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Cubs Way.jpg

The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse

September 29, 2017 by Lindsey Castronovo

By: Tom Verducci
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Crown Achetype
Pages: 375

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): With inside access and reporting, Sports Illustrated senior baseball writer and FOX Sports analyst Tom Verducci reveals how Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon built, led, and inspired the Chicago Cubs team that broke the longest championship drought in sports, chronicling their epic journey to become World Series champions. 
It took 108 years, but it really happened. The Chicago Cubs are once again World Series champions. 
How did a team composed of unknown, young players and supposedly washed-up veterans come together to break the Curse of the Billy Goat? Tom Verducci, twice named National Sportswriter of the Year and co-writer of The Yankee Years with Joe Torre, will have full access to team president Theo Epstein, manager Joe Maddon, and the players to tell the story of the Cubs' transformation from perennial underachievers to the best team in baseball. 
Beginning with Epstein's first year with the team in 2011, Verducci will show how Epstein went beyond "Moneyball" thinking to turn around the franchise. Leading the organization with a manual called "The Cubs Way," he focused on the mental side of the game as much as the physical, emphasizing chemistry as well as statistics. 
To accomplish his goal, Epstein needed manager Joe Maddon, an eccentric innovator, as his counterweight on the Cubs' bench. A man who encourages themed road trips and late-arrival game days to loosen up his team, Maddon mixed New Age thinking with Old School leadership to help his players find their edge. 
The Cubs Way takes readers behind the scenes, chronicling how key players like Rizzo, Russell, Lester, and Arrieta were deftly brought into the organization by Epstein and coached by Maddon to outperform expectations. Together, Epstein and Maddon proved that clubhouse culture is as important as on-base-percentage, and that intangible components like personality, vibe, and positive energy are necessary for a team to perform to their fullest potential. 
Verducci chronicles the playoff run that culminated in an instant classic Game Seven. He takes a broader look at the history of baseball in Chicago and the almost supernatural element to the team's repeated loses that kept fans suffering, but also served to strengthen their loyalty. 
The Cubs Way is a celebration of an iconic team and its journey to a World Championship that fans and readers will cherish for years to come.

First Impressions

Wooooo!!!!! I was so excited when I found out that this book was coming out. I am a Cubs fan and experiencing their World Series win was one of the most exciting moments of my life so far. As soon as the game ended, I knew I wanted a book that delved into the process of how this team was developed and how all of these characters I love were acquired. When I read the summary for this book I knew it was everything that I had been hoping for and it shot to the top of my to read list.

What I thought

This book is everything a Cubs fan will want and more!!

The Cubs Way discusses histories of how each impact player was acquired to the Cubs, starting with Tom Ricketts (the owner) and Theo Epstein (the president). Intermixed with the stories of the players is a recap of each game of the World Series.

I loved how Verducci explained how each and every player that had an impact on the World Series win was acquired to the Cubs. Every one of them had their own portion of a chapter that not only discussed the process in which Epstein went through to get them on the Cubs, but also a little bit about their personal histories. I also liked getting to learn more about Ricketts, Epstein, and Maddon.

While I am (and always have been) a Cubs fan, I have always been more of a passive fan. I have attended at least 1 game a year for the past 10 years, and have always owned a Cubs t-shirt (usually with the name that I found most appealing). However, I have never actively known more than 2-3 players at a time on the team and I don’t religiously watch the games on TV. In fact, I think the last time I watched a Cubs game on TV prior to 2016 was in 2003. As a result, any Cubs knowledge that I have comes from one of my best friends and one of the biggest Cubs fans I know. Getting to learn more in depth information about the Cubs team through this book was so satisfying.

As I am not an avid baseball fanatic, I don’t know anything about baseball statistics. Unfortunately, since Verducci is a sports writer, this book is riddled with statistics. I think that he could have cut down on them a bit, just assuming that there would be a high quantity of Cubs fans who do not know statistics the same way he does. At the very least, I would’ve appreciated some explanation about the basics so that the numbers meant something to me as I read them. I will say, that while I still don’t fully understand the statistics I have learned more about baseball than I have ever known thanks to this book.

