loves_nurse's reviews
224 reviews

A fun middle grade book that is full of nostalgia for me personally. Different kids from different families come together to play games and explore their imaginations at the end of their childhood.

A beautifully written history of East Texas and how Juneteenth is woven into the states past. 

Karen Chilton's narration is luxurious and rich with sound.

A collection of travel and art articles, stories, poems and responses published in various books and magazines. His wonderful style of writing comes through each piece in very Tom Robbins-ish ways. Colorful comedic serious language that is worthy of the time to read and absorb his thoughts! 

This novel had twists that kept twisting right up until the end. I felt an excessive amount of information about the characters were revealed at the end of the book. I already "met" the characters and the new info reveal at the end didnt line up with how I percieved the characters. It had a cozy murder mystery thriller romance who-dun-it vibe that couldn't quite commit to any one genre or theme. 

This is my first Ephron book. I quite enjoyed the writing. Her pace and snappy humor and sharp observations went well with the themes of this book. 

Heartburn is an autobiographical novel about her own heartbreak, somewhat related to specific foods and recipies, on-the-surface-marriage woes, her two pregnancies, their Judaism, famous people group therapy, and the untapped anger/jealousy/anxiety boiling beneath. Ephron based the novel on her marriage to and divorce from her then husband, Carl Berstein. 


What I did not enjoy about the novel was her dismissive way she spoke about lesbians and her father's wife, Amelia, who was a Black woman. I'd like to say, hey, it was the 80's, but that is still not an excuse to use dismissive language. The terms "dyke" and "high yellow" were used. Very White Woman progressive almost WASP-like. I don't think SHE thought she was using the terms in a derogatory way, but that does not mean it's not the language of the opressor.

Meryl Streep narrates the audiobook version, and she was an absolute delight and performed the reading perfectly.

I would like to be helpful in reviewing this book, but this is gonna be a vibes review. I'll come back later and do a more critical review....

Adventures of our FMC continue, I really enjoyed the deeper dive and storyline of her parents and their story and how it positioned her in life.  MMC love interest is like, the most boring shadow daddy ever (imo).  And the repetitive feelings around their relationahip aren't interesting to me. I don't want to blame the book however. I'm distracted reading and just getting to the end. I will have to go back and absorb the story more. Maybe it'll hook me then?
I'll probably read the next one. 

Vampies and Angels.

I lost interest in the characters and my subscription to Everand ended. 

I lost interest in the characters. 

A collection of individual sexual fantasies. Presented in a very calm easy way that doesn't leave me feeling scandalized.  Camaraderie for the women of the world is passed thru these fantastical imaginings.