Review: White Bread and Mayonnaise by Lula Phine

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Lula Phine takes us back to the old south in “White Bread and Mayonnaise”, a straightforward and spiritual tale. It is the early 1930s when we’re introduced to the central character, no more than a newborn baby, and it will be the new millennium before we have heard the story of his long life. Known simply as “the boy” or “the man” accordingly, he comes of age on his father’s farm before setting off to the Korean War. While there, life and limb are spared but deep emotional wounds are inflicted. The terrors of war haunt him well into adulthood as he struggles to balance the uncertainties of farming, his family, and an increasing dependency on alcohol. Intersecting the man’s story are insightful passages commenting on a simple jar whose contents and many purposes are likened to the human condition.  Mind, body, and spirit are examined against the outward forces of life and we’re shown progression and the connectedness of all things in one’s life.

As its title would suggest, this is a basic read. While peppered with small wisdoms, “White Bread and Mayonnaise” can be as dull as a worn butter knife. Without the benefit of dialogue or character names, it seems a listless recounting of the man’s life, of which we are given only cursory information. There is little sense of scene and those we are shown are increasingly at ends. I struggled to find a consistency between the heartwarming moments among family and the narrative describing the man as an unpredictable and emotionally detached drunkard.

The story structure is a classic one and, if it were to be fleshed out and offer a more dynamic set of characters, has the potential to be notable. However, as it stands, it reads as if we have been given a glimpse into a first draft rather than the finished piece. While suitable for children, English language learners, or parents looking for a read-aloud, a more advanced reader is likely to find it too uninvolved to finish. At the end of the day, it is a clean wholesome account of one man’s struggle back to light and life; a nice simply story. Surely that is what some are looking for, but in this reader’s opinion, “White Bread and Mayonnaise” may just leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Review: Not Every Girl by Jane McGarry

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Not Every Girl is a historical fiction story that has odes to Mulan, when Olivia wishes to go to battle even after her father refuses. Using her friend Puck’s armor as a disguise Olivia goes on a mission to escort the King, with one slight hiccup, his handsome son Prince Liam will also be on this mission. Though she is quickly caught by her father and sent back home with Prince Liam as her escort. This leads to a series of events where Olivia must step and and show the power she holds even though she is a woman. Young adult readers who want action, romance, adventure, and a strong female character will certainly enjoy this book!

Review: Magnetic by Carissa Miller

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Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

MAGNETIC is a powerhouse of a novel from rising author Carissa Miller. With the very attractive title, this book focuses on the pulls in our lives, whether it be family, friends, or things out of our control. When Elle causes her father to be ostracized from a church, they must move to her aunt’s house in Oklahoma. This leads Elle to begin to have trouble with two boys, one being the son of a wealthy man in the town, and falls for Maverick. Their relationship is like a magnet, where there’s strong attraction to this handsome boy, but there’s also repulsion because of some problems that followed Elle to Oklahoma.

Dark secrets from the past never can be buried and, through extreme emotion only Miller could craft, Elle faces her demons that have come to surface: the truth about the death of her mother. Elle faces a challenge many of us face, which is wanting to know the truth and wanting to keep it away. 

This intriguing novel pulls on your heartstrings with the father-daughter relationship along with Elle and Maverick’s relationship. With touching moments like a hospital bed and three kisses, a hard-to-swallow truth pill, and the solving of a mystery that’s plagued a family, this novel brings the forces that makes a family and breaks them. 

Carissa Miller brings a new kind of magnetic to the forefront of modern novels that interweave genres like romance, thriller, and a mystery bigger than the characters in this fantastic work. Miller should be praised for her character development of Elle, Maverick, and even the smaller characters, who all have some force that pulls or pushes in this novel. Intertwined with great characters is a plot worth investing time in, catching small details that lead up to a big finale that’ll leave you wanting more from Carissa Miller. 

Review: Daughter of the Last King by Tracey Warr

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Murder, traitors, love, affairs and war. In this historical fiction novel you follow a Welsh Princess who has lost everything, her family, her country, and her freedom. Princess Nest is taken from her kingdom by Normans and must learn their ways in order to be betrothed to whomever the King wishes. Nest never gives up hope that she may be rescued by the Welsh Prince who once was meant to be her husband. As you follow the story of love, loss, and betrayal, you see Nest transform from the Welsh girl she was, into a woman meant for royalty.  This story captures the reader as they want to know what will happen with Princess Nest, with several twists along the way. This story is based on real people and real events that happened in European history. You see the inner workings of the royal court, traitors, affairs, and death. Be aware that the narrator will change at times throughout the story, either through journal entries or letters written. 

Review: Foretold by Laura Spinella

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In the second book of the Ghost Gifts series the reader meets Aubrey, twelve years later. Life for Aubrey was changing drastically, as was her gift. When a historical figure warns Aubrey of an explosion about to happen, she learns that her gift might be more than just communicating with the dead. If having ghosts show up to give information about future events was not enough, Aubrey also must face the truths behind her own sons gifts as well. In this story Levi and Aubrey must team up again to solve a John Doe murder, find missing children, and revisit an old angry spirit from their past. Along with this Aubrey must face several ghosts of her own in order to learn the true nature of her father's gift that drove him mad. Those who loved the first instalment will not want to put this one down. From start to finish there are twists and turns that keep readers guessing to the very end. 
 

Review: No One Tells You This by Glynnis MacNicol

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In her debut memoir, “No One Tells You This”, Glynnis MacNicol offers an engaging perspective from beyond what seems for everyone to be the enemy line: forty. No one tells you this, but they should, and thank goodness that MacNicol finally has. With a sharp wit and tell-all style similar to the great Nora Ephron, she is sure to win your heart. MacNicol gives an intimate glimpse into the wildly under-represented life of a woman in the throes of middle age without such accessories as a spouse or children.  From the prologue on, she is at once as familiar and relatable as your favorite foul-mouthed gal pal as she takes us through the year following her fortieth birthday. Paralleling her own is the story of her aging mother, who has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, and the many others in MacNicol’s life who have grown to become a collective family. “No One Tells You This” is poignant, humorous, eternal: a book to raise a glass to and a  great read for a woman of any age.

“No One Tells You This” sweeps us up into MacNicol’s ever busy lifestyle (which is anything but that of a dull spinster). We’re taken from the shores of Rockaway Beach to Iceland, to Toronto, to Wyoming and back again, with the Manhattan skyline somehow ever-present through MacNicol’s New Yorker perspective. Throughout chapters that beg to be read, with titles like “Choose your own Rom Com” and “Balls”, Said the Queen”, MacNicol speaks boldly about topics that plague us all.  From not becoming her mother, to the effects of being too plugged-in, to the seemingly unavoidable ticking clock, she reminds us again and again that we aren’t alone.

MacNicol has tested the waters and found that what lies beyond forty is, more than anything, a relief; Life doesn’t end at forty. Brimming with insight, each lesson she learns along the way is rooted in experiences from her diverse past and accompanied by laughable anecdotes. What we see here is the story not of falling in love, but of  learning to love oneself and one’s own life as is: an adventure that everyone should go on at least once.  MacNicol refutes the invisibility that too-often envelopes women in their forties. Against the backdrop of conventionalism and mundanity, she is a shining star and as this memoir will prove, a rising one.