Book Review: "First Dates and Birthday Cakes" by Isabel Murray

This was super sweet, fun, and a bit steamy. Just what I needed after a few heavier books!

It’s Ben’s 40th birthday. He’s in the midst of a midlife crisis, because his life at 40 isn’t quite what he expected. He’s told everyone he doesn’t want any fuss for his birthday, and amazingly, everyone listened to him. But now he’s all alone.

In an effort to get out of the house and shake himself out of his melancholy, Ben decides to go ice skating. He used to be a pretty great skater—when he was 10–so it should be just like riding a bike, right? Wrong.

As soon as he steps on the ice, he’s on his back. After a while, he’s fallen so much, his bruises have bruises. But then he’s rescued by a handsome, tall man who is an excellent skater. Jakub, who teaches at the rink, helps Ben recapture the joy he had when he used to skate—when he isn’t tripping on the ice.

It turns out Jake isn’t just being kind. He’s attracted to Ben (the feeling is mutual), and when he finds out it’s his birthday, they plan to have dinner together, and Jake promises a birthday kiss. Will this meet-cute lead somewhere real?

I enjoyed the banter between Ben and Jake, as well as some of the other characters. It was a quick but sweet read.

Book Review: "Love, Lists and Fancy Ships" by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

This book is amazing but the title is crying out for an Oxford comma!

Boy, I loved Love, Lists and Fancy Ships! It’s a book about love and family and grief and what happens when you try to insulate yourself from getting hurt.

Jo is a yacht stewardess, a job she enjoys fairly well, despite the occasional difficult guests. About a year ago, with her 30th birthday on the horizon, she put together a bucket list of things she wanted to do before she turned 30. She’s been making good progress and has been blogging about it along the way.

When the death of her beloved nephew turns everything upside down, the bucket list is the last thing she can think of. There are a few impossible things left—sleeping in a castle, visiting five countries—so it doesn’t seem like she’ll make her goal as her milestone birthday approaches.

When her best friend (and boss) Nina encourages her to check one item off her list—kissing a stranger—and she meets Alex, she’s unprepared for the ripples it sets off. And when her teenage nieces show up unexpectedly for the summer, they vow to help her complete the list, but at the same time they challenge Jo emotionally, as she tries to retreat from confronting her grief and helping them deal with their own emotions.

I can’t say enough about this book. It’s funny, sad, thought-provoking, and just so good. A sequel of sorts, Luck and Last Resorts, featuring other characters from the book, is due next summer, and I cannot wait!!

Book Review: "The Dinner List" by Rebecca Serle

It's one of those icebreaker questions that nearly everyone gets asked at least once in their life: If you could have dinner with any five people, living or dead, who would they be?

Sabrina and her college roommate, Jessica, answered that question at some point. Among those Sabrina chose were her father, who moved out when she was very young and she never knew him; Plato, because she was studying philosophy; and Audrey Hepburn, "because I was a nineteen-year-old girl." (Her father, in particular, was a huge Hepburn fan, and in fact, named his daughter for his favorite of Hepburn's films.) She believed, for the most part, that conversation was finished.

On her 30th birthday, she is scheduled to continue the tradition of meeting Jessica for dinner to celebrate. She is utterly shocked to find not only Jessica waiting for her, but a table that also includes Robert, her father; Professor Conrad, her philosophy professor, who served as a type of surrogate father figure; Audrey Hepburn. The table's fifth guest is Tobias. Tobias and Sabrina have had an on-again, off-again relationship for nearly the last decade, and while they can't always make each other completely happy, there's no doubt about just how intensely the two love each other.

"I'm surprised I have the ability for words, because this is insane. Maybe I'm dreaming. Maybe this is some sort of mental breakdown. I blink. I think maybe when I open my eyes it will be just Jessica seated there, which is what I'd been expecting. I have the urge to bolt out the door, or maybe go to the bathroom, splash some cold water on my face to determine whether or not they're really here—whether we're all really here together."

Once the initial shock of the gathering wears off, and Sabrina resigns herself to the fact that this whole experience might not be real, nor is there any rational explanation for it, she realizes she has until midnight to enjoy the assemblage. Why not take advantage of those who joined her, to address unresolved issues, make peace where necessary, and understand why certain things happened the way they did? Little by little, she realizes one of the guests is there for one particular purpose, a purpose Sabrina is absolutely not ready for.

The Dinner List is fascinating, emotional, and beautifully poignant. Yes, it requires you to suspend your disbelief as you read the book, unless these types of dinner parties happen often in your life. Certainly you can see how the plot may develop, but you may hope, as I did, that Rebecca Serle may have some other magical arrows in store. This is a book for anyone who wishes they had said important things to people who are/were important to them, but couldn't find the courage or the opportunity.

The book alternates between the dinner party and the story of Tobias and Sabrina's relationship, and how it affected those around them. It's a beautiful story on its own, made ever more poignant and hopeful by the circumstances that brought everyone together. This is a tremendously insightful story, with each of the dinner guests weighing in with their perspectives on life, love, loss, family, and regrets.

The Dinner List may not be a book for everyone, but being a total sap, it totally worked for me. I can't even begin to count how many times I've wished I had one more opportunity to get closure with people who are no longer in my life for one reason or another, so the emotions felt very genuine. If you can embrace this concept, think about whom you might want to dine with, and then pick up this book! (Maybe it will make you sob as much as I did, lol.)

To my little sister...

Today my sister Meredith celebrates the big 4-0. And in honor of her birthday, I share this classic McDonald's commercial from the 1980s.

There's not that much of an age gap (despite what she likes to tell people), and our lives didn't really emulate the commercial, but the sentiment is the same. (There was more eating of my crayons and destroying my coloring books, plus busting the door to my bedroom open when I was singing at the top of my lungs, but it is what it is.)

Plus, the commercial makes me cry.

So, Meredith, I wish you the happiest of birthdays and every wish you wish for yourself. I love you!

A blogger looks at 43...

(All apologies to Jimmy Buffett for corrupting the title of his song.)

Today has been a remarkable day. The world has been utterly fixated on the fact that for the last time this century, the month, day, and year are all the same—12/12/12—. Thousands of couples chose today to get married for the luck they expect this special date to bring.

Of course, today is even more remarkable as far as I'm concerned, because it's my birthday. As my family and friends know all too well, I'm fairly obsessed with my birthday because it's my one true chance to be the center of attention, something I love probably more than I should.

I turned 43 today, and although my father joked that it didn't seem possible that he could be old enough to have a child my age, I don't have a problem hitting what I'll call my "late early 40s." All of the facets of my life might not be exactly where I want them, but I still marvel every day at just how lucky I am. I'm surrounded by people I care about who care about me, and I have the freedom to pursue the things I enjoy, to follow my dreams wherever they lead.

This morning I quoted a line from a Ben Folds song that simply says, "I am the luckiest." Thanks to the magic of social media, I received birthday greetings today from friends old and new, from people who celebrated with me at childhood birthday parties and with cupcakes in our elementary school classrooms. I heard from people I met while attending summer camp for 10 years, from people who were part of my bar mitzvah, including one of my two "bar mitzvah brothers" I shared my day with.

Beyond that, I've heard from people with whom I shared amazing memories, victories, and heartbreaks in high school and college; former colleagues who helped make the daily drone of work more enjoyable; friends with whom I share passions for many different things; and of course, my family and those I love more than anyone.

From this vantage point, 43 looks pretty good! Thanks to all of you who touch my life, in occasional or constant ways. I am a better, happier, and most of all, luckier person because of you, and I'm grateful you shared this incredibly special day—for me and for the world—with me.