Library Books Challenge July Update

OK, so I am only about 10 days late with this... starting a new job will do that to a person....

The library books I read for July are:

Silver Star by Jeannette Walls

Swim to Me by Betsy Carter

The Midwife of Hope River by: Patricia Harman

These were all great reads and I highly recommend them. If they appeal to you, please check out my reviews and, by all means, leave comments!!! I love comments!!

Swim to Me

Title: Swim to Me  Author: Betsy Carter Publisher: Bantam Books Pages:325

From: Amazon

It's a fresh start for Delores Walker when she boards a Greyhound bus bound for Florida. Leaving the Bronx far behind, she's headed for sunny Weeki Wachee Springs, frayed roadside attraction in danger of becoming obsolete with the opening of Walt Disney's latest creation, only miles up the road. Always more suited for a life underwater, Delores joins a group of other aquatic hopefuls in this City of Live Mermaids, where she discovers a world of sequined tails and amphibious theme shows that even Disney couldn't dream up. It's in this fantastic place of make-believe and reinvention that Delores Walker becomes Delores Taurus, Florida's most unlikely celebrity. 

Bringing together an eccentric assortment of outcasts, poseurs, and underdogs, this wise and poignant novel conjures up a time in America when anything was possible, especially in the Sunshine State. A story of family, chasing dreams and finding your way, Swim To Me will have you believing the impossible—even in mermaids from the Bronx.

I think it is the setting for this story that makes it so appealing- Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida- home of the famous mermaids. Delores Walker first sees the mermaids perform at age 14. An avid swimmer, she dreams of returning to Weeki Wachee and becoming a mermaid. Her father left home shortly after their return from the trip to Florida. Her self-pitying and unloving mother faded into a shadow of herself. The only hard part of leaving New York was leaving behind her baby brother, Westie.

It is 1973 and Delores' dreams are all out in front of her. Away from the sadness of her family, she comes into herself.

This isn't one of those hanging-on-the-edge-of-your-seat novels, but neither was it boring. It was interesting enough to keep the reader coming back. Interesting, also, was the brief appearance of Crystal Landy from Orange Blossom Special, Carter's previous novel. I think the most compelling part of the story, other than the setting, was the way Delores' parents changed for the better after they were apart. 

All in all, it's a decent read.

Read this story if...

*you like stories about families

*you like stories that take place in Florida

*you like stories set in the mermaid town of Weeki Wachee

*you like stories that take place in the 1970's

The Orange Blossom Special

Title: The Orange Blossom Special Author: Betsy Carter Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill Pages:296

From Amazon:

Carbondale, Illinois. 1958. For widowed Tessie Lockhart, booking two seats on a passenger train to Florida symbolizes a fresh start, far from her memories of love and loss. For Tessie’s teenage daughter Dinah, who misses her father terribly, the move to Gainesville means a new school and the painful ordeal of making new friends. Rich, popular Crystal Landy is one of the first girls Dinah meets—and it will be Crystal, along with her exquisite mother, Victoria, who will transform the Lockharts’ lives in ways they never could have imagined. For as war and change come to this small southern town, the bonds between mothers and daughters will be tested, friendships sealed, secrets revealed, and relationships forever altered by the turbulence of the coming decades. 

Wise, moving, and warmly funny, The Orange Blossom Special, spans twenty years in the lives of an unforgettable cast of characters. Betsy Carter has crafted a powerful, richly rewarding novel about growing up, moving on, and turning strangers into friends.

When Tessie Lockhart's husband dies, leaving her all alone with her eleven-year-old daughter in Carbondale, Illinios, she decides there is a need to make changes. Gainsville, Florida seems to be just the change they need. 

Tessie and Dinah both adjust to life in Florida and to the death of Tessie's husband, Dinah's father. Tessie gets a new job, struggles to make a life for her daughter and begins an affair with a married mogul. Dinah befriends the richest, most popular girl in school and also develops a friendship with Eddie, a boy with an extra finger and no friends to speak of.

From the late 1950's to 1986, this book follows a unique cast of characters through the pivotal years in their lives. It's a story of survival, friendship, and moving on.

Read this book if:

*you like southern fiction

*you like books that take place in small towns

*you like stories about mothers and daughters