Vickie’s Summer Challenge

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The Downhill Lie by Carl Hiaasen

From the book flap: Ever wonder how to retrieve a sunken golf cart from a snake-infested lake? Or which club in your bag is best suited for combat against a horde of rats? If these and other sporting questions are gnawing at you, The Downhill Lie, Carl Hiaasen’s hilarious confessional about returning to the fairways after a thirty-two-year absence, is definitely the book for you.

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My daughter gave this book to my husband for Father’s Day. After he read it, I decided to read it for the Southern Reading Challenge. The book fits the challenge in the strictest terms: written by a Southerner and takes place in the South. I haven’t read any of Hiaasen’s fiction but I’ve seen his books in stores and mentioned in blogs. He had me laughing throughout the book. That said, I’m not a golfer by any definition. (Sorry Mom and Dad, those summers spent taking lessons at the club just didn’t take). For as much as Hiaasen claims to not like golf, he sure waxed poetic more than a few times. The game just doesn’t do it for me (make me want to wax poetic, that is). My husband enjoyed the book – but he also enjoys hacking his way (his words) around 18 at least once a week. If you enjoy the game, you’ll probably enjoy this book. If you don’t enjoy the game, but play, you’ll probably enjoy this book!

Four to Score by Janet Evanovich

Four to Score has Stephanie Plum searching for yet another FTA (failure to appear). Turns out Plum’s boss has ok’d another bounty hunter to find the same FTA. This other BH happens to be one of Stephanie’s biggest enemies. Add to the mix 1 Grandma Mazur, 1 Lula, 1 Morelli and a dash of Ranger and you’ve got a tasty Evanovich tale. This is my favorite Plum novel so far.

Bryson City Tales by Walt Larimore, M.D.

Bryson City Tales is the story of a physician’s first year in private practice. At the start of the book Dr. Walt Larimore arrives in Bryson City, North Carolina with his wife and young daughter. They decide to settle there and quickly begin their education of life in a small town in the Smoky Mountains. Dr. Larimore is a good story teller and I enjoyed reading about his patients and colleagues. I found myself seeing similarities to James Herriott – in fact, Dr. Larimore was called upon more than once to treat an animal! I found it refreshing that his patients welcomed his prayerful approach to medicine. I’m not so sure that would have been the case in a large city hospital. At any rate, I’m glad I read this book and thank Kay for the suggestion!

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Eclipse is the 3rd book of the Twilight saga. I liked this a bit more than the 2nd because a lot of Jacob’s story is explained. Also, there’s a mystery that needs to be solved. Why are there so many unexplained murders in Seattle and who is responsible? The Cullen family tries to find the answers which leads to an exciting culmination by book’s end. It was a good read.

Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs

Augusta “Gus” Simpson, about to turn 50, hosts a show on the Cooking Channel. She has worked there for years and is starting to wonder if she is being nudged out because she doesn’t attract the desired demographic audience. She is forced into a new show and pressured to make it work with a young, beautiful co-host.

Gus is also a mother of two 20-something daughters. They deal with their own issues and can barely tolerate her interference in their lives anymore. She has been a single parent for almost 20 years so she’s used to being in control. She’s having a tough time giving up control in job AND parent arenas. Therein lies the story.

The book is filled with interesting support characters and the story is tied up with a pretty bow at the end. I found myself imagining this would make a cute movie and it should air on the Food Network. They could do a “Dinner & a Movie” presentation. The food described in the book sounded delicious. Warning: this book may make you hungry!

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

New Moon is the second installment of the Twilight saga. There is an important plot twist near the beginning of the book which propels the story of Bella, Edward and Jacob (and all the rest) in new directions. Stephenie Meyer wrote an enthralling and emotion-wrenching tale that left me wanting to read more. Bring on Eclipse!

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Seventeen year old Bella has moved from her mother’s home in Phoenix to a small town in Washington to live with her father. She has visited there before – for vacations, but now it is permanent. Her life will never be the same – in more ways than one.

Twilight is the first young adult book I’ve read in years. I started noticing blog reviews of the series in recent weeks and not one was negative. So, I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t disappointed. What a page turner! It will be interesting to see if the second book lives up to the first.