A Word from Wendy Wax

It was a real pleasure reading and reviewing Magnolia Wednesdays a few weeks back, and now I'm honored to host here at Bookish Mom Reviews the following guest post by it's author Ms Wendy Wax!

The Hat I'm Wearing

Like most working moms (that would be ALL of us, of course!) I’m a serious multi-tasker and wear a lot of hats. I’m the grocery shopper, the primary cook, the laundress, the chauffeur, the homework nag, the fan in the stands—whatever it takes at that moment to make our home and our lives run smoothly. I’m also a writer with deadlines and other professional responsibilities.

I’m both proud of and horrified by how many things I can accomplish in one day and have become somewhat addicted to the thrill that comes with crossing something off the daily ‘to do’ list. It’s a great psychological ‘pat on the back’ – something homemakers and mothers all too rarely get.

I have been known to whine on occasion, but mostly I’m OK with constantly juggling work and home.

However, who I am at any particular point in time can be confusing. (This is not an esoteric issue but one of name and identity.) Because I married late and was attached to and known by maiden name, I decided that I would keep it professionally and take my husband’s last name legally and socially.

So I stayed Wendy Wax for work and became someone else entirely in our personal life. As a longtime ‘W’ it’s been kind of nice to shoot up to the beginning of the alphabet, even though my days of being called on in class or lining up alphabetically are pretty much over. At the time I decided to split my identities, everything was separate and easily defined; I did talent work and video and film production then and my two worlds rarely collided.

But then I had children as one person and sold my first book as another. And the confusion inherent in having two distinct identities began.

After all these years of split personality, I still occasionally get confused.

Am I the baseball mom working concession, taking tickets or cheering from the stands?

Or the author in the bleachers staring down at her laptop instead of the game trying to complete one more chapter?

Am I the guest speaker whose audience will be enthralled by everything I say?

Or the mother who talks to walls because she lives in a house of males with highly selective hearing?

Am I out in the world driving car pool, shopping for groceries, and picking up the dry cleaning? Or am I the frantic writer on deadline, holed up in my office unshowered and still wearing pajamas?

Sometimes I have to stop and take a minute to figure this out. I need to get my name straight in my mind before I walk into that room.

I read an article recently about how important it is not to separate the parts of your life but let them all exist and flow together. But if I were unable to shut out my real world for long enough periods of time, I would never have completed a novel let alone eight of them. And there have been times when real life got tough, and it was nice to be able to retreat into the fantasy world I was creating. Reading is a great escape and so is writing.

Most of my novels are set in the suburbs and revolve around women living lives similar to mine.

My characters, like most of the women I know, tend to wear many hats and sometimes feel overwhelmed.

I’m not sure that there’s any solution to this, but if we ever meet and I hesitate slightly before I introduce myself, just know that it’s not at all about you.

It’s all about me trying to remember which hat I’m wearing. And whether it’s time to change it. -Wendy Wax, author of Magnolia Wednesdays

Magnolia Wednesdays by Wendy Wax

Magnolia Wednesdays by Wendy Wax
(Fiction)

Top notch journalist Vivian Gray has it all. She’s got the investigative reporting career of her dreams and the most amazing boyfriend she could ever hope for. Life is perfect. But as quickly as success found her, so is Vivian left scrambling for some semblance of the life she knew. Chasing a lead, Vivian travels to the depths of a New York City parking garage in hopes of getting the undercover skinny on what could very well be a huge Wall Street scandal. However, things go horribly awry, and Vivian not only loses her jump on what could have been an incredible story, but she also is suddenly the laughing stock of America. Plus to make matters worse, Vivian finds herself on the outs with her network. Apparently being forty one makes her too old to draw the ratings they’re looking for, so they’re bringing in someone new- someone younger and fresher to take her place. Unwilling to just roll over and take the hit quietly, Vivian quits. She understands the position she’s in; it’s a nightmare. Lucky for Vivian it’s one that can most definitely not get any worse. Or so she thinks.

A call from her doctor quickly dispels that theory though. For what Vivian finds out is nothing short of shocking- she’s pregnant! With her longtime war correspondent boyfriend Stone, on assignment in Afghanistan, Vivian finds herself unable to burden him with the astounding news. It’s not that she will never tell him, but it’s a doozie and something she wants to wait for just the right moment share.

Down and out on her luck, Vivian discovers that finding a new job isn’t as easy as she’d expected. Apparently her old network isn’t the only one that sees age as being a stumbling block instead of a stepping stone of experience. And whether she planned for it or not, Vivian is pregnant and she simply must find a job if she’s got any hope of supporting herself. That’s why when a lowly gossip column position becomes available, despite her very nature to shy away from it in disgust, Vivian puts herself forward and claims the job as her own.

