The Castaways-Book Reviews

The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand

The novel is about 4 couples of the inner circle that live on Nantucket Island.
 Chief( Ed), Andrea, Jeffrey, Delilah, Addison, Phoebe try to figure out the events that led to the tragic death of Tess and Greg. Tess and Greg leave behind their twin children.

The 4 couples are a close knit group they don't do anything without each other. They party together, spend time vacationing together, they don't do anything without each other knowing about it.

 They all have their story to tell. Each one shares the idea, and speculation and gossip why it is their fault some thing happened to their friends.

Greg is a music teacher in the high school. One of his students starts a rumor that he seduced her.  This starts all the trouble in his marriage, and the community, and is talked about in the entire novel.

Tess is married to Greg but she is having a affair with Addison.
Addison is married to Phoebe. He is having a hard time dealing with his marriage to Phoebe since her twin brother died on 9/11. Phoebe and Addison have been trying to get pregnant without success.

Andrea is the cousin to Tess she is very conservative. She has two children. She was engaged to Jeff, the farmer but instead Jeff married Delilah.. She married  Ed, the police chief.

Delilah is a free spirit. She works with Greg in a bar and grill. There are plenty of times she comes home drunk. Delilah is in love with Greg.

This is just a line or two about each couple. If you want to find out what other dirt is in the novel you will just have to read it.

My thoughts: I enjoyed reading The Castaways. It was like watching a soap opera.
It did not disappoint me.  I kept wanted to read more.  This was a perfect getaway book that you don't want to put down. The characters were multi-dimensional.  I can see this as a jumping off point to discuss marriage, and infidelity.

 I read her other book Barefoot and loved that one too.  I bought Summer Affair and now The Island. I can't wait to start that one.  Soon it will time to go back to literary fiction.  School will be back in session and it will be back to the old dull text books again.  But, for now I will read a few more fun summer reads.

Thank you Marian from Hachette books for this copy.

Sima's Undergarments for Women- Book Review

I am posting my review on Sima's Undergarments for Women on Bagels, Books and Schmooze for the Jewish Carnival. Check it out at Bagels, Books and Schmooze.
I thought this book was wonderful.

Book Giveaway-Stiltsville

I am hosting a book giveaway, Stiltsville by Susanna Daniel from August 2nd to August 15th.
I wanted to read the book because of my connection with Miami. I enjoyed reading about the sight,sounds and smells of the Miami beat. The story takes place from the 60's to the 90's.  Her writing style is poetic of the surrounding of the area.

The story is about the relationship of two people falling in love. Their marriage,  how their marriage matured to the older years.  I liked the connection of the story line and how the author intertwined it with the current events that was happening in the Miami area. The best part was how Miami developed as a character in the book.

If you ever wanted to go to Miami or ever lived in Miami or just wanted to escape to the tropics then this novel you will enjoy.



The giveaway coins ides with the release of the book on August 2.
 The drawing will be August 15th.

First, write a comment on my blog and write the details about the
contest and link it to my blog.
 2) for a second entry tell me what book that you like that you felt the character was a place.
Good Luck.

Susanna Daniel was born and raised in Miami, Florida, where she spent much of her childhood at her family’s stilt house in Biscayne Bay. She is a graduate of Columbia University and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and was a Carl Djerassi Fiction Fellow at the University of Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing.

Her stories have been published in Harcourt’s Best New American Voices Anthology, One Story, Epoch, The Madison Review, and SignificantObjects.com.

Susanna lives with her husband and son in Madison, Wisconsin, where during the long winter she dreams of the sun and the sea, and of jumping off the stilt house porch at 

This is a picture of one of the homes in Stiltsville. You can scroll a few posts below and find a few more. You will also find a interesting video there as well. If you want to dig more research do a google search.