Other than that, the writing was top notch. Reading each game made me feel like I was watching them all over again. I felt the same anxiety as I did living through them the first time, but got to enjoy experiencing them in a new way with different perspectives from players, Maddon, and Epstein.

This book is everything! I would recommend it to any Cubs fan and baseball fan (with the exception of White Sox and Indian fans). The process is fascinating and getting to know more about this team of good guys is such a great experience. I don’t th…

This book is everything! I would recommend it to any Cubs fan and baseball fan (with the exception of White Sox and Indian fans). The process is fascinating and getting to know more about this team of good guys is such a great experience. I don’t think I could ask for more from this book. I’ve always (for a whole 5 months!) wanted to know how this team got to where they did and how they came together over the course of 5 years and this book had it all. I can’t rave about this book enough! Just read it and enjoy!

September 29, 2017 /Lindsey Castronovo
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Book Club September 2017

September 25, 2017 by Lindsey Castronovo

I picked this book because I had seen it on a few lists of recommended book club books. I also am a sucker for alternate timelines. We haven’t ever read anything that is science fiction-y in our book club so I also thought it could be fun to push my friends a little out of their comfort zone.

What I thought

This book took me a little while to get into because the narrators voice is very distinct. Once I got into it, I really enjoyed it!

Tom lives in a utopian/futuristic 2016. While there are still issues such as small crime and heartbreak, there are no longer bigger problems such as war. In 1965 the scientist Lionel Gottreider invented a machine that could create limitless, clean energy. This lead to a fast creation of technology and a world which is similar to the Jetsons. In fact, Tom’s dad is currently working on creating a time machine to go back to the moment that Gottreider flipped on the machine that changed the world. However, hen Toms jumps back to the present, he ends up in our “dystopian” 2016 instead of his own.

This book is so well thought out I can’t even begin to explain it. All of the scientific elements are explained and so thorough that I fully expect someone to try these things and create them in real life. But even though this science-fiction novel is solid with the science, there is a lot of good fiction too.

When Tom wakes up in his alternate universe’s body, he is, of course, the same but different. His dystopian 2016 personality is named John and John has been having dreams from Tom’s world and memories. The other aspect I really enjoyed was that when Tom tried to explain what had happened to his family, the legitimately thought he was mentally ill. Which, you know, if my brother came up to me saying he wasn’t really my brother that I knew but was from an alternate version of our reality, I wouldn’t think he was sane ether. But Mastai wrote this aspect of the book really well.

With the exception of the ending, which I found a bit confusing I really enjoyed this book. It made me realize that I may be more of a sci-fi fan than I thought!

What Book Club Thought

We had some interesting discussion about our personal feelings of time travel and whether or not we believe it could truly happen. It was a lot of fun to discuss! Everyone enjoyed the book and felt that the voice of the book was unique adn interesting. There were definitely some parts of the book that were confusing that we needed to clarify as a group, but overall it was a lot of fun and easy to read. The best part was that no one seemed to have major issues with this book! 

September 25, 2017 /Lindsey Castronovo
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The Future She Left Behind

September 22, 2017 by Lindsey Castronovo

By: Marin Thomas
Published Year: 2017
Pages: 352
Publisher: Berkley

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): One woman's journey home gets derailed by her soon-to-be ex-mother-in-law in a novel filled with humor, small-town charm, rekindled love, and the resilient ties of family. 

Cast aside by her cheating husband, Katelyn Chandler is ready to pack it all in and drive home to Little Springs, Texas. She wants a chance to regroup, reconnect with her mother, and get back to her art. 

