Life's A Beach

Delightful: Does anyone depict family dynamics better than Claire Cook? I don't think so. Life's a Beach is my favorite kind of book--an entertaining read that has just enought depth to it. The interactions between sisters Ginger and Geri (my only beef--did they both have to start with a "G"?) were spot on and I enjoyed learning more about movie making and glassblowing. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a fun read.

For me, the situations in this story often rang true and Ginger's sarcastic comments made me smile. I grew up by the shore and I could almost smell the sea breeze in this little novel. Buoyant and lighthearted, I do recommend it for a day at the beach.

The first paragraph of the cover flap sums up the story" Life's a bit of a beach these days for Ginger Walsh, who finds herself single at forty-one and back home living in the family FROG (Finished Room Over Garage) with only her paper-shredding cat for company. She's hoping for a more fulfilling life as a sea glass artist, but mostly she's babysitting for her sister's kids and sharing overnights with Noah, her on-again, off-again glassblower boyfriend with commitment issues and a dog Ginger's cat isn't too crazy about." This gright and breezy read is one of the first in Hyperion's new imprint Voice which is being marketed as an imprint of books "for women at the center of life--fiction and nonfiction for smart, educated, busy, curious, show more and seasoned women for whom reading is a passion. Women who want to read to figure out what they want next. An imprint by and for women--as women see themselves." Mmmmm...maybe being chronologically beyond the center of life dampened my enthusiasm for this book just a bit. Not as good as Must Love Dogs or Multiple Choice, but ok for an afternoon sit with a cool glass of iced coffee. show less

This book was recommended by my Sister during, yes, a beach trip! While not my typical reading by any stretch, it was cute, it made me laugh a few times and the family was pretty endearing. I'm not a "chic lit" kind of woman, but if you are I believe you would find this quite enjoyable. It is a quick, easy read about a 41-year-old woman trying to find herself and her lackluster boyfriend and eccentric family. It was kind of fun to read a fluffy book with a happy ending for a change. The writing is not poor, but it is written in an incredibly simple style. For what it is (i.e. "beach read"), it is pretty good, but certainly don't expect it to be great literature.

For me, the situations in this story often rang true and Ginger's sarcastic comments made me smile. I grew up by the shore and I could almost smell the sea breeze in this little novel. Buoyant and lighthearted, I do recommend it for a day at the beach.

Decent But Forgettable, June 18, 2008

The Chick Lit Book Club I lead read Life's A Beach for our June, 2008 selection. The general agreement was that it wasn't a "bad" book and actually had a few funny parts but overall it was pretty forgettable.

What's Good About It:
Claire Cook does a great job of portraying family relationships. The characters are very realistic. The interaction between parents, mom and daughters, sisters, and siblings are pretty accurate and most of gals in the book club could relate to those aspects.

What's So-So About It:
It's kind of boring. Nothing major happens...there is a small family crisis here and there. Nobody's life is usually as interesting as books make them out to be but this novel fell a little flat.

The show more other major flaw is character development and believability. The relationship between Ginger and her boyfriend Noah isn't there...there were more sparks with the Gaffer, whose name escapes me. The passion wasn't there. In addition the characters didn't seem to change or grow that much at all. Ginger comes to realize a few things at the end of the book but big whoop, if she had half a brain she's have figured things out sooner.

I'm not saying that Claire Cook isn't talented it's just that normally the gals in the book club are clamoring for the list of other books by the author and in this case we ended earlier and had moved on to next month. show less

Cute.
Very quick read.

Ginger is the youngest, she's 41 but definitely takes her role as younger, less mature sibling, to heart.
Geri is the older sister, about to turn 50. She's taking her role as older sister very literally as she is still somewhat caring for Ginger while also assuming she can't take care of herself and make adult decisions.

The sisterly squabbles got a bit much at times.

When Geri's son is offered a small role in a movie, Ginger offers to care for him.

I thought the cat was the most entertaining character (I am a cat person though). I kind of wanted Ginger to find away to let her cat continue to create his art lol seriously, wouldn't that have been adorable?