Book Review: The Sweetheart Season by Karen Joy Fowler

Photo taken from Goodreads

 Book Info

Title:  The Sweetheart Season

Author:  Karen Joy Fowler
Publisher:  Penguin 

Language: English

Format:  Paperback 

Pages:  368 pages

ISBN-10:  0141027088

ISBN-13:  978-0141027081

Source:  Purchased, Booksale

Buy this book on Amazon

Summary

From Goodreads: 

"Though most men had returned to their hometowns after World War II, few came back to the tiny village of Magrit, Minnesota. Irini, a nineteen year-old woman, works in the Scientific Kitchen at Margaret Mill, a cereal factory, with most of Magrit's other eligible bachelorettes. Hoping to promote his business and attract some suitors for his staff, the owner of the mill forms a women's baseball team called the Sweetwheat Sweethearts. Irini, who wields a fearsome throwing arm, strong from kneading bread dough, is the team's star center fielder and her successes, failures, and revelations on and off the ball field are endearingly recalled by her now grown daughter."

Review

Dear Maggie,

I have been wanting to read a book for the longest time, but the ones I have are either too brief or deep.  Could you advise me on which book I could pick up?

                                                                                                                    - Bored in Manila

Dear Bored in Manila,

It seems to me that you would be better off reading magazines as they provide readers with light topics that books could not give you.  You see, the intensity of issues within a story are very relative.  What may be a serious topic for me might be a shallow matter for you.  Therefore, I could not outright say that you should read this or that as they are guaranteed easy to read.

I would, however, recommend reading The Sweetheart Season by Karen Joy Fowler while you are on a search for your 'light and easy' book.  This story has that good mix of lighthearted wit and drama and might actually be perfect for you, if you feel that living in a small town whose young men had never returned to after the war, leaving the young women's marriage prospects in jeopardy a good enough premise.

The story takes place in Magrit, where a cereal mill owned by one of the richest resident supplies most of the employment for its inhabitants.  This cereal mill also produces a women's magazine where a fictitious agony aunt by the name of Maggie Collins serves as its ambassadress.  Finding that the young men have left town permanently, the owner of the mill decided to put up a baseball team - The Sweethearts - composed of the young women under his employ and let them travel to different towns in order to spread the word about their product, Sweetheart Cereal, and of course, let the young women meet and mingle with young men.

This book has elements of good humor and chick literature that I am sure would appeal to most women, especially those who loved the movie A League of Their Own about women playing baseball during the war.  However, some chapters, especially those in the beginning, seemed to read too slow and insignificant, although reading until the end, one would find that the beginning chapters would help everything come full circle.  I just hope that you can get past the drag and be able to plow through the ending.  Also, may I advise you to use a bit more imagination while reading this as that can help a long way in making you understand everything that happens as there were some parts there that at face value would seem unimportant and irrelevant, but were actually defining moments or turning points in the story.  A little more imagination and attention to detail would get you a long way in reading this book.

That said, I hope you can get a copy of this book and read this, and I hope this is light enough for you - at least good enough until you find your perfect easy-reading book.

                                                                                                                Ever Reliable,

                                                                                                                   Maggie

Rating

If you have any questions on this particular rating, please refer to my ratings system here.

Notice 

All opinions expressed in this book review are my own and not influenced by any party in any way.  
 
Please contact me for questions, comments, and suggestions. 

A Dangerous Dress by Julia Holden

(Photo taken from Goodreads)

 

Title:  A Dangerous Dress

Author:  Julia Holden

Publisher:  NAL Trade

Language: English

Format:  Paperback

Pages:  320 pages

ISBN-10:  0451218647

ISBN-13:  978-0451218643

Source:  Purchased, Booksale

Buy this book on Amazon

Rating:

Truth be told, I would have given this book an outright 5/5 rating, if not for the fact that the story did not reveal where Jane's 'dangerous dress' came from. 

