The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Goodreads Synopsis:
Walker and Daughter is Georgia Walker's little yarn shop, tucked into a quiet storefront on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The Friday Night Knitting Club was started by some of Georgia's regulars, who gather once a week to work on their latest projects and to chat-and occasionally clash-over their stories of love, life, and everything in between.

Georgia has her hands full, juggling the demands of running the store and raising her spunky teen daughter, Dakota, by herself. Thank goodness for Anita, her mentor and dear friend, and the rest of the members of the knitting club-who are just as varied as the skeins of yarn in the shop's bins. There's Peri, a prelaw student turned handbag designer; Darwin, a somewhat aloof feminist grad student; and Lucie, a petite, quiet woman who's harboring some secrets of her own.

However, unexpected changes soon throw these women's lives into disarray, and the shop's comfortable world gets shaken up like a snow globe. James, Georgia's ex, decides that he wants to play a larger role in Dakota's life-and possibly Georgia's as well. Cat, a former friend from high school, returns to New York as a rich Park Avenue wife and uneasily renews her old bond with Georgia. Meanwhile, Anita must confront her growing (and reciprocated) feelings for Marty, the kind neighborhood deli owner. And when the unthinkable happens, they realize what they've created: not just a knitting club, but a sisterhood.

My thoughts:
I liked this book. It wasn't really what I was expecting. My friend recommended this book to me forever ago. I had been putting it off for one reason or another ever since. I can't say I had a valid reason for it. I am glad to say that I dug this book. I liked the variety of female voices with a common hobby; therefore, a common thread going through each story. I liked the voice of Georgia. She reminded me of my Mother in a few ways. My Mom has owned her own business for over 33 years now. My Mother, was not a single Mom so she didn't have that set of hardships to deal with. But the personality between Georgia and my own Mom was similar.
I liked that this club became a support system for each of the ladies in the story. I think it is important for adult women to maintain connections not just with family or work but other women as well.

I would recommend this to pink book readers and anyone who wants to be pleasantly surprised by a book.

While writing this review I was listening to Mya - Ghetto Supastar

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Good Reads Synopsis:
Who is the real McLean?

Since her parents' bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out.

My thoughts:
I read a lot of negative reviews on this book before reading it. I have to say I don't agree with any of them. I liked this book. I have said it before, but I just dig the way that Sarah Dessen tells a story. I love that she brings in characters from other books.
I liked the character of McLean. She is smart and adapts to her surroundings quickly. I like she changed not just her style every where she went but her name as well. I think most people have wanted to try on a different name and personality. I think to varying degrees we all try on different personalities at some point. I have always been fascinated with people who can so quickly adapt. In some ways McLean reminded me of my friend My friend like McLean can seamlessly put herself in any situation and excel.

I would recommend this to Pink Book readers or anyone who digs a good writer.

While writing this review I was listening to Emmapuppy grumble and moan about not being at the dog park.

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

Goodreads Synopsis:
Some bonds can never be broken...
Addie Downs and Valerie Adler will be best friends forever. That's what Addie believes after Valerie moves across the street when they're both nine years old. But in the wake of betrayal during their teenage years, Val is swept into the popular crowd, while mousy, sullen Addie becomes her school's scapegoat.

Flash-forward fifteen years. Valerie Adler has found a measure of fame and fortune working as the weathergirl at the local TV station. Addie Downs lives alone in her parents' house in their small hometown of Pleasant Ridge, Illinois, caring for a troubled brother and trying to meet Prince Charming on the Internet. She's just returned from Bad Date #6 when she opens her door to find her long-gone best friend standing there, a terrified look on her face and blood on the sleeve of her coat. "Something horrible has happened," Val tells Addie, "and you're the only one who can help."

My thoughts:
Why does Jennifer Weiner always have an over weight character who gets skinny in order to love themselves? That would be my only complaint in this book is that Addie can't love herself until she drops weight. I am so tired of women having to drop weight before they can feel love from themselves or others. I am a heavier girl and I have love for myself and others.
That being said I liked the rest of this book. I liked the clash of personalities between Addie and Val. Addie is cautious and careful about her life. Val runs a bit wild in comparison. During various stages of my life I have been both overly cautious and wild. It was nice to read both perspectives of this life long friendship.

While writing this review I was listening to Extreme - More Than Words. Yep.

Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner

Synopsis via Amazon.com:
Sometimes all you can do is fly away home . . .

When Sylvie Serfer met Richard Woodruff in law school, she had wild curls, wide hips, and lots of opinions. Decades later, Sylvie has remade herself as the ideal politician’s wife—her hair dyed and straightened, her hippie-chick wardrobe replaced by tailored knit suits. At fifty-seven, she ruefully acknowledges that her job is staying twenty pounds thinner than she was in her twenties and tending to her husband, the senator.

Lizzie, the Woodruffs’ younger daughter, is at twenty-four a recovering addict, whose mantra HALT (Hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired?) helps her keep her life under control. Still, trouble always seems to find her. Her older sister, Diana, an emergency room physician, has everything Lizzie failed to achieve—a husband, a young son, the perfect home—and yet she’s trapped in a loveless marriage. With temptation waiting in one of the ER’s exam rooms, she finds herself craving more.

After Richard’s extramarital affair makes headlines, the three women are drawn into the painful glare of the national spotlight. Once the press conference is over, each is forced to reconsider her life, who she is and who she is meant to be.

Written with an irresistible blend of heartbreak and hilarity, Fly Away Home is an unforgettable story of a mother and two daughters who after a lifetime of distance finally learn to find refuge in one another.


My thoughts:
I liked this book. I have been hit or miss with Jennifer Weiner's books. This one I am on the side of really liking. I dug the three female voices and seeing their respective views on the world and a shared heart ache. I did have hesitations with the main voice Sylvie as I have never been the type of person to give up everything for the person I am with. Sylvie lost herself in her husband and his life. I was glad that she finally found herself again in the end but she was the hardest voice for me to relate to.

I recommend this book to those who dig the pink books (chick lit).

While writing this review I was listening to Anderson Cooper 360