Review: Drinking Closer to Home by Jessica Anya Blau

Here is a summary of Drinking Closer to Home from the Goodreads website:

There is nothing like ten days with one’s family to bring forth old obsessions and stir up childhood memories. When Anna, Portia and Emery’s mother, Louise, suffers a massive heart attack, the three grown children return to Santa Barbara to be with their father, Buzzy, as they wait for Louise to either recover or die.

Anna can’t stop thinking about sex with strangers, although in junior high she was terrifyingly certain that her free-loving parents had syphilis (from which they would shortly die). Portia’s beach-bunny teen years feel far away as she struggles with an unfaithful husband who has left her feeling boneless and unsure. And though Emery’s greatest childhood fear was that The Law would catch up with their parents for any one of their numerous transgressions (marijuana plants in the backyard; peeing in public; the time Louise quit being a housewife and gave Emery’s care over to eight-year-old Portia), now his only worry is that he won’t be able to create his own family, a newer, better, improved version that will trump the impetuousness and chaos that ruled his childhood home.

But this time together will also bring to the surface sometimes painful, often heartbreaking secrets that will shake the foundations of everything the three siblings know about themselves and assume about their family. Secrets that may, perhaps, change the way they view the past as well as the future.

My Review:
This is the kind of book that has a way of getting under my skin (in a good way) as I'm reading, and even moreso as I ponder it upon completion!  This story gives us the nitty, gritty details of about the most dysfunctional family I could imagine by bringing us into the lives of three siblings.

Buzzy and Louise have raised their three children in a remote area of California and now that they have grown they seemed to have disbursed throughout various sections of the United States.  After Louise has a heart attack the children flock back to the home nest to offer support to both of their parents. While they are visiting we are given glimpses of childhood memories that it seems they may have been keeping locked away for years.

Anna is the oldest daughter and the one that seemed to take charge of the kitchen and housework when her mother decided that raising children wasn't something that she wanted to do any longer.  She could not stand the messy household that they were forced to live in and did not have any respect for her mother whom she suspected was having an affair.  I find it interesting how Anna was the one to become the most promiscuous of the siblings when she was the most concerned about her mother's infidelity.

Portia was the middle child and although Anna was considered the housekeeper, Portia seemed to be the one to keep a close watch over their little brother Emery.  Portia was always quiet and withdrawn and for some reason the family considered her to be mentally slow because of this.  They were all surprised, but not quite as much as Portia, when she was accepted into Berkely.  Although this did help to instill confidence in her, she still spent her life striving for love and acceptance.

Emery was the youngest and always felt out of place.  Since his parents always had marijuana plants growing he just knew that one day his family was going to be ripped apart because they would be thrown in jail.  Emery was always dirty and it seemed that his sisters really didn't want to be near him most of the time.  It took Emery a long time to be honest with himself and his longings so it really took a while for him to develop a healthy dose of self respect.

These parents really confused me as I couldn't imagine deciding to have three children but then still grow marijuana plants in your backyard for your own personal use.  Although Louise was the smoker, Buzzy seemed to take satisfaction in growing a superior crop for her.  Buzzy appeared to be a successful lawyer so finances were not a problem for this family as they muddled their way through life.

I really enjoyed this book as I can personally say that I know people that grew up in similar environments to this one.  I know many ladies that would say this is not even possible and it makes me sad to think that some people cannot even imagine the life that others have survived to get where they are.  This book had me laughing while at other times saddened by what these children had to endure.  So if you are interested in a book that paints an honest picture of what a family life can be with selfish parents then I definitely recommend this book.

My Rating:  4/5

Disclosure:  This e-book was provided to me from the publisher through the Netgalley program in exchange for an honest review.

Teaser Tuesday: Jan. 18

Check out Teaser Tuesdays from Should Be Reading.  TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

This week my teaser is from The Missionary by William Carmichael and David Lambert:
They knew he had the briefcase, and the mercenary he'd handed the first one off to had probably given them his description and reported that the handoff had been at Los Tiburones.  The restaurant manager and Rita the waitress knew his name and knew he was from Hope Village.

Pg. 198

I finished reading this book last week and will posting my review very soon.  I will tell you right now that this was definitely more action packed than I was expecting.  It was a great read!

Current Book Giveaways!!!

I didn't receive any books in the mail last week so I thought I would share a few giveaways with you instead!  If I missed posting about your contest please feel free to leave the link in the comment section below.

Yankee Romance Reviewers is giving away the audiobook of The Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent.  Contest ends 1/18.

