Today’s (way overdue) review is for A Slot Machine Ate My Midlife Crisis by Irene Woodbury. This is Irene’s first novel and was inspired by her love to travel, especially to Las Vegas! She came up with the idea for this novel in 2006 and after many years of research, A Slot Machine was born. She said that writing this novel was her mid-life crisis…..I suppose there are worse things that writing a novel!
This darkly funny novel describes Wendy Sinclair’s spin-crazy life in Las Vegas after she impulsively decides to not return to Houston following a bizarre girls’ weekend in 2005.
The confused, unhappy 45-year-old newlywed soon rents a ramshackle apartment in a building filled with misfits; wallows in a blur of spas, malls and buffets, and, ultimately, becomes a designer of cocktail waitress uniforms and an Ann-Margret impersonator in a casino show with Elvis.
She also hangs with some pretty colorful characters. Paula’s her bold, brassy glamazon BFF who’s looser than a Casino Royale slot. Maxine’s her saucy former-Tropicana-showgirl boss. Paige and Serena are two twenty-something blackjack dealers she shops, gambles, and clubs up a storm with. Major crushes on a hunky pilot and sexy former rock star are also part of the mix.
And then there are the phone fights with Roger, Wendy’s workaholic husband waiting impatiently in Houston. Their clashes are louder and more raucous than a hot craps table at Caesar’s! Does she go back to him, or does her midlife crisis become a midlife makeover?
My Thoughts:
I will have to admit that I picked this book up and started reading it and had to put it back down. I’m not sure if it was my frame of mind or the main character, Wendy, but I wanted to grab her by the arms and shake her and ask her what her problem was! Who takes off for a long weekend in Vegas with a self-absorbed friend and then decides to not come back to a new marriage? If this is a mid-life crisis it was definitely going to be a doozy!
The story got better as I went along but the ending was a bit of a surprise. I won’t spoil it for you but it wasn’t what I expected that’s for sure.
Overall I would give this 3 stars. It was good but I’ve read better and I’ve read worse.
I like to read books by first time authors and especially when that author is a sorority sister! It just seems like there is something special reading a book by someone that has a connection to you in one way or another.
Ellen Cardona wrote Brownie Fix to help deal with the postpartum depression she experienced after one of her pregnancies. Through her writing, she found that postpartum depression was real but conquerable, especially when one has the help of some dark chocolate and even darker humor. When Ellen is not writing, she teaches literature to college freshmen and attempts to help them understand the writing process, though they think she’s crazy because of her love for literature and writing. She graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a PhD in Humanities with a specialization in Literature. Even though she has published several academic works on Ezra Pound, she could not ignore her true passion as a fiction writer. Ellen lives in Richardson, Texas and continues to learn daily from her husband and two children. In good times and bad, she still enjoys her brownies.
I was also able to interview Ellen to see how she felt about being a published author!
SBR: Since this is your first book, how does it feel to be published?
EC: It feels like I’m finally doing what I am supposed be doing, writing. It’s scary to release a book out to the public because some people will like it and some will not, but I can’t imagine not taking that step and releasing it. I don’t want to the play the “What if” game. Writing and now publishing feels right.
SBR: How long did it take to write your book and then get it published?
EC: It took me three years to write this book, and it took me a year to find a publisher, and then another year to “let her go”. Never in my life did I think I would self-publish because two years ago, it was looked down upon. All of sudden, when I signed the contract with my publisher, ebooks took off and writers started to self-publish. Even agents started their own publishing houses with ebooks and paperbacks. Never say never, but I don’t think I’ll ever sign with a publisher again. Iplan to self0publish all my books now, and I am very excited about this opportunity.
SBR: Do you have another book in the works?
EC: Yes, I have to plish it and then have my “test” readers go over it for any weird plot and grammar issues. I plan to release it next year. It’s called The Return of Raven and it is the first book in the Triology of Raven. The Return of Raven is about the birth of a goddess, who has long been forgotten, and how she comes to terms with who she is and her fate. Set in today’s time, it’s a coming of age story, except she becomes a goddess. Add a love triangel with ahunky guy and battle of good vs. evil, and I have a fun, fun story and trilogy. I can’t wait for The Return of Raven to be released to the public.
SBR: Tell us why we should read your book in 1 -2 sentences.
EC:Brownie Fix is a story about postpartum depression mixed with chocolate and some dark humor. It’s a bit offensive and funny, but there is a common thread that many women can relate to: how hard it is to find yourself again, your true self, when you’ve lost it or really never even known who you were in the first place.
SBR: Who is your favorite author and why? And from that author, what is your favorite book?
