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City of Girls
By Elizabeth Gilbert
Riverhead Books, 9781594634734, June 2019, 480pp.

The Short of It:

It has all the glitter of Broadway but was a tad too long for my distracted brain.

The Rest of It:

I must start with this. I really liked this book. The subject matter, a struggling New York theater, really appealed to me.

The story opens with Vivian Morris explaining to a young woman named Angela, what exactly went down in New York City, circa 1940, and how she came to know her father, Frank. In telling her story, Vivian goes back to when she was a 19-year-old college dropout. Well-to-do, but without goals. She goes to live with her Aunt Peg, who happens to own a failing theatre company and there she discovers who she really is.

I loved the setting so much. Gilbert does an excellent job of setting the stage. A dusty old theatre, limited talent, little to no money to put on anything other than the formulaic shows that only the locals care to see. Vivian has a knack for costuming and finds herself in the thick of it when a famous actress decides to take up residence at the theatre. Edna, is aging but still as glamorous as can be. Vivian is completely smitten with her so when Pam decides to build an entire show around Edna, Vivian creates the most beautiful costumes for her, but a bad decision down the line changes everything and forces Vivian to reflect on her recent actions.

Vivian’s youth and her affinity for hanging out with one particular showgirl gets her into some trouble. There’s a lot of drinking and philandering and although the book is titled City of Girls, it could easily be titled City of WILD Girls. Their antics are amusing, until they’re not.

A good 100 pages could have been cut from this book but if you were a theatre kid or spend a lot of time in theatre now, as I do, you will appreciate this story and enjoy it. The characters leap off the page and are quite memorable. Overall I enjoyed I enjoyed it very much.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Sunday Matters

Hello, friends. I am trying so hard to get back into a routine of reading and posting but the process is like walking through sludge and it’s seriously frustrating because this is THE best time of the year as far as reading goes. So many great books and the weather is cooperating for once with nice cool evenings.

I really considered why I was having such a hard time and I’ve determined that my eyes are just overworked from all this computer work I’ve been doing lately. At the end of the year my eyes give out. It’s happened before but dare I say it, I think I need the type of glasses that OLDER people get, split RX. I was putting it off but I can’t anymore. I can’t see worth a darn at work. The computer screen is as far away from me as I can push it and it’s a blur. So, I made the appointment.

I feel old. But I am going to let it all go and stop being so vain about it and just get the damn glasses.

Right Now:

At this moment I am enjoying my coffee but I think we are going to grab lunch at this steak place we like because Monday is The Girl’s birthday!

This Week:

One orthodontist appointment and rehearsals for various things. Oh, and an update, my daughter got the role of Grace in Annie! She tried out for Hannigan and Grace. Hannigan was her first choice initially but in practicing for Grace the role really grew on her.

Reading:

I’m not reading anything to brag about right now. I will be starting This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel for a book discussion I have later this month. And nope, I haven’t gotten to the King book because of how strained my eyes are at the moment.

Watching:

American Horror Story this season has been epic so far. It’s paying tribute to all the slasher movies from the 80s and it’s seriously just what the doctor ordered for my distracted mind.

Also, Fear the Walking Dead ended the season on a high note. It suddenly got good! Tonight, The new season of The Walking Dead premieres so hopefully it, too, will be good.

New Things I’ve Tried:

Have you guys ever used Coconut Aminos in cooking? It’s a soy sauce alternative but to me, it’s tastes quite different but in a very good way. I have Celiac so I can’t use soy sauce but someone on Instagram used Coconut Aminos on salmon and now I am hooked. It’s sweet but savory too. Apparently it has amino acids in it which provides some health benefits. You can get it almost anywhere now.

Grateful for:

I just got all of my holiday vacation requests approved. I can’t tell you how relieved this makes me feel. We just got re-organized, AGAIN and I wasn’t so sure my time would be approved this time around. So, so, glad that it was.

My question for you this week? How are you celebrating October? I see so many great posts about the month of October. Seems like so many look forward to this time of the year and I know for me, it’s a fave of mine as well. I want all the things: fluffy blankets, new fall candles, Crock Pot meals, soups, and all the Halloween movies I can jam in. What about you?

Chatting with friends about books and life…