It’s not a pretty job, but it’s one Vivian believes she can handle. She’ll have to do it discreetly of course, or risk making an even bigger name for herself, and not in a good way. And she really has been meaning to visit her sister down South in the Georgian suburbs. What better time than now? She can kill three birds with one stone. She can hide out from all the recent unwanted media attention. She can spend some time with her family. And best of all, it’ll be the perfect cover for her less than honorable research she intends to do to write her new column Postcards from Suburbia.

If only she’d known then how terribly wrong she was.

The goldmine of possible column ideas is simply unprecedented here in suburbia. Even Vivi, as her sister Melanie likes to call her, wasn’t prepared for the limitless, rant worthy wealth. Be that as it may, Vivi begins to find herself being drawn in more and more by the people she’s come to know as friends here in the Atlanta suburbs. Noting her initial impressions wrong, Vivi finds she’s starting to understand and even appreciate some of the formally foreign nuances of suburbia. The trouble is, she still has a column to write. So, personal feelings of guilt aside, if she expects to bring home a paycheck Vivian must continue to come up with something to write about, never mind the repercussions that could entail if she’s ever found out.

It’s a roller coaster of emotions and constant string of stupid mistakes. But at the end of the day, it’s Vivi’s life. And she’s hoping against all hope that it’ll not end up toppling over leaving her grasping for straws. Yet only time will tell…

Magnolia Wednesdays is by far one of the best books I’ve ever read, and certainly the best I’ve had the privilege to read so far this year. Written with what seems a flawless ease, this story was riveting and completely one hundred percent realistic. It’s written as a work of fiction, yet could easily be based on someone real’s life. For you see, the suburbs described in this story could just as easily been here in my town in Oklahoma as opposed to Georgia. The calls Vivian made on how life revolves around status and kids was very true. Of course, like Vivi discovers in the story this is not always a bad thing. There can certainly be too much competition and schedule overload, but these alone are not pigeon holed to the ‘burbs either.

I found Wax’s point of view refreshingly honest, and I loved how well thought out Vivian’s story was. It was carefully designed to show real life through the eyes of both the outsider and the insider, and that made it so much fun to read. The thoughts and actions that defined Wax’s characters were the same ones that exist in the real world on a daily basis. It was easy to relate to the women in Magnolia Wednesdays because of the time and care spent in developing them and their stories. I could understand and relate to them. I could feel their joy and sense their pain. In short, it was amazing.

This was my first introduction to Wendy Was, and now that I’ve been given a taste of her delicious brilliance I cannot wait to see what fine wonders her others titles bring to the table!!!

Many thanks to Joan Schulhafer and Caitlin Brown for this chance to read and review Magnolia Wednesdays. It’s been a real pleasure!

~Bookish Mom, aka Rebekah C

Postcards from a Dead Girl by Kirk Farber

Postcards from a Dead Girl by Kirk Farber
(Fiction)

Sid used to be in love- still is in a sense. But the day his girlfriend Zoe left him she took a little piece of Sid with her. Therefore, when scenic postcards, from faraway venues they were supposed to visit together, start showing up in his mailbox the already unbalanced Sid really begins to come undone at the seams. Reason being, Zoe didn't just up leave- she's dead. So how is she mailing him postcards from a trip she couldn't have possibly have ever taken?

Determined to understand what is going on, Sid throws himself head first into the mystery- going a little more crazy each day that he does. Skipping work, inventing health issues, and traveling the globe; all are a means to an end if Sid has anything to say about it. The trouble is, Sid needs help. The neurotic behavior is taking over every aspect of his life, and sadly his downward spiral is bound to come to a bone jolted end all too soon.

Wanting nothing but the best for her brother, Sid's sister tries to be supportive but lacks the ability to break through his delusional shell. Maybe a new girlfriend would be just what the doctor ordered. Getting Sid to accept this and understand how important letting go of his past is may be harder than originally expected. However, maybe if she keeps on him while still allowing him the necessary time for self discovery Sid will manage to come out on top. But hey, if all else fails, he'll always have his dead mother's spirit, which stays in a wine bottle in the cellar, to keep him company.

