A Series Of (Un)Fortunate Reviews

I ran across this book a few years ago when there was a short review about it in People magazine.  I seem to remember from the review that there was some supernatural element to Touch .  I finally got around to requesting this novel from ILL (it's not available in county).  And, well, the way this novel does supernatural is a little too subtle for me.  I don't know, maybe subtle isn't the right word.  It's like the supernatural stuff that goes down is no big deal to the characters, like it's an everyday thing that's just there, ya know. The writing was lyrical, and the book was interesting, and it did keep me reading, but I find that I'm still on the fence about what I think of this book.  It's one of those books that I feel like nothing really 'happens' even though stuff does happen, and with books like that I often wonder, 'well, what was the point?' come the end of the book, and this is one of those books.  Most of the story is to...

This is, I think, the first book that by Julie Halpern that I've read.  It's Young Adult fiction, it's a slim novel, and it's a quick read.  The novel opens on a death in the family and a betrayal between friends (drama), there's cancer (for which I was afraid I'd need tissues at the end of the story, but I did not), and a blossoming romance (awww).  This is a witty, irreverent, heartfelt, at times humorous, at others heartbreaking, tale. Alex takes the summer off from her best friend, Becca, after Becca sleeps with Alex's boyfriend at Alex's father's funeral (I said there was drama).  This is no big deal in part because Alex wasn't really 'in love' with said boyfriend.  Besides Alex and Becca have forgiven each other numerous transgressions over the many years of their friendship, so it's a given that Alex will forgive Becca come the first day of school.  Right now she just needs space to process her father's death and to att...

I actually read this book near the end of January, but I didn't get around to posting the review until now.  So technically this should be back dated to January, but blogger won't let me do that (at least I don't think it will).  I've previously read and reviewed three other Elin Hilderbrand novels: Beautiful Day , The Island , and The Castaways .  Click the titles to go to those reviews.  I also read Hilderbrand's Summerland --it was okay; I skipped a small chunk in the middle though. Silver Girl , written in the wake of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme scandal (and probably inspired in part by the scandal), has a ripped from the headlines quality.  Rather than focusing on the perpetrator of the massive fraud--in this case it was a $50 billion scheme--or those who lost their life savings, it focuses on the wife of the man who bilked thousands of people out of billions of dollars.  This is the story of the aftermath of devastation wrought on the wife's li...