But Shirley Pratt--master manipulator, elitist snob, and Katelyn's terror of a live-in monster-in-law--has other ideas. Shirley insists on joining Katelyn's trip after her son tries to pack her off to a retirement community. Katelyn has no choice but to play peacekeeper between the ornery old woman and the proud matrons of Little Springs. Yet the small town seems to be changing Shirley. And as Katelyn weighs the wisdom of picking up where she left off with Jackson Mendoza, the town bad boy and her high school sweetheart, she must find a way to believe in the strength of her dreams.

First Impressions

The cover drew me in on this one for sure. I am a sucker for road trip books. I was a bit wary about the mother-in-law aspect of the summary, but decided it could end up being really cute.

What I thought

Katelyn unexpectedly receives divorce papers from her husband of 19 years. He tells her that he is leaving her and that the house will be on the market the next day, leaving her no place to live and the only option for his mother is an apartment that he bought without her input or knowledge. Shirley, Katelyn’s mother-in-law and pain in her a$$, decides she wants to stick it to her jerk of a son and wants to go with Katelyn to Texas. Katelyn decides that she wants to go back to her small hometown in Little Springs Texas to see her mother and get back to the dreams she had before her marriage and her children.

There were a few things here and there that bothered me. Some of them were silly things, like the fact that Shirley is 65 and painted to be a very old woman. I mean, I know that 65 isn’t young, but the way they described her in the summary and even the way that she acts at times, I pictured her as much older. The other thing that bothered me was repetitive writing. It seems as though Thomas repeated a lot of the same phrases throughout the book to really drive home the thoughts and feelings, but instead I would read them and just think “I already know this.” For example, every time Jackson and Katelyn were thinking about each other it was the same old thoughts. Because of that, I never felt like I wanted them to get together.

Personally, Shirley and Birdie were my favorite part of the entire story. I loved their pasts and how they were dealing with their present. I also really enjoyed their banter and wish we could have seem some more of their interactions.

Unfortunately, Katelyn fell a little flat to me. While I liked a lot of the aspects of her personality, such as her strength and resilience, she was a bit whiney and never seemed to quite find herself. It just seemed like over and over again she was realizing that she hadn’t been as happy in her marriage as she originally thought she was.

There was not a true road trip element to this book, contrary to what the cover would make you believe. Shirley and Katelyn make it to Text pretty quickly.  The cast of side characters in the smalle town of Little Springs was wonderful. I would gladly read more books about the town and the people in it. I just didn’t connect with Katelyn as much as I wanted to, even though I enjoyed her story.

I think there are a lot of fun and interesting parts to his story, but something about it just didn’t completely click with me. I loved Little Springs and I liked Shirley, but the over all story was just kind of bland. I would recommend it if you li…

I think there are a lot of fun and interesting parts to his story, but something about it just didn’t completely click with me. I loved Little Springs and I liked Shirley, but the over all story was just kind of bland. I would recommend it if you like simple, small town stories, but I think I have other books that would be recommended before this one came to mind. I can easily see this one fading in my memory like one of the trains that passes through Little Springs Texas on its way to a bigger city.

September 22, 2017 /Lindsey Castronovo
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Marc Jacobs Beauty Matte Highliner

September 18, 2017 by Lindsey Castronovo

I recently received two Marc Jacobs Matte Highliners ($25) for review (Thanks Crowdtap!). I have never tried an Marc Jacobs Beauty products but I have only ever heard good things. They are a bit pricy, so I’ve shied away from them a bit, but was really excited to get the opportunity to try these new eyeliners.

These gel eyeliners claim to last for 12 hours and boast super-rich pigmentation. This is the matte formula, so it is formulated without any shimmer. The company also warns that you have about 15 seconds to smudge or move the liner before it sets. This liner is also waterproof, is a screw up liner, and also has a sharpener hidden in the bottom!

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The two colors that I received were (Earth)quake, a dark brown, and Pink of Me, a baby pink.