I'm not sure what to make of this book. It was a quick and easy read, quite quirky and entertaining. Yet somehow I felt lost at the end. I mean, I really enjoy a good twisted tale that leaves you, the reader, grappling with the facts and trying to figure it all out. A well written tale that leaves some mystery without being totally transparent is a huge literary turn on, but for me personally I think I took a wrong turn and lost the connection. It's just that there were certain aspects that made perfect sense, while others left me completely in the dark saying "huh???". I can't necessarily fault the author on this one though. It's entirely possible that the author failed to fill in a detail or two; yet, just as likely is the fact that the disconnect could have been in my own head.

All the same, I truly enjoyed Kirk Farber's Postcards from a Dead Girl, and I'm glad to have read it. Thank you to my contact at Harper Perennial for offering the review copy! =)

~Bookish Mom, aka RebekahC

The Bird Room by Chris Killen

The Bird Room by Chris Killen
(Fiction)

First time novelist Chris Killen shows the world he's not an amateur with his debut release, The Bird Room. Set in modern day UK, this is a book that delves deeply into the struggle and chaos of emotional and sexual dysfunction. Told through two separate stories that eventually conjoin via their social awkwardness, it's a book ripe with dark, filthy angst. The main characters constantly struggle with a lack of self esteem and confidence in themselves on a personal level. The intensity of it all quickly causes it to ebb over into these character's entire beings making their jobs, family, friends, and romantic and sexual relationships all swiftly begin to suffer.

Will isn't anything special, but his girl April is. He's one hundred percent sold on her, yet because he lacks the self respect and confidence necessary to maintain it, his relationship is on the chopping block. Resolution is merely a conversation away; however, Will doesn't seem to be able to give himself or the relationship the benefit of the doubt. A darkness grows within him, and as the self loathing continues to overcome him so does the inevitable truth about his relationship with Alice.

Clair used to be a good girl. She used to live a normal life and do normally mundane things. Now though she's anything but normal. Hoping against all hope to one day make something wonderful of herself, Clair- who now calls herself Helen, is living out her life through the mostly vile fantasies of others. It's not the life she's always envisioned for herself. She's become an actress alright, but not the kind living the glamourous life of fame and fortune. Just making it through the day is a struggle, and without some kind of intervention Clair, or Helen, won't be winding up on the cover of any magazines- not the good ones anyways.

The Bird Room is a story of love, hate, self loathing, and self discovery. It's raw, gritty, vulgar, and disturbing. Not a feel good love story, and still one that draws the reader in with it's wildly wicked storyline. Everybody has bad days; though for most of us the days come to and end and when the next one starts everything is just peachy keen once again. Will and Helen aren't as lucky, and their stories tend to weigh on the darker side of things. And that right there is what makes their troubled tales so intriguing.

Thank you to Harper Perennial Books for my opportunity to review this title.

~Bookish Mom, aka Rebekah C

The Path of Razors by Chris Marie Green

The Path of Razors: Vampire Babylon by Chris Marie Green

(Fantasy)

In this, the fifth Vampire Babylon book from Chris Marie Green, Dawn Madison is back, and the battle of good versus evil continues. However, now more than ever the line between the two is fogged.

Hoping to discover London's hidden Underground, a massive vampire lair, Dawn and her unlikely team are on a hunt to scourge and take down the master vampire. It won't be an easy task, but lives and souls are at stake. To take down the master would be to take down the Underground, and to take down the Underground... Well, that would be the ultimate victory.

Yet when the group discovers their closest link to the Underground isn't a vicious looking vampire but instead a bunch of uniformed school girls, they are left to wonder "What are we missing?!" It's no secret that vamps can come in any number of shapes or sizes, still a class of girls from the local private school is a rather unlikely candidate. And then it begins...

Inside the school girl ranks there's a power struggle taking place and one day, perhaps sooner rather than later, the tiered social structure is going to buckle. Only one girl can be top dog, but when two straddle the line and act first, thinking later, the damages are done. Dawn's peculiar gang has no choice but to probe into their secretive lives in order to gain some direction as to where they come from and why. Is it possible this is the link the team has been searching for?

I've read 3 of the preceeding 4 books in this series, and of all of them I found Dawn's story in this installment to be one of the weaker ones. For me there was more gusto and appeal in the school girls' story. Infact, if it wasn't for their story I might not have been as likely to stick it out with this book to the end. That said though, there is a certain strength to be found as we see the two distinctly separate yet conjoined stories being told. While Dawn's story is dependent on that of the school girls and their ties to the Underground, it's their story that really brings the backbone to the book.

I'm sorry this review isn't better written, but I've tried for several days and just keep coming up blank. As a whole I did enjoy the book, but it was not a favorite of mine by this author or in general. I know there was a sixth installment due out as well, and it's pretty certain I'll be checking it out at some point. I don't see myself rushing to grab a copy though as The Path of Razors really didn't leave me with that urge of wanting more.

