Making Waves by Lorna Seilstand

Making Waves follows the story of the young Marguerite Westing in 1895 Middle America as she tries to choose between following her heart or her familial obligations. On the one hand she could choose to marry the safe, stable, and oh-so-boring Roger or, on the other hand, she could choose the more exciting and carefree Trip.

This story is a great, light, summer read. The characters are compelling and a little bit over the top, but they are still easily relatable and likable. From the very beginning it is easy to tell who the “villain” of the story is, so you’re really just reading to see how the twists and turns of Marguerite’s life lead her to make the ultimate decision. Also, it is near impossible not to fall in love with Marguerite from the first page as she is young, slightly naïve, and full of life and spunk.

Making Waves does have a few surprising twists and turns, which leaves the reader turning page after page to find out what will happen. This book is a Christian fiction, so there were some moments of prayer and soul-searching inside of the book, but they did not detract from the overall story.

The only thing that took away a little bit from the story itself was the ending, simply because of how abrupt it was. I never really got a sense for why some of the characters acted the way they did because it was all brushed over so quickly. I just wish the ending would have been fleshed out just a bit more so I could really understand what these characters were thinking.

All in all, I give Making Waves 4 out of 5 stars.

Love Lucy by Lucille Ball

Wow, sorry for the long delay between posts. Life kind of got in the way, but I'm back and I am going to do the best I can to keep this blog regularly updated. So, off we go!

I’ll say it right up front: I’m a huge fan of Lucille Ball. So, when I came across Love, Lucy in a used bookstore I just knew that I had to get it. This book was written by Lucille Ball, chronicling her life, though it ends somewhere around 1964. It was only after her death in 1989 that her son and daughter decided to publish her words for the world to read.

This book is a quick, easy, and fun read. Lucille Ball’s voice shines through page after page, so it was obvious to me that this book received very little, if any at all, editing. She also gets into the details of her marriage with Desi and her role on the show that everyone knows: I Love Lucy. However, she does not go into depth into the emotional side of things, so it may not be the nitty-gritty details that people might be looking for when they pick up her autobiography.

Despite that, I absolutely loved this book. I felt like I was sitting right there beside Lucille Ball and she was just engaging me in a conversation. Love, Lucy is written in that kind of casual, conversational tone that, as a reader, I love. I felt like she wasn’t trying to hide anything, she just wanted to put down in words what it felt like to be her.

I highly recommend this book, and I give it the full 5 out of 5 stars.