Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

Hoffman, Beth.  Saving CeeCee Honeycutt.  Penguin Books:  New York, USA, 2010.

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

Book Description:  Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble.  For years, she's taken care of her mother, Camille, the town's tiara-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock, a woman who is trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen.  When tragedy strikes, Tootie Caldwell, CeeCee's long-lost great-aunt, comes to the rescue and whisks her away to Savannah.  There, CeeCee is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricity - one that appears to be run entirely by strong, wacky women.  Both hilarious and heartbreaking, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt charts the journey of an unforgettable girl who loses one mother, but finds many others in the storybook city of Savannah.

See:  http://www.bethhoffman.net/.

Beth Hoffman disappointed me.  She's from OHIO, not the south.  Dammit.  I can usually tell who are the imposters and who are the genuine Southern writers.

I guess, really, that's a good thing.  I love Southern Fiction. 

'Cecelia Rose, I'm taking you to Georgia.  I want you to see what real living is like.  All the women dress so nice.  And the people are kind and friendly - it's so different from how things are here.  (p. 1-2)

Deserted by her weak father, CeeCee manages the worst of her mother's progressing mental illness pragmatically.  After giving her mother a bath and putting her to bed at the age of twelve, CeeCee cleans the mess her mother'd left in the kitchen.  'After filling a bucket with hot soapy water, I scrubbed the macaroni and cheese off the stovetop, then I stood on a chair and wiped down the cupboard doors.  There was nothing to be done with the scorched pan, so I tossed it in the garbage.  Once I'd cleaned everything up, I got down on my knees, reached behind the stove and pulled the plug from the outlet.  From now on  Momma could eat cold sandwiches unless I was home to keep an eye on things.' (p. 20)

While visiting Oletta's Aunt Sapphire, CeeCee meets an old lady:  "One old lady with deep suffering eyes reached her hand through the metal rails surrounding her bed, spread her bony fingers, and begged me to take her home.  It was the saddest five seconds of my life. (p. 177).

While playing Chinese checkers with the old ladies, CeeCee encounters a problem:  "I tried not to smile as I gathered the marbles.  After counting them out by color and placing them into the holes, I looked at Sapphire and shrugged.  'There aren't enough.' 

Miz Obee's face tensed, but Sapphire looked at her friend kindly, patted the table, and said, 'Just set up the board as best you can.  We'll play with whatever we got.'

I thought that was one of the wisest things I'd ever heard anyone say. (p. 180)

As I watched this silent exchange between Sapphiree and Miz Obee, it occurred to me that that's what friends should do: cherish the good and pretend not to notice the harmless rest.  (p.181)

As I watched all the comings and goings and listened to the charming 'Welcome to Savannah's' and heartfelt 'I'm so pleased to meet you's' that dripped like honey from these women's lips, I realized that Southern hospitality not only came from the heart, but was a practiced social art that had been passed down from one generation to the next - like fine silverware or china.  Southerners had a way of doing things that made you feel special, and Mrs. Odell soaked in every drop of the kindness.  (p. 263)

[Momma'd] been more distraught than usual about her life in Ohio and was on a rampage when I got home from school.  After smashing a coffee mug against the refrigerator, whe looked at me and cried, 'Being in the North isn't living - it's absolute hell.  Northerners have no idea what real living means, and they don't know a damn thing about etiquette or hospitality.'

What triggered that outburst I'll never know, but as crazy as Momma sometimes was, I now recognized that her statement held more than a grain of truth. (p. 267).

And as the sweet aroma of the fresh peaches mingled with the sound of their voices, I folded the memory into myself, feeling a peace I'd never before known. (p. 273)

Momma had left this world and set herself free, and in doing so, she had set me free too.  As much as I missed her and wished I could hear her laughter one more time, I believed she was out there in the big bright somewhere, watching me, cheering for me.  Loving me. (p. 306)

Trust Me On This

Trust Me On This
Crusie, Jennifer.  Trust Me On This.  Bantam Books:  New York, USA, 2010.

