Day of Three Novels

Ok so this was an eventful weekend! What with doing laundry and eating brunch with the family and...PROTESTORS MARCHING ON WASHINGTON. Between that, and Taylor Swift getting dissed, oh, and the Princeton Jazz Festival...Is it any wonder I had a case of the Mondays yesterday?

Anyway, true to my word I'm sitting here prepared to review two novels for you this week. Well, actually three. Melody Carlson's FINAL Diary of a Teenage Girl book came out over the weekend and I had to snatch it up. So let me start there!

Maya Stark is a bi-racial girl struggling to follow Jesus. In the third book of her series she is a high school senior dealing with her African-American Father's music legacy and her Caucasian mother's absence. She is still living with her uncle, and still being "just friends" with her man Dominique. Melody Carlson really out does her self here. Maya does things against the grain in this story (hard to describe without giving much away) but she stays true to who God made her to be, and in the end, realizes that what matters most is creating a home with those God has given to you to love. Gold Star Melody!

Secondly I have Names My Sisters Call Me by Megan Crane. This book is a delightful easy read for those of us who adore novels set in Philadelphia. What I loved most about this novel was not the protagonist or her family, (which I believe was kind of the point) but her fiance and best friend who were there to tell her the hard truth about her self and her world. It really took a good look at what it meant to be a "real" artist in this world. Silver Star Megan Crane!


Finally, I have to review This Side of Married. I think the error I made here was reading two novels written for women about family relationships in Philadelphia. This one seemed forced and lacked a lot of the natural charm that the other one hard. The mother seems heavy-handed and old fashioned in her desire to married off her daughters and have them make babies just to inherit some dishes. It was enjoyable enough and well written enough that I rate it with a PASS but I wouldn't recommend it.

Next week.... "This Side of Paradise" by F. Scott Fitzgerald and "Prophet" by Frank Perretti.