The Reading Marathon...

So last night Frank called me on his way home like he normally does and while we're talking he's like "Uh-oh..."  It turns out the transmission went on his van.  Can you freakin believe it??  I mean, he had not ONE job all summer long and now that he is finally working again, his van goes.  What in the WORLD???

What does that have to do with a reading marathon, you ask?  Well, I'll tell you.  I belong to the Doubleday book club and yesterday in the mail, I got my first book order.  In it were three books that I am saving for Michael for Christmas (Diary of a Whimpy Kid series) and for me there were two books:  "The McKettricks of Texas: Austin" by Linda Lael Miller and "The Best of Friends" by Susan Mallery.  I had started the McKettricks book last night after dinner and pretty much blazed through half of it last night and then finished the rest of it before lunch today.  I chose to start with this book because it is the third in a series and I had read the other two and so I was curious to see how the whole thing finished up.  It was a great book but you really need to read all three to truly get it.

After lunch, because I was STRANDED (Frank had to take my car to go to work) I picked up "The Best of Friends" and I have to tell you, I could NOT put it down.  I was trying to multi-task while reading but that didn't work too well and eventually I DID put it down for the sake of laundry and dishes.  Now I have to admit, I didn't know too much about the story but because I am friends with the author on Facebook, I had been hearing a lot of good buzz about it but was warned that it could make me cry.  That had me hesitating at first but I'm glad it didn't stop me from actually reading it.  I cry easily as it is and sometimes I just don't WANT to cry.

The story is about two best friends from very different backgrounds - one was raised in privilege while the other was the daughter of a housekeeper.  Through some serious circumstances, Jayne, the daughter of the housekeeper goes to live with wealthy Rebecca's family and the story takes place as they are adults.  Jayne is very easy to relate to and you just want good things for her while Rebecca is the typical spoiled "mean girl" who you really want to like but she makes it very hard.  I related to these women and their story line because growing up, one of my best friend's was a "mean girl".  She did eventually grow out of it but for all of our declarations of being "best friends" she did a whole lot of mean things to me to the point that when she met the man that she eventually married, Frank and I had invited them for dinner.  I was sitting and talking with the boyfriend and he looked at me quite seriously and said "Can I ask you something?"  I nodded and he said, "Why on earth are you even friends with her?  She's told me all of the things that she's done to you and to be honest, I don't understand why you would want anything to do with her!"  I was a little shocked by his question and then saddened because she KNEW what she was doing all that time and she never directly apologized for any of it.  


But back to "The Best of Friends"...You've got the story of this complex friendship and the fact that Jayne has a lot of loyalty to Rebecca's family even though the mother, Elizabeth, never seems to miss a chance to remind her of how good they have been to her.  I could have done with a little less Elizabeth, I can tell you that!  And through all that, there is Jayne's massive crush on Rebecca's brother David.  Haven't we all been there at some point?  

If you are looking for a wonderful story with lots of well defined and relatable  characters, don't miss this book.  I am a HUGE fan of Susan Mallery's books and this one did not disappoint.  Actually, the only thing that I am disappointed in is myself because I read it so dang quick and now I have nothing to read before bed tonight!  Well done, Susan!  Another book to add to my collection.