These eyeliners are the softest liners I have ever used and I love them! I hate when you buy an expensive liner and it just pull and tugs at your lid as you try to get it on. Not only does that irritate your eye and cause potential wrinkles, but you’re never able to get a straight line! That is not the case with this liner. You barely have to apply any pressure to get an intense color payoff.

As for the 12 hour wear claim? I don’t know if I can confirm the full 12 house, but I can definitely confirm long-lasting wear that doesn’t smudge. I feel completely confident putting this on at 7 in the morning before work and knowing it will stay in place until I get home around 4-5.  

There are also so many fun colors to choose from. I’ve never worn a burgundy or hot pink eyeliner, but man do these liners make me want to! There is also a beautiful cobalt blue that I’d love to get my hands on. While there isn’t a black in this collection, there is a dark gray that comes pretty close.

Compared to other high-end eyeliners that I’ve used, this one wins out. The Nars Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner which is a similar product, is $1 more expensive for a slight bit more product, .2oz compared to the .1 for Marc Jacobs. To me though, there is no contest. The Marc Jacobs Highliner is so much creamier that I will pick that one every time.

September 18, 2017 /Lindsey Castronovo
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A Strange Scottish Shore (Emmaline Truelove #2)

September 11, 2017 by Lindsey Castronovo

By: Juliana Gray
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Berkley Books
Pages: 400

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this book.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Scotland, 1906. A mysterious object discovered inside an ancient castle calls Maximilian Haywood, the new Duke of Olympia, and his fellow researcher Emmeline Truelove, north to the remote Orkney Islands. No stranger to the study of anachronisms in archeological digs, Haywood is nevertheless puzzled by the artifact: a suit of clothing, which, according to family legend, once belonged to a selkie who rose from the sea in ancient times and married the castle’s first laird.

But Haywood and Truelove soon discover they’re not the only ones interested in the selkie’s strange hide, and when their mutual friend Lord Silverton vanishes in the night from an Edinburgh street, the mystery takes a dangerous turn through time, which only Haywood’s skills and Truelove’s bravery can solve…

First Impressions

As this is a sequel, I don’t really have first impressions. I’ll leave the link to my review of the first Emmaline Truelove novel, A Most Extraordinary Pursuit, here for you to find out what I thought of the first novel. Also, if you haven’t read the first book, I warn you there will most likely be some spoilers as I discuss this on.

What I thought

While I remember enjoying the first book, I’m pretty sure I enjoyed this one much more! I don’t have many lingering thoughts and feelings about the first book so that means it didn’t make a huge impression on me. I’m glad that I at least had enough of a memory that I enjoyed the first one to agree to review this one.

In the last novel, we were left with the concept that Max, the Duke of Olympia has the ability to pull people through time. Emmaline Truelove who was working as his secretary, is now working as his equal on researching how this happened and how to control it. A Strange Scottish Shore starts with Emmaline on her way to meet the Duke since he has found something interesting that he needs her help with. He also sends Silverton to keep an eye on Truelove. But while keeping on eye on Truelove and her papers she’s meant to be delivering to Max, he disappears.

This first book in this series was mostly an mysterious adventure with all of a sudden time travel thrown in at the end. This one is fully immersed in the time travel. It starts with Max and Emmaline trying to research what has happened and why and goes from there.

There is a lot more of Truelove and Silverton in this book and it is lovely. They are so sweet together and it is frustrating watching Truelove deny her feelings for him. I like that this is a different take on time travel with a love of historical fiction elements involved. The one (semi) problem I have with these stories is that there is so much information left out. I understand that a lot of it is left out because you’re discovering along with the characters, but there are still certain parts that I just don’t get. Hopefully they’ll become clearer as the series continues.

I really enjoyed how Gray incorporates the historical elements with the science fiction and with romance. It makes the time travel element a bit more relatable to readers who aren’t typically into that kind of thing. I also like that it allows Gray to explore different time periods and the cultures of that time period. I look forward to seeing where our adventurers go next!

