Laura Lohr

Not Just an Alliteration

The Chaparone

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The Chaparone by Laura Moriarty

One of this month’s BlogHer Book Club reads was “The Chaperone” by Laura Moriarty. The book is a historical fiction novel about the life of Louise Brooks, a 1920’s silent film star and her chaperone to New York City. I was not familiar with Louise Brooks prior to reading the story, so I saw Louise with fresh eyes. After reading the book, I did some research of my own. She was a beautiful, headstrong, flapper and bad girl in real life.

This story, however, while highlighting some of Louise’s naughty behavior, was really about Cora, Louise’s 36 year old chaperone to New York City. Louise went to New York to audition for the Denishawn Dance Company and Cora was tasked with keeping headstrong Louise safe in the Big Apple. The trip proves to be a turning point in the life of Cora, where her world views change and she finds herself, with the help of 16 year old Louise’s antics and circumstance.

The book did not grip me initially. It was full of details and brought us back in forth, from future, past, and to present. This technique is not one of my favorite writing styles. Nonetheless, once I got further on into the book, I was fully in the grasp of this author and could not put the book down. I ended up finishing the book in one sitting. The author did an amazing job of describing historical landmarks, events, and people, while remaining true to genuine history.

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own. I was compensated for my review, and received a copy of The Chaperone HOWEVER, I only recommend products and/or services I personally believe in.

What Alice Forgot BlogHer Book Club Review

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I finished the book What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty yesterday. From the moment I picked up the book, I was hooked. By page five, I could not put it down. It was one of the best books I have read this year. I finished nearly 500 pages in the course of one day—and in only a few hours.

The plot of What Alice Forgot centers around the main character, Alice, whom is in the middle of a brutal custody battle with her husband and has grown apart from her sister she was once close with. The story begins with Alice regaining consciousness in a gym after falling off the stationary bike in a spin class, and is surrounded by people she does not recognize. When she is questioned by the paramedics to determine her state of mind, she responds that she is 29 years old. Her friend argues that she has recently received an invitation to Alice’s 40th birthday party. She believes she is pregnant with her child she had ten years earlier.

Alice has forgotten about ten years of her life.

She does not understand the contemporary context of relationships with friends and family, within the frame of ten years before. She does not remember her children. The last thing she remembered was being pregnant and preparing for the arrival of her first child.

This book made me consider what it would be like to lose ten years, additionally what I would miss in context of the past ten years. Would I understand the state of affairs from my frame of reference of 2002? It gave me a lot to think about. Would I use my blog and my private diary to catch up on my life? What would it be like to forget about my daughter? What would that feel like? What was I doing ten years ago? Would I be happy with the direction my life has gone?

I absolutely loved, loved, loved this book. I loved the character development and the clues along the way, as Alice begins to fill in the blanks of her memory. There is a considerable amount of moving from the past to the present and back again throughout the book. I typically do not like the disorientation and confusion I normally feel in books like this, however it was not confusing, nor was it disorienting. In fact, it was very well done.

This was an excellent book and I highly recommend putting this on your summer reading list.

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own. I was compensated for my review, and received a copy of What Alice Forgot HOWEVER, I only recommend products and/or services I personally believe in.

Where She Went—BlogHer Book Club Review

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I am enjoying participating in the BlogHer Book Club so much! This month, I was fortunate enough to read, “Where She Went” by Gayle Forman and enjoyed every bit of it! It the second book by Forman in the story of her flawed, but lovable characters, Adam and Mia.

The story of Adam and Mia begins in the first book by Forman, “If I Stay.” The story revolves around the diverse musical backgrounds of star-crossed lovers, former high school sweethearts, Adam and Mia. Mia is a rising star, playing cello at Juillard and Adam is a rock star with a celebrity girlfriend. The two reunite three years after a tragic end to their relationship, when Mia and her family are involved in a serious auto accident. Mia is the sole survivor of the car crash, losing her parents and her younger brother.

The story is a sweet tale of love lost and found. I adored the innocence the characters and reading the second book first made me want to go back and read the first book, although out of order. Gayle Forman’s writing style draws you into the story with her beautiful writing. Although both of the main characters are imperfect in their own unique way, it is difficult not to fall in love with them both. Although Adam has a tough exterior, Mia is able to draw out his softer side. The humanness of both these characters make them easy to relate to and leaves you cheering for them to reconcile in their chance meeting.

Both Mia and Adam use music to get them through the tough times. It is something that bonds them and is an integral part of them. There is a real innocence to this love story and I enjoyed it very much. I highly recommend the book!

