Book Review #758 - Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham

A charming and laugh-out-loud novel by Lauren Graham, beloved star of Parenthood and Gilmore Girls, about an aspiring actress trying to make it in mid-nineties New York City.

Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three-year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates - Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material - and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works. 

Meanwhile, she dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dishwashing liquid and peanut butter commercials. It's hard to tell if she'll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won't call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet. 

Someday, Someday, Maybe is a funny and charming debut about finding yourself, finding love, and, most difficult of all, finding an acting job.

My Rating: 3/5

This book has been on my radar for a while so when I saw it at my local library I grabbed it.

This book follows Franny on her quest to make it in acting in New York City.

I absolutely loved the setting of NYC and the book would never have worked had it been set anywhere else.

I feel like this book would make a really good TV show just because there are so many secondary characters that I would love to see explored more and the story felt really cinematic to me whilst reading it.

I'm not sure if this book is semi-autobiographical or not but it definitely felt like it. Franny had Lauren Graham's voice.

Book Review #757 - Postcards from the Boys by Ringo Starr

Whenever John, Paul, or George went on a trip, they would send Ringo a postcard. Now, for the first time, Ringo Starr is opening his private archive to share this delightful and very intimate correspondence. Whether it's John advising Ringo to record a "great & simple" song like Blondie's Heart of Glass, Paul and Jane Asher dropping a note from Rishikesh to report on their meditation lessons with the Maharishi, or George writing from the Great Barrier Reef to confirm plans for Christmas dinner, each postcard is a warm and personal snapshot of life in (and after) The Beatles. The 51 postcards -- many of which are covered in whimsical drawings -- are colorfully reproduced, both front and back. Ringo's droll commentary fills in the blanks, though he does confess that at times he had to consult the Internet for details! Often funny, occasionally bittersweet, and always revealing, Postcards from the Boys is a must for Beatles lovers.

My Rating: 3/5

I read this book in around 20 minutes and so if you're looking for something more insightful this isn't the book for you.

The main issue I had with this book was the lack of context. It showed the postcard without any explanation about it although granted at one stage Ringo said he couldn't remember what one of the references was about.

This was something that I loved about another Beatles postcard book I read this year The John Lennon Letters.

I also found it hard to read the handwriting on the postcards at times (especially John's) so it would have been nice to have had a translation included.

I loved that there were a few postcards from Australia (I think they were sent by George) especially as I had been to the places they were sent from like Tasmania.

Book Review #756 - Neverland by Margot McGovern

Kit Learmonth would rather die than grow up and leave Neverland …

When she was twelve, Kit Learmonth watched her parents drown in a storm as their boat sailed over the Tranter Sink Hole. Now seventeen, Kit doesn’t remember the incident, and she doesn’t want to. In fact, her only clear memories from before her parents’ death are of the fantastical stories of pirates and mermaids that she and her dad invented about the small island where she grew up, a place she calls Neverland. 

Following Kit’s parents’ deaths, her uncle and guardian, Doc, transformed the island into a boarding school for mentally ill teenagers and sent Kit away to school on the mainland. But when Kit tries and fails to end her life, Doc brings her home to the island and places her in the care of his colleague, Dr Hannah Ward. 

Resisting her treatment, Kit instead pulls her friends deeper into her world of make-believe. It’s only when Kit and her new boyfriend, Rohan, take the fantasy too far and land themselves in very real danger that her faith in Neverland is shaken, and Kit must find a way back to reality.

My Rating: 2.5/5

I had to read this book for a book club and it is not a book I would have likely picked to read myself.

First of all I have absolutely no personal knowledge of mental illness, depression, self-harm etc but I felt like this was not properly addressed in this book for example the protagonist Kit never really gets the help she desperately needs.

This was one of those books that the characters drive the story and I struggled with that style with this one because I never really connected with any of them. 

I loved the setting of the island especially the secret cave that Kit escapes to throughout. I also loved the sailing element although I know nothing about it, it felt like it was accurately described and well researched.

The mystery element was really slow paced but ultimately worth the wait as I didn't see it coming.

Overall, I felt like this book had similar elements to it as P is for Pearl another book I had to read for my book club but I felt that P is for Pearl was better written.