If you like historical fiction, romance, and a bit of science fiction this series will be for you. I think that this book is a bit stronger than the first as it seems to really be settling into its identity. It has some ups and downs that will keep …

If you like historical fiction, romance, and a bit of science fiction this series will be for you. I think that this book is a bit stronger than the first as it seems to really be settling into its identity. It has some ups and downs that will keep you turning the pages. This series is really starting to pick up and I’m looking forward to the next book!

September 11, 2017 /Lindsey Castronovo
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On the Spectrum.jpg

On the Spectrum

September 08, 2017 by Lindsey Castronovo

By: Jennifer Gold
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Second Story Press
Pages: 336

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Growing up in the shadow of a famous mother, Clara has never felt good about her body. Now, at sixteen, she has an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. After a social media disaster, she decides to escape for the summer to Paris to stay with her estranged dad and her six-year-old brother, Alastair, who is on the autism spectrum. Charged with his care, Clara and Alastair set out to explore the city. Paris teaches Clara about first love and gives her a new love of food. And Alastair teaches Clara about patience, trust and the beauty of loving without judgment.

First Impressions

As a speech pathologist, I work with children who are on the Autism spectrum. I am often a bit critical of books that have children who are on the spectrum as they follow a lot of clichés and not necessarily truthful behaviors. However, the cover and the summary of this book caught my eye. In the summer I love to read books that take place elsewhere and this seemed like a unique twist.

What I thought

When Clara, the daughter of a prima ballerina, is accused of having an eating disorder, her mother decides that it might be good for her to spend in the summer in Paris with his wife and son (her half-brother). While neither Clara nor her mom think that she truly has a disorder, her mom is worried that she isn’t being a good parent and feels like since she has never truly spent time with her father or his family, that this would be a good time to do so. Alastair, Clara’s 6 year old half-brother, is also on the Autism spectrum.

This book was a truly enjoyable and easy read. Like, finished in a few hours easy read. I didn’t realize when I picked up this book that there were going to be ties to dancing and eating disorders as well as the Autism connections. As a dancer, I always connect easily with dance story lines, but I haven’t read a book with a character whose mother is a dancer but they personally do not dance. It was a very interesting dynamic.

At the beginning of the book, I was a bit worried Clara was going to be a terrible person. She has a bit of an attitude and it very concerned about social status as well as what she looks like and what she eats. However, as the book continues you learn that she is a good person at her core, but that she just has an illness that has a strong hold over her. I always feel like characters who get the opportunity to go to a different country for the summer and are angry about it are spoiled (I would have jumped at the chance) but Clara doesn’t take any of that attitude, and while she is a bit reluctant at first, she immediately embraces the experience which is great.

I also truly appreciated that they didn’t claim that Alastair had Autism. They referred to him as only being “on the spectrum” and also as not having a neurotypical brain. Part of the reason I appreciated this is because there is such a wide range of personalities and behaviors that truly are on the spectrum that never get mentioned. It is only ever the extremes. There are a lot of children who don’t have an official diagnosis of “Autism” but still exhibit Autism like behaviors, hence the “spectrum”. The character of Alastair was an absolute delight and I loved every scene that he was in.

Truthfully, I wish this book was longer. I feel like it only just started to scratch the surface of Clara dealing with her disorder as well as finding herself. I would love to read a sequel to this book and find out how Clara is dealing, especially once she goes back home to her mom. There is also a little bit of romance, but it’s not a central story line.

This book is delightful. Every character has realistic flaws, but they are dealt with and accepted and understood. Nothing is ignored in this book and I really appreciated that. I also enjoyed that it discussed some of the difficulties of having a c…

This book is delightful. Every character has realistic flaws, but they are dealt with and accepted and understood. Nothing is ignored in this book and I really appreciated that. I also enjoyed that it discussed some of the difficulties of having a child who is on the spectrum. There were a few moments where Clara observed that it must be hard to be a mom or dad of a child like Alastair, and I loved those little moments. If you enjoy books about self-discovery, you should pick up this book. While it deals with serious topics, it does it in such a light way that you just enjoy and learn from the whole experience. I look forward to reading more by Gold, and I really hope this isn’t the last we see of Clara and Alastair.

