Family | Book Chatter

After the Parade
By Lori Ostlund
Scribner Book Company, Hardcover, 9781476790107, September 22, 2015, 352pp.

The Short of It:

With pain, comes growth.

The Rest of It:

As a young child, Aaron Englund had no idea how his father’s death after a fall from a parade float would affect him in the years to come but when his adult relationship with his beloved Walter ends, he’s forced to take a look at his past.

After the Parade is exactly what I look for in a good read. It’s a quiet story with interesting, quirky characters and unusual situations. When Aaron realizes that he can no longer maintain a relationship with Walter, he moves out and meets a host of people who, although flawed, serve a purpose in his healing.

This is truly a book about relationships. Mother and son, father and son, colleague to colleague, innocent bystanders, etc. I loved how open Aaron was to all of it. He’s a sensible guy and takes his hits as they come but he learns from them too which makes him so relatable. This book is filled with quite “aha” moments. I found myself rereading sections just to let the ideas sink in.

If you are like me and like quiet, meaningful reads then you will enjoy this one. It will be on my list of faves for the year because to me, this was the full package as far as reads go.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Firefly Summer
By Nan Rossiter
Kensington Publishing Corporation, Paperback, 9781496705037, July 26, 2016, 352pp.

The Short of It:

Tragedy and heartache can ruin a family but for the Quinn sisters, their love for one another helps them come to terms with the events of the past.

The Rest of It:

The Quinn family spent summer after summer at Whit’s End, their summer house on the Cape. With four sisters and one brother they were a formidable bunch but their time on the Cape was always magical and memorable. But in the summer of 1964, eight-year-old Easton drowns under the watch of one of his sisters and the events of that night forever haunt them.

The Quinn sisters, now grown and all living on the Cape, find themselves leaning on one another as they deal with health scares, crumbling marriages, new relationships, addiction and the overwhelming grief they carry with them from that fateful night.

Rossiter is known for writing stories with heart. Firefly Summer is no exception. The setting, the food, their conversations and their real-life struggles make this the perfect summer read.

I’ve had the pleasure of reading all of Nan Rossiter’s novels and they are all wonderful. You can’t go wrong with any of them. They center around family and she always has these wonderful settings. Check out her website for more information.

Guess what? The author has offered up a copy to giveaway! See details below.

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

This giveaway is for one copy of Firefly Summer and is open to the US and Canada. A winner will be chosen randomly by me. The book will come directly from the publisher/author Only one entry per person. Giveaway closes on July 31, 2016 (pacific). I will contact the winner for his/her mailing address.