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This book was highly anticipated for me as Steven Rowley is my current favorite fiction author. He wrote Lily and the Octopus which I fell in love with and when he announced this book I could not wait to get my hands on it!
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I thought I knew what to expect when I picked up The Water Is Wide by Natalie Banks. I anticipated an enjoyable book but did not expect the suspense! An emotional adventure for sure.

This book is a page turner. Perfect beach read or weekend getaway book.

The story is set mainly on the East Coast, from North Carolina to Boston with a 

Funny story, I started reading this book because I was going away on a retreat, with a bunch of strangers, that I didn’t really want to go to initially. This book was my “protest”. Why did I even go on a retreat I didn’t really want to? That’s a story for another time.

Let’s talk about thebook!

This book is about nine people who end up at the same health resort. The kind of health resort you imagine for detox situations, no phones, no internet, lots of rules and schedules. 

Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple is considered a "comedic novel" and I agree it is funny. I would also characterize it as a light mystery.

If you are a mom, the characters will be familiarly funny without being too deep or causing you to be overly reflective of your own life.

Overall this is a light read, extremely enjoyable and I highly recommend it.

A small synopsis of the story to wet your appetite - 

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This is a great summer read! Liane Moriarty has crafted an engaging story that any woman can relate to. If you are a mom, never been a mom, married, never been married, young, old, divorced, widowed... What Alice Forgot includes strong female characters in varying stages and ages of life and somehow in the midst of this smooth, easy read we really get to know them all.

The title infers memory loss and the book summary tells you 

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​YOU! MUST! READ! THIS! BOOK!

Spoken in Lily’s excited “voice”, which has now become all dog speak for me.

What an endearing story about Ted and Lily, about their years together and the lessons learned from having the bond that develops between a dog and their human. How the human takes those lessons and applies them to life.

We meet the people in Ted’s extended life, his love of 6 years, 

Judy Blume – a true phenomenon who has been able to write for all ages for all times it seems.

I have always enjoyed her children’s books from Fudge to Are you there God, it’s me Margaret. What a treat now to be able to enjoy her work for adults. Enjoy is exactly what I did as I read In the Unlikely Event.

Taking us on a journey to Judy’s childhood hometown Elizabeth, New Jersey where we meet a cast of characters whose lives intertwine in some unexpected ways.

Written from the perspective of several characters we see life, love and tragedy through the eyes of children, adults and elderly residents.

Scout and Atticus we meet again in this timely story that surprisingly was written in 1957 before the beloved classic To Kill a Mockingbird was even an idea. Harper Lee’s publisher liked the manuscript but asked her to write a story from Scout’s perspective as a young child. She did just that in To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman was buried away only to be discovered and then published almost 60 years later in July 2015.

As a fan of To Kill a Mockingbird picking up Go Set a Watchman was a no brainer.

I was delighted to visit Macomb, Alabama again through the eyes of grown up Scout, referred to most often now as Jean Louise. The book drew me in and at first I was not sure why a dear friend had warned me about some unsettling things I would come to discover in reading this “new” book of Harper Lee’s. In the story Scout is coming home to Macomb, Alabama from New York City for a visit with her aging father Atticus, her eccentric Uncle, her Aunt and Henry (Hank). Calpernia (Cal), the housekeeper who helped raise Scout, also makes a brief appearance.

At this point I will say *spoiler alert* in case you want to stop here, read the book in its entirety and then (hopefully) return for my thoughts and to give me yours. If you don't mind spoilers...read more.

When the movie adaptation of this John Green novel was making its debut, the book of course became hugely popular as well. Being a fearful mom at the time (remember rules vs. reason) I completely rejected the story, even after my almost 18 year old both read the book and watched the movie. I didn't trust her enough to really hear her regarding its content and how she experienced this profound story. Needless to say, that was not my proudest moment as a mom. All I could hear were the rants of other fearful Christians in my peer group saying the movie was glorifying teenage sex as a way of satisfying the needs of the hurting teens depicted in The Fault in our Stars.

This could not be further from the truth.