June's Nightstand

Once again I am a day late (and a dollar short, as my Grandma used to say) for the party. Actually, after my stop at Half Price Books yesterday evening, I am $24 dollars short! (But four novels for the beach richer. It is all about perspective, you know.)

With everything that has been going on at our house since my last 'Nightstand' post, I do not have a lot of those books crossed off the list. I did finish "Everyone Is Beautiful" in time for the last book club over at 5 Minutes For Books...but since that fell right smack in the middle of our anniversary and Brian's graduation, I didn't get to post about it. By the time things settled down again, I had forgotten about it. It was a pretty good read. I laughed a lot as it reminded me of the days when the kids were little and I felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of them...especially when we went out in public. It was a good reminder for me of what my girls are going through as they mother toddlers and also to pay closer attention to the only one that has promised to stay with me for life. (The kids do leave home, eventually. Two down, one in transition, two to launch.)

I also read "Trophy Wives Club". It was an okay read for our weekend in Port Aransas. I didn't really connect to any of the characters and thought that the ending was really stretching it to attain the result that you knew was coming all along...but at least I had no problems putting it down when it was time to play with grand babies or head off to the pool with the kids. It did make a bit of an impact on me, though. I will try to remember not to look at 'trophy wives' as only being in it for the money. What young girl doesn't want to be swept off her feet by someone she thinks will protect and cherish her for the rest of her life? For that matter, what middle aged woman doesn't want that? And what woman isn't heartbroken when her Prince Charming turns out to be an ogre?

As to novels, I still have "Rebecca", "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and "The Centurion's Wife" left from last month. (Well, that last one has been sitting for months waiting for me to catch the mood!) Oh, and I found "Where Are You Now" sitting on a shelf, I had forgotten all about it.

So, what did I add to my list last night? Some good old fashioned beach reads that should be easy to digest when we head off to Surfside next weekend. "The Starter Wife" ( I have been wanting to see the television series just because I like Debra Messing.), "Gardenia's For Breakfast" (I am so glad I found it at Half Priced. See there was a reason it wasn't in at Barnes and Noble last month.), and two Sisterchicks books - "Sisterchicks Go Brit" and "Sisterchicks in Sombreros" (A light read with a message...plus it might give me ideas as to where our next Grandma's Gone Wild trip should take us. Watch out, Girls!)

Now, if only I could be more like the gentleman in line ahead of me at Half Priced last night. He got out of there with 4 hard back books for under $5!