September 08, 2017 /Lindsey Castronovo
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Julep Cushion Complexion 5-in-1 Skin Perfector with Tumeric

September 06, 2017 by Lindsey Castronovo

Julep Beauty just released a Cushion Complexion 5-in-1 Skin Perfector with Tumeric concealer. Thanks to Crowdtap, I recently received 5 different shades to sample.

Julep is a beauty brand that I believe is best known for their nail polishes and Maven Boxes. The Julep Maven boxes were one of the first I heard of that were mostly focused on nail polishes. I honestly had no idea that they had products other than nail polish and lip gloss!

The main concept of this concealer is that it’s an easy to use on-the-go product that can:

  • conceal dark circles, acne and hyperpigmentation

  • correct to neutralize redness and inflammation

  • illuminate high points of the face  

  • blur to diffuse the look of fine lines

  • brighten long-term as an effect of the Tumeric Extract

They also mention that you could use it as an all over foundation (though your product probably won’t last nearly as long if you do that). It is $30 for a full size, which is a bight pricy for a concealer. Especially considering that it is only .16 oz of product. For comparison, one of the pricier concealers that I enjoy is the Estee Lauder Double Wear concealer which is $28 for .25 oz of product.

The biggest positive to this concealer that immediately jumped out at me is the range of tones that they have. This concealer comes in 18 different skin tones which is fabulous! I’m very impressed with how they offer both a cool and warm version of essentially the same color as well. If you have a hard time finding a concealer that matches your skin, I would recommend looking into this one. There are about 9 light-medium shared and 9 medium-dark shades, so the range covers a lot. Their website does also recommend that if you’re between two shades, go for the lighter one!

Colors from Bottom to Top: Nude (200), Cashmere (210), Sand (220), Beige (230), Camel (240)

Colors from Bottom to Top: Nude (200), Cashmere (210), Sand (220), Beige (230), Camel (240)

The packaging I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with. I think the pewter casing is beautiful and sleek and you won’t feel self-concious pulling it out of your bag. It has a night bit of weight to it but isn’t overly heavy. The cushion part of the concealer, which Julep is using as their selling point, is meant to allow for easy and precise application. It’s really soft and it does apply the product beautifully. However, I always feel like when you use these types of click-up products, you loose the product in the applicator. If you accidentally click one too may times, it’s stuck on the sponge and there is nothing you can do about it. The positive is that you aren’t taking an applicator which has been on your face and putting it back into the product, so contamination/hygiene is a little better with a product like this.

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My biggest skin care issue is my psoriasis. I have dry skin but I get psoriasis patches on my face. Because of that I am very picky about my concealers. Liquid concealers are pretty much all I can use because otherwise the product cakes onto my psoriasis and makes it look like I have scales. It’s horrifying to say the least. Unfortunately (although not really unfortunately) I haven’t had any big psoriasis patches on my face to test this out on lately. I can say that it doesn’t cling to my dry patches, but that it does cling to hairs. I had some redness between my eyebrows and it definitely clung to whatever it could fine and didn’t look nearly as smooth as the other spots I had used it on.

The other big claim of this product is that not only does it conceal, but it can work as skin-care and healing your skin as well. It contains turmeric extract and camellia seed oil. The turmeric is meant to brighten skin over time and also contains anti-inflammatory properties while the camellia seed oil contains skin-calming properties and also nourishes and moisturizes the skin. Admittedly, the turmeric was the biggest reason I wanted to try this product. How great would it be to have a concealer that not only conceals my psoriasis but treats it at the same time? I’m hoping to find out if it helps with that over time and wish I could get back to you with more info. Maybe I’ll do an update in the future?

