Monday Moments - American Fantasy by Emma Straub

 Looking for a summer escape? Ahoy - Board the American Fantasy cruise ship for four days with your favorite nineties era boy band. Three thousand screaming women worshipping middle aged dudes.

Emma Straub writes a good tale with American Fantasy.  Annie is fifty, divorced, and signed on to this trip  with her sister. Alas, the sister can't go, so Annie is shocked at herself for starting to enjoy the hype. 

cover blurb - Call it memory. Call it nostalgia. Call it the chemical reaction of hormones, hope, and sexual reawakening.  By the time, Annie meets one of the band members - not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend - she has accessed a sense of new possibility.

The story is  told from various viewpoints, Annie, boy band dudes, and the managing director of the whole four days. Her tale is rather exhausting - controlling the guys, herding the fans, and making the  magic happen. 

Emma Staub captures the vibe - the passion, the yearning, the dips into the past, and the reality that exists. 

This is a silly, very fun read.  I confess - back in the  day, I'd buy Tiger Beat: I loved David Cassidy, Bobby Sherman, and more.  I could totally get on board this fantasy trip.  

Finally Friday - Shirley Hazard stories

Shirley Hazard (1931-2016) is a renowned author from back in the day. She won the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and more.  I found her Collected Stories at our library sale for only two dollars.  What a lovely treat!

back blurb - These twenty eight stories are masterworks in telescoping focus, ranging from quotidian struggles between beauty and pragmatism to satirical send-ups of international bureaucracy, from the Italian countryside to suburban CT. Hazard's heroes are high-minded romantics who struggle to accommodate their feelings to the twentieth-century world of office jobs and dreary marriages.

Hazard's writing and characters have an old fashioned touch, but in a good way. Her descriptions of world weary people going  about their day, or dreading a dinner party are spot-on.  Sharp  humor, clever dialogue - her writing propels one to keep turning the page. I laughed out loud at times.  One of my favorite sentences was something to the effect that the "woman looked like a resort town in the rain".  Oh my!  Can't you just picture it - bedraggled, a bit rough. 

This book was a gem on sale. I now need to seek out her novels. Quite the find. 

 

Whatever Wednesday - Anxious People by Frederik Backman

 I like Fredrik Backman's writing. He finds the quirkiness in folks and writes interesting stories. Anxious People was not a favorite. It had its moments and was amusing. But I also found it a tad contrived. 

At an apartment open house, a failed bank robber bursts in and takes eight strangers hostage. Ultimately, each person's story emerges, some coincidences occur, and the poor bank robber is a mess unto himself. 

back blurb: Each person carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, the reluctant hostages turned allies set in motion an unexpected chain of events. The theme is friendship, forgiveness, and hope - the things that save us, even in the most anxious of times.  

I got this book for $1 at a library sale and I was interested enough to keep turning pages. But then I sorta groaned at a few twists in the tale. I'm going to pass this along - others may love this book.  I don't necessarily need more angst!

Monday Moments - The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

 From the prologue:

Each of us has a private Austen.   Jocelyn's Austen wrote wonderful novels about love and courtship, but never married.  Bernadette's Austen was a comic genius. Prudie's Austen was somber. Allegra would have shelved Austen in  the horror  section. Sylvia was newly divorced and needed to be distracted. And then there was the man Jocelyn invited to the club - Grigg. None of them knew who  Grigg's Austen was. 

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler is amusing, especially if you, the reader, enjoy Jane Austen. You'll enjoy the references and discussions. You'll enjoy the real life that is running alongside the six months of book club meetings.  Marriages are tested. Affairs are begun. Feelings are hurt. And then there's love, gosh darn it. 

cover blurb - This is the novel that Jane Austen might have written had she lived in 2014 California. Sublime social comedy. 

I laughed out loud. I enjoyed this very light summer read.  Another $1 library sale and worth every penny. 

Finally Friday - Euphoria by Lily King

 Euphoria by Lily King has absolutely NOTHING to do with the HBO series Euphoria starring Zendaya. 

I learned this after buying the book for  $1 at my library sale. I  went by title only and I like this author. 

SURPRISE!  ha

cover blurb - Three young, gifted anthropologists in the 1930s are caught in a passionate love triangle that threatens their bonds, careers, and ultimately their lives.  

Studying a tribe on  the Sepik River in  New Guinea, Andrew Bankson is close to suicide. Then the famous Nell Stone and her Aussie husband Fen arrive in the area. He's enthralled and promises to lead them to a new tribe. The TAM are an artistic female led group.  Ultimately their groundbreaking work will make history, but not without sacrifice.

Lily King wrote an intriguing novel based on Margaret Mead. Desire, passion, and possession.  Maybe the book is a bit like the Zendaya show (a few less drugs!)  Good writing. A worthy read. 

Whatever Wednesday - Summer Amusement

A little Wednesday summer amusement. I am currently in DE hanging with my sister. I created this post before leaving.  Here's some summer lovin' - our new flamingo and unicorn floats seem to adore each other. 

And if you remember Christmas 2025, Myles was not happy on Santa's lap.   Well, Summer Santa is not a fave either. 

Poor kid - traumatized by the summer of 2026. 

Hope you folks are not in tears, unless it's tears of joy or laughter. I'm having fun back east. 

Stay cool. Find a pool float!
 

Monday Moments - Ray had his Day

August 1st was Ray's 70th birthday.  That is worthy of another post.  Here's the birthday king ready to celebrate in front of his picture gallery
 

This very yummy cake from Texas Star Bakery had the pickleball theme - Ray's current obsession. He bought himself a new paddle as his birthday treat.  Look out competition!

Over forty people showed up for the pool  party.  Quite the fun crowd.  Everyone enjoyed pizza, wings, margaritas, beer, and plenty of water.

The Texas heat cooperated - it was 98 or so with a good breeze. We did have  plenty of shade, and folks were inside too - playing games like Scattergories. 

Ray had his Day!