You can join the discussion and find out more about “Where She Went” and other information about BlogHer Book Club here.

*****This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.****

Lost and Found—BlogHer Book Club Review

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The economy of the past couple of years has been frightening for people across the world. Of course, when characters like Bernie Madoff rob the life savings of his trusted investors has brought further stability. How do you reconcile your entire retirement vaporizing? Do you cry? Do you scream? Do you shake your fists at God? Or, do you examine who you ended up in the whole mess in the first place?

I recently had the opportunity to read the book, “Lost and Found” through the BlogHer Book Club. Geneen Roth, author of “Lost and Found” was a victim of Bernie Madoff’s ponzi-scheme, losing nearly one million dollars of retirement money from her and her husband. She, however, found the silver lining in losing all of her money and somehow gained enlightenment. She used this experience as a way to get in touch with her spending habits and made some major self-realizations about her relationship with money.

Roth has written many books about eating and creating a healthy relationship with food. Roth, herself, has overcome unhealthy eating habits and now teaches classes to help others. In the book, “Lost and Found” she makes the parallel between the relationship people have with money to their relationship with food. She suggests that examining these relationships can bring us to much higher levels of enlightenment.

The book was an easy read and well-written. Roth is witty, smart, and makes it easy to laugh, while discussing deep topics. The subject of money, as Roth points out, is a deeply personal issue—one that some may not feel comfortable. Roth makes it less cumbersome to consider some of these heavy topics.

I enjoyed this book and have since downloaded a few of Roth’s other books. Her writing style makes you feel like you are reading letters from a friend. Making the connections she does is brilliant!

Disclosure: This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own. Make sure to check this Reddit page for more reviews.

For the Love of Dog: A Review of Julie Klam’s, “Love at First Bark”

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I grew up with dogs my whole life. I can name every dog we ever had:

Countess, Doberman and mother of Prince and Hap
Cindy, the wiener-chihuahua mix
Hap, also known as Happy Go Lucky, the Doberman and Countess’ son
Prince, the Doberman, Hap’s brother and Countess’ son
Skipper, a German Sheppard that was starving out in the desert. My family rescued him.
Star, a black Lab that was abandoned at the church I attended. I brought him home on the church bus, without permission.
Bobby, a white Lab we got when Skipper died.
Eddy, a black lab we got when Star died.
Wiley E. Coyote, a Yorkshire Terrier
Foxy Lil Hound, a Yorkshire Terrier

As an adult and shortly after Mr. Bear and I got back from our honeymoon, we got Chien (French for dog). Chien was a Pit Bull Rottweiller mix. We adopted her at the Humane Society. A year later, we got Delilah, a sweet little Border Collie mix. Unfortunately, earlier this year, we lost them both. They ran away and were found on the nearby freeway. Devastated does not describe our loss. It was terrible.

We now have Obi and Layla. They are seven month old puppies and very mischievous. We love our dogs. They helped us heal after losing Chien and Delilah. They could never replace Chien and Delilah, but they helped our hearts mind while we mourned the loss of our canine babies. Yes, we are dog people. Chien and Delilah were rescue dogs. Obi and Layla were both rescued from the Labrador and Friends rescue. We rescued our dogs, but in many ways, they rescued us right back.

When I had the opportunity to read, “Love at First Bark,” by Julie Klam, through the BlogHer Book Club, I was thrilled. From one dog lover to another, Julie shared her own experiences with dogs and how her dogs have complimented her life. Julie, you see, loves the unlovable dog—the broken dog, and makes them part of her family. She loves the old dogs with medical problems and nurses them to health.

I loved Julie Klam’s writing style. She made me laugh. She made me cry. It was a beautifully written tale of a family living in Manhattan foster the dogs that are difficult to place in “forever” homes, due to age, illness, or other reasons. Despite living in a small New York apartment, Klam, her husband, and daughter open their home and hearts to the dogs they foster.

I was touched by Klam’s selfishness and complete devotion to these animals. Her love for the dogs, she suggests is what has saved her own relationship with her husband. My favorite part of the book is when Klam and her husband go to New Orleans to volunteer their time to rescue Jarhead—a feral dog that was found with a mayonnaise jar on her head. Jarhead was relieved of her mayonnaise jar prison eventually, with the help of the volunteers, although one of the volunteers was bitten.

I would recommend this lighthearted, funny, sad, and inspiring book to anyone that loves our canine friends.

Disclosure: I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are honest and my own.

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