Rise and Shine

love Anna Quindlen and this is now my most favorite of her novels ( )

Mom and I listened to this book on the way to and from Arlington, VA. I enjoyed it, although there was one part about the end I really didn't like -- the fight that Megan and Bridget had near the end didn't ring true, and I also didn't like how the author didn't really address it -- there was no resolution to the fight itself. ( )

I love a book that accurately portrays sister relationships. This one did it for me, almost making me cry towards the end. Slightly predictable in a certain sense, but I loved it nonetheless. ( )

Have you noticed that when some authors reach a certain stature, they seem to coast - on their past books and good name.

This is one of those books. I remember reading a good Anna Quindlen book or two nearly twenty years ago. Yeah, that's a long time. So to expect that level of dedication and commitment to future books to continue, may be too much to expect.

People often wonder about Harper Lee because she only wrote one book - but it was good. I now think not everyone has the wherewithal to write a new, fresh, well-plotted, and exciting book once a year, or even once every five years.

Unfortunately publishing is like every other business that likes to have a well defined product they can sell. In this case, it's an author who has produced before . . . .

I wanted to like this book, but it was too loosely woven together. There wasn't so much as a plot as a slice of uninteresting life of well-to-do white folks. And both New York City and the black and brown folks that populate the so-called 'outer boroughs,' were too stereotypical and non nuanced to be interesting. ( )

Meghan is an anchor woman on a morning news program, Rise and Shine. She has everything - a great lawyer husband, a college son who is actually a nice kid, national and international recognition. She has it all and yet she has nothing. She can’t tell anyone how unhappy she is, especially not her sister, Bridget - the opposite. As Meghan’s career climbs to new heights, Bridget’s flounders from one thing to the next - always searching. She finally becomes a social worker and the head of a woman’s center in a nasty part of NYC - The Tubman Projects. She also falls in love with a crusty 20-year-older police commissioner.

Then Meghan self-destructs - she breaks the cardinal rule of TV and utters what she really believes about a guest on air. She flees to Jamaica and turns into a recluse evading all she knew - running from her crumbling marriage and the strain of playing nice . Bridget eventually tracks her down and instead of bringing her home she has her eyes opened to the real Meghan.

Back in NYC tragedy strikes the projects and Meghan is forced to return. In a moment of clarity, she reenters the world of TV news in a way no one could have predicted.

This book give lots of insight into the glitter of upscale NY and the reality of the poor in the dark corners of the city. Meghan and Bridget are played out as sisters united by the tragic death of their parents at an early age, yet they are filled with their own secrets. I liked the book - but had a hard time really staying with it.

01/07 ( )