EC: Hard Question. My favorite modern author is Stephen King and his book, The Shining. It’s the scariest book I have ever read. I have to add a book that is the basis for my writing: Virgil’s Aeneid. The Aeneid, which I had to translate with much grumbling from Latin to English in high school, showed me how literature is put together with rhythm. I think that’s where I learned how to write with rhythm and develop my voice. The mythology in the book is the cornerstone for the books I write. The characters in the Trilogy of Raven are based on Greek gods, and the characters in Brownie Fix are based on Greek and Roman gods. Can you find them? (SBR – I found at least 1!)
SBR: What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
EC: Chocolate chip cookie dough. I’m a digger for the cookie dough. Don’t give me a gallon of that ice cream because I will stand over it and spend all my time digging, and there will be nothing left except vanilla ice cream and big holes.
SBR: What do you do in your free time?
EC: I’m a runner an da cyclist. Right now, I’m training for a marthon, and I’m coaching a running class, which is so much fun. I also ride a tandem, a bicycle built for two, with my husband. Believe me, it takes communication skills to ride that tandem, and we go very fast. Also, I spend my time in the evening as a chauffeur for my children.
Synopsis:
Chocolate. Love. Sex. Really, what else could a woman want in life? For Persey, the heroine of Brownie Fix, her days are fun-filled until what is normally one of life’s most fulfilling experiences, the birth of her son, leads her straight into a dark state of postpartum depression.
Wandering in her own postpartum hell, Persey meets people that are absurd, like the swinging neighbors who want a little more than a cup of sugar and a group of mothers who become whipped up in worship to a climactic furor. On top of the madness, she keeps seeing a yellow-toothed old man who acts like he wants to breastfeed from her. Or is it her imagination? Add the voices in her head that become louder and louder, and it’s little wonder that Persey reaches for brownie mix to soothe her insanity.
Buckling under the pressure and lack of sleep from motherhood, Persey experiences the five stages of grief that lead her to uncover a buried secret, and gradually she begins to heal with the help of her family, friends, and, of course, brownies.
My Review:
I don’t think I realized when I first started this book that the main character was suffering from postpartum depression. I noticed it was very dark pretty quickly, but that didn’t stop me from becoming engrossed in the storyline right off the bat! I started the book with the intentions of just getting a quick peek since I needed to finish another book first…well about 4 chapters later I put it down! There are many times during the book that I just wanted to shake Persey and tell her to go get help! That she was depressed and what she was feeling was normal but not normal. But I like a book that engages the reader with the characters and can put themselves in the character’s shoes or related to them somehow.
Overall I’d give the book 3 1/2 stars and definitely recommend it to everyone!
Kate White is best known as the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine and several bestselling career bibles including Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead…but Gutsy Girls Do and 9 Secrets of Women who Get Everything They Want. Then in 2002 she decided to try her hand at mystery novels and scored a hit with If Looks Could Kill featuring Bailey Weggins. There have been several follow up books in the series which have also hit the bestseller list and the books have been optioned by Lions Gate Pictures. Then last year she wrote Hush which I reviewed and now she is back with The Sixes and it is another page turner!
From the back of the book:
Phoebe Hall’s Manhattan life is unexpectedly derailed off the fast track when her long-term boyfriend leaves her just as she is accused of plagiarizing her latest best-selling celebrity biography. Looking for a quiet place to pick up the pieces, Phoebe jumps at the offer to teach in a sleepy Pennsylvania town at a small private college run by her former boarding school roommate and close friend, Glenda Johns.
But behind the campus’s quiet cafes and looming maple trees lie evil happenings. The body of a coed washes up from the nearby river, and soon hidden secrets begin to surface among the students: rumors of past crimes and abuses wrought by a disturbing secret society known as The Sixes.
Determined to find answers and help Glenda, Phoebe embarks on a search for clues – a quest that soon raises dark memories of her boarding school days. Plunging deeper into danger with every step, Phoebe knows she’s close to unmasking a killer. But with truth comes a deeply terrifying revelation: the past can’t be outrun…and starting over can be a crime punishable by death.
My Review:
When I was asked to review this book I had this feeling that it would hook me from the first chapter and I wasn’t wrong. I belong to a sorority but The Sixes are nothing like a sorority and don’t cross them because they won’t forget it and will seek retaliation even if it is subtle! There are many characters thrown in to the mix and while you might think one person is involved in the happenings on campus and in town, you might be right and you might be wrong. Kate brings to this story a mix of complex characters and entertwining their lives so that you don’t know who is a good guy and who isn’t. I found myself going back and forth on various characters and who might be involved and I was right on a few but not all! There is even some romance thrown in, but not without some suspicion on Phoebe’s part.
