Book Tasting Review

The Year of Pleasures

By: Elizabeth Berg

Betta Nolan wants to move.

Everyone advises her to think otherwise.  "It's not time yet."  "Let yourself get healed first, before you make any big decisions."

Betta Nolan always did things her way and if not her husbands way.  But her husband is dead.  Passed away only a few months ago from Cancer and it still feels like it was yesterday when she was waking him up for breakfast.  A couple so devoted to each other that they never once looked outside of their little bubble to see what everyone else was doing, nor engaging with them.  So now Betta is alone.  No friends, no family to speak of and now no husband to hold her.  Is she going to move?

Heck yea she is.  She may be getting up there in the age bracket but she can still make up her mind on things.
When she travels to a small town outside of Chicago and buys a house she doesn't know how much the new little town, with it's opening arms neighbors and gentle breezes in the wind will do to her.  Nor her past friends she hasn't seen since College years will do when she picks up the phone to call them.  Does she still have what it takes to make friends?  Or will she allow being alone tear her apart?  A great riveting story about loss, tragedy and finding the friends that make a difference in your life, if only you let them.

This is the second book that Book Tasting has read and joined together for a discussion.  And what a discussion it was.  We had about a total of 7 participants that REALLY enjoyed the book.  Many of them have been through tragedy's before and can relate to what the main character was going through.  This one book really got people seeing similarities between some of the characters that the other readers didn't see.  Some symbolizing like Betta cooking to cope with the loss of her husband and looking inside ourselves and see what we would do to cope through a tragedy.  There was even a disagreement in a section of the story that some liked and others didn't appreciate it.  But you know what?  That's what a book group is all about.  It doesn't matter who you are in the community or where you come from, book groups are there so that you can share you ideas and thoughts of an interesting book with others and see where it leads you.  Steven Spielberg once said "...good storytelling, you can get everybody to clap at the same time, to hopefully laugh at the same time, and to be afraid at the same time, but you can't get everybody to interpret the result in the same WAY."  I mentioned that at the book group, and I think everyone got the message for everyone was finally opening up more about the book.

A great read, and everyone was happy about having some Dunkin' Donuts coffee with some donut holes.  They even wanted to know of other books that Elizabeth Berg has done, and there are plenty to choose from:

To name a few!!

Now our next Book Tasting book is going to be:

A workaholic dad finally takes a snow day in Virginia to finally spend it with his kids only to find out that they ran out of milk, eggs and bread.  Three essential elements to have in your house on a snow day with kids.  When the dad finally goes out to the store to retrieve these items he finds something more than milk, eggs and bread.  Something that will change his life forever.

An amazing read that everyone will definitely enjoy.

**Side note:  The date has now changed to November 8.