Hangin' out

Still too hot to do anything but sit on top of a tree, apparently.

Book review: Here, Home, Hope by Kaira Rouda

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I'm not a fan of anything "chick lit". Catchwords like "inspiring", "upbeat", and "moving" make me gag (the last book I really enjoyed was "World War Z - An Oral History of the Zombie War", for chrissake). So, why did I sign up to review a book named "Here, Home, Hope" by Kaira Rouda? Because I'm a greedy bitch and love free books? Possibly.

So anyway, the book arrived, with a weird, chick lit-y cover involving hydrangeas and women's legs and scroll designs in light blue, and I immediately hid it under a stack of other books. Eventually, the slightly urgent sounding emails from One2OneNetwork.com - the online women's network I got the book from - made me cautiously start reading it, and, well, I read the whole book in less than two days!

The story is basically about a middle aged housewife named Kelly. Kelly is in a midlife crisis, just had a breast cancer scare, and is even - gasp! slightly depressed, since she hasn't worked a job in a long time, her kids don't really need her any more, and her girlfriends are oh-so successful (and of course beautiful!) businesswomen. So, she devises a plan (using lots of post-its to write her numerous resolutions on) to give her life a makeover. Here's where it all turns a little Desperate Housewife-y - the neighbors and girlfriends are actually all stuck in some relationship dramas, have anorexic kids (that Kelly ends up taking care of, aww!), just got fired etc. All the drama leads to, of course, a super happy ending, mid-life reinvention, a successful new business as a home stager, great sex, female empowerment for everyone!, etc.

I never really related to the heroine or the style of writing (although at times nicely humorous, it's trying a little too hard to emulate a "Bridget Jones' Diary" style of wry, self-deprecating internal conversations). I did not laugh out loud or need a box of Kleenex while reading. I DID, however, find it entertaining and a quick, fun little read. So there. Now off to reading Mark Helprin's "Winter's Tale".

*I received a copy of this book from One2One Network to review.*

Salad weather!... followed by mini banana cupcakes! Because, what you REALLY want to do in 100+ degree weather is turn on the oven for an extended period of time (well, I do - it was worth it for that frosting alone!)

Cat in his tree

Apparently very comfy... btw he's just yawning, but look at those teeth!

Gotta love Kansas City's Loose Park and its rose garden (even in 100 degrees and right after eating Indian food. It was HOT!)