My beautiful friend, the end

I have a book review this afternoon but before I get into the wonderful writing that is The Paris Wife I must share a confession - I have purchased so many books over the past month that I need a new bookcase. o.O

I have books stacked on the counter, by the bed, double stacked in the bookcases we do have, tucked away in my car trunk, hidden in the closet where most women hide new shoes and a few hidden in my kitchen cabinets.  I was joking with a friend the other day that I wouldn't tell her hubby about her new shoe purchase if she didn't tell mine about the new book I just had to buy.  It was a win-win for both of us.

If you asked how this could happen to such a good girl, I would quickly point my finger at the bookstore down the street and blame them for going out of business.  It's like they are handing out free crack with the prices they are rocking right now.  It is bitter sweet to see any bookstore depart this world since I think bookstores are the next best thing to chocolate, but I have been drooling like a junkie at the 70%-90% off sales tags.

I've been three, OK maybe four (possibly five but who's counting) times over the past month to this store and each time I come out with an armful of books.  Now I just have to figure out how to hide a new bookcase full of books in our library.  The good news for you?  Lots of reviews over the coming months; I bought books on everything from zen bread making, to Rasputin (hey it was less than 5 bucks - don't judge), to autographed urban fantasy anthologies.  So let the reading fun begin!

To kick things off, I recently finished The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.

Barnes & Noble Link

Anyone who has read my book club posts knows I'm hard to please; I expect good sentence structure, limited typos, and a well thought out plot.  This book has all of the above.  It is smooth and reads like a memoir.  And it is obvious McLain did her homework.  Even though it is a work of fiction, she captured the period and the people in a way that kept the reader engaged without questioning accuracy.  I looked up a few points and asked The Hubby, the ultimate Hemingway fanatic,  about some things and everything in The Paris Wife checked out.

Although the main story line is about love and loss, the underlying context had my mind bursting with questions and ideas.  It's rare to find a book so engaging on multiple levels.  I thought about my writing style and wondered if good writing was about bringing something new to the game or capturing my own thoughts.  (Maybe it should be a combination of both.)  I thought about the feminist movement, where it was then and where I think things are now.  I thought about relationships and what I would give up for the man I love.  Where would my line be?  I thought about being a parent and how often they both left their child with a "sitter" in this story.

I am now riveted by this time period - how they moved around without a care, lived in excess and decadence; how they were self-destructive and self-absorbed all at once.  And I'm fascinated by the lifestyle; some of the greatest writers of the 20th century came out of this Lost Generation.  How exactly did that happen?

Yes, this one book laid all of this at my feet.  An incredible task if I do say so myself.  It is a fast read, a good read.  And while you might not get as much from this book as I did, the writing alone is worth the time and effort.  A+ on the Brewed book scale.