Summer Reading - Another Piece of My Heart

What have I been doing since I obviously haven't been knitting?  Well, I've been reading.  In fact, I want to share with you a great summer read - Jane Green's Another Piece of My Heart.

This book is about a blended family.  It's about parenting.  It's about teenage angst.  It's about the different types of love.  Here's the official description from Jane Green's website:

Andi has spent much of her adult life looking for the perfect man, and at thirty-seven, she's finally found him. Ethan--divorced with two daughters, Emily and Sophia--is a devoted father and even better husband. Always hoping one day she would be a mother, Andi embraces the girls like they were her own. But in Emily’s eyes, Andi is an obstacle to her father’s love, and Emily will do whatever it takes to break her down. When the dynamics between the two escalate, they threaten everything Andi believes about love, family, and motherhood—leaving both women standing at a crossroad in their lives…and in their hearts.

At first, I have to confess, I wasn't sure if I could continue reading it.  It was a lot like my house (except I have two teenage boys and my husband is probably more the Andi than I am).  This book was about teenage angst from the perspective of a mother.  I have enough of that at home.  I wasn't sure I wanted to curl up and read about it in my free time, too.  But I did.  And I'm glad I did.  Why?  Because the second half of the book is written from the teenager Emily's eyes.  Ooh.  Interesting.  I liked that.  I liked trying to figure out what the teenager was thinking.  

Now if only I had a book for reading my two teenage boys' minds...

So go read about modern real-life families and real life love stories.  I think it will make you hug your children a little tighter at night... with a little bit more perspective into what they're thinking.

And I keep wondering - how does Jane know what a teenage girl is thinking?  Well, aside from having teenagers of her own, I think she might just have an inside track.  

P.S. - If you don't know, Jane lives in Westport and one of the things I like about her books is she often weaves some of our nutmeg items into her stories - from a coffee shop, to the beach, to a favorite store or street.  This time, the book is not set in Westport... but I still imagine it set here.  How can I help it?

If you read the book, let me know what you thought?  Do you think she did the modern family/modern romance correctly?  Having gone through it myself, or rather, I should say, going through it myself, I think she gets an A+.  

Thanks Jane for another great read!  Now if we could just get you knitting...

 

Comments

[Lyla Burns]

This sounds like it would be a great book to listen to while I knit. I love to listen to books on tape while knitting, it helps me stay concentrated. I just got some lace knitting patterns that I can't wait to try out. http://www.heartstringsfiberarts.com I guess I better be on the look out for this book!

[kathy b]

wow sounds like a great great read.......Glad you reviewed it for us. And she lives in Westport...wow even cooler.

[Joanne]

I loved the fact that Jane wrote some of this book from the teenage girl's perspective. It was so helpful to remember what it's like to think like a teenager. Having a lot of teenaged angst in this house I wasn't sure I wanted to read this book either, but I found I couldn't put it down once I started it! I don't read too much as I like to knit in my spare time, but I found this book to be well worth it.