So reading the synopsis, we all know that the dress was from her grandmother.  That it was totally splendid and beautiful, and that it may have emboldened her grandmother into doing some really adventurous things.  However, how her grandmother came upon this dress and the fact that it was from Paris (so her grandmother went to Paris at some point when she was younger?) remained a mystery even in the ending.  That wouldn't have been so bad because this book was meant to be about Jane and how her grandmother's dress also helped her embark on a unique adventure and find her mojo.  However, I would have loved to solve the mystery of the dress' origins since the title, A Dangerous Dress, would befit such a revelation, right?

But I can forgive that flaw if only for the fact that this book was smashing!  I know that this is really chick lit - look at the pink girly cover and the fact that most of it was set in Paris - but the writing was very strong and compelling, the simple plot becoming very complex, and the characters were so human that it felt like really reading a true story - which was how it was intended to be.  The writing was crystal, very easy to read, it was narrated through Jane's point of view and she really came off as believable and credible.  She never once sounded flat or fake, and spoke, acted, and thought her age.  There was no artificial old-age wisdom, and whatever lesson or values she learned throughout her adventure she learned her own way.

Ever since I was little, I have always been fascinated with clothes - what girl wouldn't be?  When I was younger, I used to draw really frilly and outrageous gowns and reading this book which details each clothing featured in the story brought me back to those days when I would obsess on the intricacies of a dress' design.  It was fun to read about something I'm interested in weaved in a really beautiful story set in a really beautiful backdrop - Paris.  That made me take my mind off a bit about the missing revelation about granny's dress' history. 

So... I really wanted to write a long, raving review for this  book but sometimes I find it difficult to put into words just how much I liked or what exactly it was that I liked about a book.  Suffice it to say that after reading the last sentence, I totally smiled to myself and bugged my mother to read it because it was, "Wow, wow, wow, wow A-W-E-S-O-M-E!"  I really said it that way complete with a cheerleader's routine for spelling the word, and she looked at me like I just lost my mind.

So 5 Minutes Ago by Hilary de Vries

 

(Photo taken from Goodreads)

Title:  So 5 Minutes Ago
Author:  Hilary de Vries
Publisher:  Villard

Language: English
ISBN-10:  1400061385

ISBN-13:  978-1400061389

Buy this book on Amazon

Rating:

If I previously thought that chick lit will always be the best go-to book for a light read, then I am now going to change that opinion.  This book was too negative and whiny and I could not get through each chapter without thinking that I would love to strangle the main character Alex if I were given the chance.

The story is about a Hollywood publicist in her thirties,  Alex Davidson, who finds herself torn between her loyalty for her previous DWP boss Suzanne, and the new boss of  DWP -  G, amidst juggling her career keeping B-list Hollywood clients' careers afloat, her personal and love life, and her family.  

This book had so much promise because once I read the blurb in the book, it just screams "Girl Power!" and that was why I could not wait to read it.  I. Was. Wrong.  The potential girl power story turned out to be a major bitch fest of a thirty-something woman against the whole world.  I would have been able to look past that if the rest of the story is great but the lukewarm climax and ending, the fictional celebrity names like 'Scrappy,' 'Scooby,' or 'Phoenix,' and shallow minor conflicts that tried to create tension where there shouldn't be did not help this read to be salvageable.

But bland, whiny plot aside, I thought the writing was good, dialogue crisp, characters vivid and realistic.  I would have loved even bitchy Alex if the plot were different or written more creatively.  Among the characters however, I loved Steve, Alex's assistant, the most.  He's such a fun, down-to-earth, and efficient assistant and friend to Alex, I would have loved to meet him if he were real.  

So overall, this book is light, interesting due to its Hollywood theme, but not really that earth-shattering.  If you would like to get an inside peek on Hollywood, you may pick up this book, but only for the sole purpose of looking into the inner workings of that formidable industry.  Otherwise, steer clear of this book.  A good read this book does not make.  Only something to waste time while I dunno, waiting for your break in Hollywood, I guess.