Trust Me on This (Loveswept)


Book's Description:  Dennie Banks is an investigative reporter chasing down the biggest story of her career.  Alec Prentice is a government agent working undercover to catch an elusive grifter.  When they meet by accident, it's a case of mistaken identities at first sight.  What they don't mistake is the instant attraction they have for each other, an attraction they'll do everything in their power to resist -- because Dennie thinks that Alec is running interference for her interview subject, and Alec suspects that Dennie is linked to his swindler.  As the confusion grows, so do their feelings for each other, and what begins as a romantic comedy of errors may just end in the love affair of a lifetime.

See http://www.bantamdell.com/

Trust Me On This is authored by Jennifer Crusie, who has a delightful "Jenny Info" page on her website telling her "how I became a writer" story.  Her books often depict strong female characters who maintain their own identity, even after falling in love with a strong and understanding male character.  (Ahem.)  To see more of what she's written, navigate around her website from the "Jenny Info" link I posted earlier.

Crusie's title is a catchy summation of her romantic story line.  The main characters, Dennie and Alec, have little trust in each other, each assuming the other presents a roadblock to professional goals.  The tension created by their inaccurate reading of each other falls short of thrilling, but it does create incredibly ridiculous situations.

Alec attends his aunt's seminar at her invitation and because he suspects a criminal he's hunting will appear at the seminar to fleece naive and trusting college professors.  Dennie attends to meet the same professors, but her goal is not to stop a crime; she wants to report the truth about the failed marriage of a reputable marriage expert.  Said marriage expert contributes a new twist to the story when she, annoyed with Dennie and the demise of her own marriage, accuses Dennie of stalking.

Alec and Dennie meet the day they arrive at the seminar and each engages in behavior fueling the other's suspicion.  Yet, as in any romance worthy of the label, neither can deny the strong pull of attraction to the other.  Alec's aunt and boss find themselves with the same sort of attraction to each other, and resolve it much more quickly than the younger couple. 

Ultimately proving to be two of my favorite characters, Alec's aunt Vic and boss Harry, conclude their affaire de coeur with their own O. Henry-Gift of Love moment.  If only all stories could end so well!

Alec and Dennie manage to achieve a happy ending for themselves, but not before Dennie realizes she's always taken the safe route, the road most traveled, and decides she cannot commit to a relationship with Alec until she proves she can successfully maintain her own independence.  You go, girl!

I read this book as a welcome-home gift to myself when we returned from our 20th anniversary trip to Hawaii Sunday.  While certainly not a mentally taxing read, I enjoyed the novel.  The characters are entertaining and the plot a bit silly.  It was exactly what I needed to reenter life in Minnesota.

Happy reading.
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ (5 of 10 stars)

Book Review Goal

Though I managed to meet my book reading goal in 2010, I fell short of my blog-about-it goal.  Most often I simply ran out of time to write reviews.  Reading and finishing (and then starting more) a number of books concurrently poses something of an organizational problem when considering an official review of the material.  And truth is, some of the fun material I read doesn't merit a careful review.  Still, I wouldn't give up my fluff reading; it keeps me centered.

For 2011, I have a different goal.  I will keep reading.  Once a week, I will write about something I've read.  I'm not going to save the writing for the loftier titles.  I'm going to write about whichever work is most fresh in my mind when I sit at the keyboard. 

I don't want to write book reports, sharing plot and character descriptions before outlining the main ideas in 500 words or less.  Instead, I want to write a solid review, including the key points, the strengths and weaknesses of the work, and my own opinion of it.  My goal is to write between 500 and 750 words offering a sneak peak at what the book is like, whether I enjoyed it, and including purchase information.

Most reviewers also include information about the author (who is he or she, what has he or she written, has he or she garnered any awards, and what is his or her style), the genre (fiction, non-fiction, romance, poetry, etc.), and the title (how it relates to the work, is it interesting or not).  There may be discussions of characters, themes, arguments and key ideas, and/or some relevant quotes from or about the work.

That, then, is my goal.  I will read and I will review. 

Gives me a little tingle of excitement.