This product is definitely a trend setter in its claims of being both make-up and skin care at the same time. Like I said, I have a love/hate relationship with the packaging and I’m not crazy about the price. It’s a very nice product, but for the amount you get at the price it’s at I’m just not 100% sold.

September 06, 2017 /Lindsey Castronovo
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The Lake Effect.jpg

The Lake Effect

September 01, 2017 by Lindsey Castronovo

By: Erin McCahan
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Dial Books
Pages: 400

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): It’s the summer after his senior year, and Briggs Henry is out the door. He’s leaving behind his ex-girlfriend and his parents’ money troubles for Lake Michigan and its miles of sandy beaches, working a summer job as a personal assistant, and living in a gorgeous Victorian on the shore. It’s the kind of house Briggs plans to buy his parents one day when he’s a multi-millionaire. But then he gets there. And his eighty-four-year-old boss tells him to put on a suit for her funeral.

So begins a summer of social gaffes, stomach cramps, fraught beach volleyball games, moonlit epiphanies, and a drawer full of funeral programs. Add to this Abigail, the mystifying girl next door on whom Briggs’s charms just won’t work, and “the lake effect” is taking on a whole new meaning. 

First Impressions

Being a Chicagoan and having gone to school and vacationed in Michigan, the name Lake Effect jumped out to me as a summer read immediately. The cover screams summer and the lake and that is everything that I grew up with and wanting over the summer. Pretty much any time there is a book that takes place in or around areas I have lived it adds to my interest in reading it.

What I thought

Briggs is in the summer after his senior year before going off to University of Michigan for college. He gets a job as live in help for an elderly woman (in her mid-80s) in South Haven for the summer. When he was a child, his family used to summer in South Haven but they stopped when he was 9 and he misses being by the lake, so he is looking forward to this the most when he gets the job.

I enjoyed the character of Briggs even though he seemed a bit unrealistic. In high school he was Class President, All-Star baseball player, number 9 in his class, worked part-time, and has a way with the older women (in a not creepy way). He was a bit too perfect for me and I think this may have been because the author was female, writing a male character. It just seemed like a bit of that authentic 18 year old boy was missing.

Mrs. B, the woman that Briggs is working for was my absolute favorite. I would have been happy if the whole book had revolved around Briggs and Mrs. B and him learning from her and learning about who he was. The part that threw me a little bit was the attempt at friendships in South Haven. It seemed like parts of relationships started to develop but then something little would stop them. For example, a lot of them refused to be nice to Briggs because he was a “tourist”. Which I get to a point, but still seemed a bit immature for 18-19 year olds who have either gone to college or are going to college.

The other issue I had with this book was there was a lot going on. There were a lot of small story lines that were brought in to create drama and tension. But then there was a larger out of the blue conflict thrown in. I don’t think that it was necessary to the story and I would have preferred it without the final drama. It just came off as a bit formulaic. As if the author was following the summer beach read storyline and realized that she needed something big if she wanted her book to fall into this category. I just would’ve enjoyed it a lot more if it had stayed simple and a little more typical without the giant conflict.

This book is a super quick read with the majority of chapters only being 1-2 pages. The characters are fun and it was a nice book to read that allowed me to shut off my brain for a while. I had some issues with the final third of the book and would’…

This book is a super quick read with the majority of chapters only being 1-2 pages. The characters are fun and it was a nice book to read that allowed me to shut off my brain for a while. I had some issues with the final third of the book and would’ve preferred if it had continued alone the same lines of the first 2/3 of the book. If you are looking for an easy summer read, I would recommend this book. Especially if you are from or ever vacationed in the south west Michigan area.

September 01, 2017 /Lindsey Castronovo
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Lindsey's bookshelf: currently-reading

The Gender Lie
The Gender Lie
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