I definitely recommend this book and suggest you pick it up when it comes out on August 2nd. Or you could win a copy here!
So here is the contest:
I have been given 2 copies of Hush and 1 copy of The Sixes to give away. I will sweeten the pot and also offer my copy of The Sixes (ARC). So that is 4 books that I’m giving away! It is open to all residents of the US and Canada. Just leave a comment so that you can be entered.
I will even offer a 2nd entry if you blog about it or post it on Facebook. Just leave a second comment with your blog listing or your Facebook posting link.
Kristin Elizabeth Marshall, a graduate of Boston University with a degree in Psychology, has burst into the literary world with her first book.
From the back of the book:
Set in the historic and familiar context of what is arguably the most iconic American Family, The Eternal Waltz of Jacqueline Kennedy portrays through elegant, lyrical prose a single ethereal day spent in eternity. Jackie Kennedy, together with her husband and children for one final treasured day, takes us on a literary tour-de-force, a spiritual journey that unfolds as she reflects on her life. She examines both her immeasureable joys and her personal tragedies, not only the loves and the losses that spring from the timeless universality of family, but those that arose from that turbulent, triumphant, and uniquely American era surrounding John F. Kennedy’s brief presidency.
I will admit that when I first started reading this book I wasn’t sure what to think or if I would even like it, but as I continued on through the author’s vivid imagery of the day, I was drawn into the story and almost felt like I was right there next to them as they played in the garden or sailed on the boat or ran through a rainstorm to seek shelter. This book also provokes the reader to ponder things such as sand and how Jackie explains to Caroline that we are all crushers of rock and coral and we all create sand.
We all know that if you read to children that it will encourage them to enjoy the written word from a young age. As the author states in one chapter: The children devour the words like edible sweets. The books, nourishing food for their hungry young souls. That is what books should be, food for their souls!
There is a chapter called The Famine and the Feast which relates a story of Caroline having a tea party with her dolls from various countries. Although the dolls do not have names, they sit next to each other and do not complain about who they are sitting next to or that they are all fed from the same cup and spoon.
Take a break from reality and pick up this book and get swept away in a day with the Kennedys. You will be glad that you did!
So now for the fun stuff – I am giving away the copy of this book that the author sent me to a lucky winner. This contest is open to residents of the US and Canada. Just leave a comment here on my blog and why you might like to read this book and on Friday, July 29th I will choose a lucky winner to experience the day caught on paper.
NANCY G. BRINKER is the founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. She has served as Ambassador to Hungary and White House Chief of Protocol and as Global Ambassador for Cancer Control for the World Health Organization. She has received the prestigious Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service, the Trumpet Foundation’s President’s Award, the Independent Women’s Forum Barbara K. Olson Woman of Valor Award, the Forbes Trailblazer Award, the Ladies’ Home Journal 100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century, and the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Synopsis:
Growing up in postwar Peoria, Illinois, Suzy and Nancy Goodman were inseparable, with the elegantly poised Suzy serving as younger sister Nancy’s best friend and role model in the grand adventure of life. The Goodman sisters learned at an early age the importance of helping those in need. Charity became a common theme in their lives but so did breast cancer. In 1977, at the age of thirty-four, Suzy was diagnosed with the disease. Three years later, having endured well-meaning but misinformed doctors, multiple surgeries, and several grueling courses of chemotherapy and radiation, she died. In one of the sisters’ last conversations, Suzy begged Nancy to do something to stop the suffering:
“Promise me, Nanny,” she said. “Promise me you won’t let it go on like this.”
Review:
As a breast cancer survivor, I wanted to know more about how the Susan G Komen Foundation (SGK) came about and how it became so influential. I don’t remember when I began hearing about the organization or really took notice but it was many years after the formation.
This book includes a time line of the history of breast cancer along with the story of Susan and Nancy’s lives including childhood, marriage, divorce, kids and cancer. The various time lines were neatly interwoven within each other to give you a historical perspective. I will say that when I got to the chapters about a trip that they took to Europe after high school almost stopped me from finishing the book. I felt like it went on too long. But I am very glad that I kept reading because after that the book was exactly what I was expecting, how SGK came about and the struggles that they went through to form the foundation. And I was quite surprised when I read who was the Oncologist for Susan and Nancy, my own Oncologist Dr. George Blumenschein! I knew I had to have been in good hands 6 years ago when I chose him to help me fight my own battle with breast cancer.
All in all I would give this book 3 1/2 stars. There is a great resource section at the back of the book and I found many resources that I hadn’t known about at that time and can share with others diagnosed with this disease.
Kate White
