Books on Tap: The Fiction Faction

Spring and summer are not for heavy serious reading. Enter...well, this. The last three of these were read while traveling to and from our Cali trip, and they were perfect plane books. It's been a good book period around here - I highly recommend all of these books.
 
xoxo,
E

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The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, by Kathleen Flinn. So technically this one isn't fiction, but whatever. After her corporate job was eliminated, Flinn decides to pursue her lifelong dream of moving to Paris and studying at Le Cordon Bleu. This was an absolutely fabulous account of her time there, and it made me miss France more than you can imagine. Part personal memoir, part travelogue, and part foodie heaven, I really enjoyed this book. 4/5 stars.

The Lure of the Moonflower, by Lauren Willig. So I'm kind of starting at the end here, since this is the last book in Willig's Pink Carnation series. Her books are smart and witty, combining history, mystery and romance for a set of really, really fun reads. The last edition is no exception. I can't tell you too much without giving away the plot, but rest assured it's a great book and it ties up everything nicely without being too obnoxiously cheesy. I read this in two days flat. 4/5 stars.

The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman. This book takes place on a remote island off the western coast of Australia. The wife of a lighthouse keeper miscarries and stillbirths babies, and then a baby washes up in a rowboat on the shore of the island. The wife insists on keeping the baby and raising it as her own. Drama (eventually) ensues, as I'm sure you can imagine. I keep reading to find out what happened, but not because I was that truly invested in the characters' personalities. It was an interesting read, though. I'd say give it a shot. 3/5 stars.

The Red Notebook, by Antoine Laurain. I don't know what I expected of this, but it was a delightfully whimsical short novella-type book. A woman is mugged in Paris and her purse was stolen. A bookshop owner finds the discarded purse (sans cell phone, wallet, money, etc), and upon looking at the contents, decides this is a woman he wants to meet. This is a story of how he looks for her, and what happens when he finds her. I borrowed it from the library, bu I'll definitely be obtaining my own copy soon. I cannot recommend this more - a perfect summer treat. 5/5 stars.

The Wedding Officer, by Anthony Capella. I was expecting this to be your semi-average chick lit novel, but it actually had a lot more depth to it than I expected. It wasn't solely food and romance, but instead featured the backdrop of World War II in Italy and the choices many desperate individuals had to make to survive during that time. Funny, delightful, and sobering at times, this is a great second novel by Capella. 4/5 stars.