Book Review: In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner

Goodreads synopsis: Rose is a thirty-year-old attorney with a secret passion for romance novels. She's going to start exercising next week, and she dreams of a man who will slide off her glasses and tell her she's beautiful. Maggie is twenty-eight and drop-dead gorgeous. Although her stardom hasn't progressed past her hip's appearance in a music video, she dreams of fame and fortune. These two sisters claim to have nothing in common but DNA, a childhood tragedy, and a shoe size, but when they're forced into cohabitation, they may just learn that they're more alike than they thought

421 pages

3.73 average rating on Goodreads

Published: 2002

Genre: Adult, Romance, Comedy, Contemporary

Rose is a quite relatable character for me - chubby, smart, plays by the rules, and just hopes that she won't die alone. Her younger sister Maggie likes to think she's a superstar, but Rose wishes she'd just grow up and make something of her life already.

When Maggie gets evicted from yet another apartment Rose is forced to let her sleep on her couch, much to both of their disdain. And so ensues the cycle of Maggie messes up, Rose gets angry, then ends up feeling sorry for Maggie and gets her out of her mess. This continues until Maggie makes a mistake of epic proportions and Rose kicks her to the curb.

Enter Ella Hirsch, a sad old lady who lives at Golden Acres Seniors Complex in Florida. We've seen sketches of her story throughout the book and know that she has lost a daughter and is estranged to her two granddaughters. Is it a coincidence that Rose and Maggie had a mother who died when they were little, and have never known their grandmother who so desperately tried to keep in touch with them? I think not. 

When Maggie's last ditch attempt to evade homelessness fails, she finds a box of letters in her stepmothers closet from the grandmother she never knew existed, and decides to contact her. Maggie hopes that with her grandmother's help she can finally do something with her life, and also make things right with Rose.

I found it interesting to read about the dynamics between these two sisters, a foreign concept to me as  an only child. I really enjoyed Rose's character and thought it was very well-developed. Although I didn't like Maggie, she was a very funny and fascinating character, and it was interesting to see inside her mind. Even the secondary characters (Amy, Sydelle, Ella) were developed and you came to feel as though these were real people that you knew.

Overall I give this book 4.5/5 stars, simply because I don't think I'll be reading it again, but I did thoroughly enjoy it while I was reading it.

If you've read this book or anything else by this author please feel free to share your thoughts :)

May TBR

Good morning everyone!

Today I'm showing you the books I intend to read in the month of May. I'm setting my goal at three books this month. I'd love for it to be more than that but with the school schedule I have coming up I don't see it being possible. I cannot wait for school to be over (57 more days, but hey, who's counting) so that I can have more time to devote to reading. 

So, with that being said, here are the books I plan to read this month! 

1. Pregnant Pause by Han Nolan

This book is one I've had for a while, but have never gotten around to reading. I haven't heard much about it, but I believe the general premise is that a teenage girl from a religious family gets pregnant, and has to decide what to do with the baby, and her life. This somehow leads to her working at a camp for overweight kids until there's a tragedy of sorts? I look forward to reading this book because I don't know much about it and therefore have no idea what to expect. 

2. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

This is another book I've had sitting on my shelf forever and never picked up to read. Although I am well versed in most Nicolas Sparks books, I have no idea what this one is about, and so this will be another blind read for me this month. According to Goodreads, the book is about a bachelor named Travis who quite enjoys his lifestyle and sees no need for a woman to "cramp his lifestyle" until his new redheaded, not-single neighbour moves in. Travis decides he has to have her, and so ensues the typical guy-pursues-already-taken-girl-and-drama-unfolds plot. I mostly look forward to reading this because of the way Nicholas Sparks writes, and how he makes you fall in love with the words even moreso than the characters saying them. 

3. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

I believe I may be the last person on the earth to have never read any Lord of the Rings books or seen any of the movies or be able to tell you the general plot without doing either of the aforementioned things. That, my friends, is going to change this month! 

I bought this book in the fall of 2013 with intentions to read it as a novel study for my English class, but I ended up reading another book for that purpose, so I figure I will read this now. I am told that this book is not exactly a part of The Lord of the Rings series, but more of an accompanying novel, but please correct me if this is not the case. I'm not even going to look this up on Goodreads, because I think it's super fun that I'm going into such a popular book without a clue of what happens in it. 

I'm sure I'll be watching the movie immediately after finishing the book, if only to affirmate that the book is always better, but I will likely post a comparison/review post of both the book and the film.

Although I may not have much time for reading this month, I'm glad I've picked three very different books, none of which I know what about, so that the reading I do fit in should be pretty interesting. 

What are you guys reading this month? Let me know below or tweet me @_withsugarontop ! 

Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day! 

Pin of the Week: Sprite Gummy Popsicles

Are these not the CUTEST things ever? I would've loved these as a kid - wait, who am I kidding? I'll love these now! 

I found these Sprite Gummy Bear Popsicles (DIY) on Pinterest, from In the Corner 's blog, and I am now impatiently waiting for warm temperatures (defined in my province as anything above 0 degrees C) so that I can give them a try! I'm sure if you don't like gummy bears that any other gummy candy would be delicious as well. 

Thanks for reading! I hope everyone is having a good weekend :)