Bookin' With Bingo is giving away the audiobook of A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay.  Contest ends 1/30.

Metroreader  is giving away Get Energy by Denise Austin.  Contest ends 2/5.

Good luck everyone!

Audiobook Review: The Whole Truth by David Baldacci

Here is a summary of The Whole Truth from the Hachette website:

"Dick, I need a war."

Nicolas Creel is a man on a mission. He heads up the world's largest defense contractor, The Ares Corporation. Dick Pender is the man Creel retains to "perception manage" his company to even more riches by manipulating international conflicts. But Creel may have an even grander plan in mind.

Shaw, a man with no first name and a truly unique past, has a different agenda. Reluctantly doing the bidding of a secret multi-national intelligence agency, he travels the globe to keep it safe and at peace.

Willing to do anything to get back to the top of her profession, Katie James is a journalist who has just gotten the break of a lifetime: the chance to interview the sole survivor of a massacre that has left every nation stunned.

In this terrifying, global thriller, these characters' lives will collide head-on as a series of events is set in motion that could change the world as we know it. An utterly spellbinding story that feels all too real, THE WHOLE TRUTH delivers all the twists and turns, emotional drama, unforgettable characters, and can't-put-it-down pacing that readers expect from David Baldacci-and still goes beyond anything he's written before.

My Review:
In The Whole Truth, Baldacci sets a scenario for us of how countries can go into a war by being led on from evidence that has been placed by some greedy individuals.  These private parties are looking for a war just to benefit their personal wealth.  Ron McLarty did a great job of narrating this action packed thriller.

Shaw is our hero in this novel and he works for an unnamed international secret agency that helps to enforce the laws in various countries.  Let me verify that we aren't talking about speeding or parking tickets, but more along the lines of drugs, espionage, and assassinations.  Shaw has been doing this job for a long time and events have played out for him that bring him to the decision that it is now time to retire from this dangerous line of work.  His boss, who is much older than him basically tells him that he can be done with the work when the agency no longer needs his services.

As this story plays out, items are planted that could be the beginning of a war between Russia and China.  Shaw must track the evidence to get to the bottom of this escapade.  As he uncovers more unnerving information he finds himself becoming personally involved in the situation and decides that he will do whatever is absolutely necessary to bring a stop to this madness.  Not expecting to live through the events that are about to take place, Shaw finds himself in imminent danger.

This was an action-packed audiobook that had me holding my breath praying that Shaw would pull through in the end.  I did find that the book did get a little bogged down for me with all of the global politics that were taking place and my mind tended to wander during those parts.  Besides that, I loved the characters and the rest of the story and look forward to listening to the next installment of this series.

My Rating:  4/5

Disclosure:  I borrowed this book from my library and listened to it for my own entertainment.

Wondrous Words Wednesday-Jan 12

Bermudaonion asks you to share new words that you have learned during your reading adventures in the last week. Feel free to join in the fun!

Here is a new word that I learned while reading The Missionary by William Carmichael and David Lambert:

Necrotize:  To undergo necrosis or cause to necrose.

So that description didn't help much as I had to look up necrosis:   the death of one or more cells in the body, usually within a localized area, as from an interruption of the blood supply to that part.

Here is how necrotize was used on page 29:
"There's a particularly stubborn bacterial form of necrotizing pnemonia known as MRSA working its way through Caracas's children." 

This is turning out to be more of an action packed book than I ever suspected.  I will hopefully be posting my review soon! 

Teaser Tuesday-Jan. 11

Check out Teaser Tuesdays from Should Be Reading.  TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

This week my teaser is from Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez:
They should have been surprised the white men allowed them to go to Dayton.  But they had come to learn that in this place with the magical water, things were different.

pg 196-197

I actually finished this book last week but still wanted to post a teaser from it because I just enjoyed the story so much!

Mailbox Monday-Jan. 10

Thanks to Marcia of The Printed Page for starting the Mailbox Monday Meme that has us list the books that we received last week. Although Marcia isn't going to be hosting Mailbox Monday any longer, she set it up so different bloggers have the opportunity to host this meme for a month at a time. This month the host is Rose City Reader so head on over there to see what everyone else received or to play along!

Here is what was in my mailbox recently:

Hell's Corner by David Baldacci (audiobook)

Cleopatra: A Life by Stachy Schiff (audiobook)

An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin (audiobook)

So I think I received enough audiobooks to keep me busy for that audiobook challenge that I signed up for!  Was there anything good in your mailbox this week?