~Bookish Mom, aka Rebekah C.

The Marriage Project Blog Tour

The Marriage Project: 21 Days to More Love and Laughter by Kathi Lipp
(Love & Marriage)

Marriage is a funny thing.

When a couple first gets together everything is exciting and new. Both partners are simply head over heels about one another, and there's never a dull moment. Kisses, whispered sweet nothings, breakfast in bed, lazy walks to no where in particular, conversations about anything and everything that can go on and on for hours. These are just a small sampling of the things relationships are made up of in the beginning. And then time to starts slip by. We grow together but we also grow apart. There can be many reasons for such changes- as we grow older our interests change, our physical appearances change (for better or worse), our family grows to include children, and time in general becomes thinned out by all the new responsibilities we've taken on as a couple and as individuals.

It's an unfortunate truth that, sadly, many couples haven't figured out how to recover from. Hence the unseemly number of separations, divorces, and just generally unhappy couples our world has become accustomed to seeing these days. No one expects us to go on living in the "honeymoon" stage for the rest of our lives, but shouldn't there be a happy medium between the "newly wed" and the "newly dead" marriage stage?

Kathi Lipp, author of The Marriage Project believes so. What if, instead of growing apart as we grow up we actually grow closer together? Kathi believes that despite the number of distractions we, as couples, face in today's hustle and bustle there is still plenty of room for growth. If you have kids there's no denying the fact that they are likely the primary focus of your relationship. They just are. You want everything to be the best it can be for them and that means if you sacrafice time with your spouse in order to make it happen then so be it. It's an honorable thing to want the very best for your kids, but what would be even better for your kids would be to see mom and dad falling truely, madly, and deeply back in love like in the days before kids and all that grown up responsiblity really set in. And why can't a happy, fulfilling marriage be great for the parents as well as for the kids?

No matter whether you have an already brilliant marriage or are struggling to maintain a once spectacular but now dulled marriage. Kathi believes that in just 21 days you can not only improve your marriage, but make it like it was in those first days of courtship. You don't have to have a marriage on the rocks to want to make it better. Everyone can always improve on something, and better to work on improvements before they're absolutely necessary.

Every strong successful marriage should include intimacy, warmth, tenderness, and fun. And it's these things exactly that Kathi's book helps couples to rediscover and include in their own relationships. Reader who follow along with the book's 21 day marriage project will not only make themselves better as individuals but they'll increase the love and connection between themselves and their partners. A plan that includes step by step detailed instructions on how to wow and woo your significant other is neither time consuming or costly, but it does require you to invest yourself.

Written with an easy application process in mind, this is a book that any couple at any stage of life can follow. For each of the 21 days readers will find a new project to complete. It may be something as simple as writing a loving note to their partner, or it may be more indepth such as requiring the couple to plan a special date night. Again, nothing is too extravagant, and the entire purpose of the book is to help bring couples closer together. Especially for those of us with kids in the home, one day they'll grow up and move out. What will we be left with then if for the past 18+ years we've done nother to strengthen our relationship with our spouse but have invested all of our time and money in our kids? We'll be left with nothing. That much time and energy later do you really think both you and your partner are going to be the same people that you married? It's doubtful. Sure you'll both be the same person to an extent, but you can go for that much time and through that many life changing events and not be changed. Why not change together and ensure when the time comes that your kids are grown, you'll still have something in common besides being their parents?

I believe I already have a wonderful marriage, but I'm not so prideful as to believe it can't be better. With that being said, I can't wait to start this project!


Mini Author Bio


Kathi Lipp is a national speaker and author who inspires women to take beneficial action steps in their personal, marital and spiritual lives. Her wit and wisdom will give you new ways to:

Avoid settling for less than God’s loving plan for your life.
Develop new levels of warmth and tenderness with your husband
Return fun and flirting to your marriage
Boost your confidence to follow God-given dreams and goals.
Create and environment of encouragement in your friendships

Join Kathi and renovate your life with a project for your soul!


Thanks to Kathi and her publisher for this wonderful review opportunity!!! It's been a real pleasure. :)


~Bookish Mom (aka RebekahC)

Most Interesting Bookstores of the World

Saw someone else share this link online, and I thought it was worth reposting here. Are these bookstores not totally awesome? I love The Lello in Porto, Portugal.

When you're done checking out the bookstores, click the link at the bottom of the page to check out the "Most Interesting Libraries" as well. They're all amazing!