Cover Snapshot of Read Books

Sara's bookshelf: read

Crazy Little Thing
A Kiss at Midnight
The Disenchanted Widow
Hollywood Wives - The New Generation
There Goes the Bride
Table for Five
Do Not Disturb
The Husband's Secret
The Ugly Duchess
Help for the Haunted
The Power Trip
Flawless
The Haunting of Maddy Clare
Fame
Summer At Willow Lake
Barefoot
Every Crooked Nanny
The Mystery Woman
The Woodcutter
How to Be an American Housewife


Sara's favorite books »

Thursday, July 31, 2014

BEST ON THE SHELF: Great Reads for Your Book Club

My Mom has asked me to help her Book Club find some great reads, so Mom this is for you!

#1 The Hundred- Foot Journey
Satisfying and Delightful

The Hundred – Foot Journey is my top pick for Book Clubs, this is one of the best books I have read this year.

Hassan grew up in his Grandfather’s restaurant in Mumbai and from a young age had a way with ingredients in the kitchen. Hassan was lucky as his family’s restaurant was a great success and that his Grandfather valued land more than money. When tragedy strikes, Hassan and his family leave Bombay and wander aimlessly until they land in France with plans to open an Indian restaurant.

Madame Mallory is a Michelin Star Chef who is most displeased when the boisterous Indian family moves in across from her establishment. Mallory is horrified and then angry when she learns the family plans on opening an Indian restaurant, a mere one hundred feet from hers. And yet when the Indian Restaurant opens, Mallory is compelled to try it, hoping to hate it with all her might. Instead she discovers that the teenage Hassan has talent in the kitchen--to her disbelief and horror! That moment changes two lives –giving one purpose and one opportunity…

And, if that is not enough, the movie The Hundred-Foot Journey (starring Helen Mirren) comes out August 8th! Read the book and then see the movie!

#2 The Storied Life of AJ Fikry
Complicated title, fantastic book

Book lovers will enjoy this quaint little story about a small-town bookstore and the people whose lives are impacted by the books they read. AJ Fikry is the central character, a cynical bookstore owner and widower, living a lonely life above his shop. AJ has strong book opinions, is a bit of a literary snob (be still my beating heart).  Late one winter night AJ finds an abandoned baby in his store and soon he finds that his life’s purpose is renewed.

Amelia works for a publisher, her job to sell books to such stores as the small-town Island Books. Over time and through many book discussions, she breaks through AJ’s shell and develops a friendship. Detective Lambaise is the wise and dependable character, a lonely man who befriends AJ and the baby, although he is “not much of a reader.” Eventually AJ influences the Detective and he starts reading books beyond those by James Patterson. Perhaps the story is less about AJ, and more about a little bookstore and the townspeople of Alice Island.

One of my favorite quotes from the book, “You know everything you need to know about a person from the answer to the question ‘What is your favorite book?’”

Do share, what is your favorite book?