who says you have to be crowded into the living room, kitchen, and/or dining room to hold a book club? we are ladies of the 21st century. we don’t need no stinkin’ couches. so pull up a blog and join in the conversation.
the members of the BOOK HUNGRY are (alphabetically): patty blount, kelly breakey, karla nellenbach, and myself. we pick a book to read. we discuss via email. we post a review on our individual blogs on the same day (3rd thursday of the month). we link to each other. done. i know, genius. click on each one of their names (above) and it’ll take you to their review. browse. enjoy.
this month’s BOOK HUNGRY selection is:
PARADISE by judith mcnaught
what it’s about from amazon: Ruthless corporate raider Matthew Farrell was poised to move in on the legendary department store empire owned by Chicago’s renowned Bancroft family. In the glare of the media spotlight, it was a stunning takeover that overshadowed the electric chemistry between Matt, once a scruffy kid from steel town Indiana, and cool, sophisticated Meredith Bancroft. Their brief, ill-fated marriage sparked with thrilling sensuality — he was the outsider who dared to rock her country club world — and ended with a bitter betrayal. Now, locked in a battle that should be all business, dangerous temptations and bittersweet memories are stirring their hearts. Will they risk everything on a passion too bold to be denied?
my opinion: this book covers many many years and includes many many characters and as such, i felt it was slow to start, but once the engine was revved up, i couldn’t stop reading it.
but first, the bad. one thing that drove me crazy about this book was the lengthy descriptions of everyone’s clothes and surroundings and such. the beginning was crowded with them and i suspect they were there to give a sense of the differences in class levels, but i found myself skimming over them whenever they came up because they didn’t add much to the story and (for me) slowed down the pace of the entire book.
and now, the good. the history between the two main characters (matt and meredith) was fierce, but so was their love. i was rooting for them the entire way through the story and man, they had some obstacles to overcome. the first obstacle was their pride and once they got past that, i figured they were home free, but oh no. mcnaught was just getting started!
but honestly, the best (and worst) part of the book was meredith’s father. he is ruthless and conniving and basically has a heart three sizes too small. it’s amazing he produced a daughter as wonderful and sophisticated and lovely as meredith. i don’t want to say too much more because this gargantuan novel is definitely worth the read, so stop reading this review and get thyself a copy!
//
Abigail Mumford 
I’m pretty sure I read this YEARS ago. Probably when it first came out, which would explain why it’s a little fuzzy in my memory. Might have to go digging through the books in my basement to find it again.
kelly picked a winner with this book. we all liked it very much and it’s definitely worth a read, or in your case, a re-read!
I agree that some of the descriptions were over the top, but I think that had more to do with the time the book was actually written, late eighties. Everything was excessive and over the top. Think Dynasty era…wait do you even know what Dynasty is or is that before your time?
I know of the dynasty era, but being born in 81, I was unaware of it and unaffected by it.