and see them grow and change over the course of the relationship.

The characters in this book are real, in that I didn't necessarily love them all of the time. But it was easy to see the love they had for each other, which is most obvious in the end. And the end. So much to say about the end, but don't want to ruin it.