Welcome to the World Baby Girl / Fannie Flagg / 496 pgs

I read Standing in the Rainbow last year, and although it's obvious Fannie Flagg never bothered to research Missouri, I really enjoyed the whole story. I have to say my thoughts are the same here as well. Though I think Standing in the Rainbow is the better book, I did love the story of Dena and her mom. Fannie is a great writer besides her glaring mistakes concerning Missouri.

Welcome to the World Baby Girl is the first Elmwood Springs book. It goes back and forth between the 1940s and the 1970s. Dena Nordstrom is a hot, up-and-coming reporter in New York City, and yet the stress from overworking coupled with unresolved issues from when she was a kid are driving her to developing ulcers and panic attacks. When she is ordered to go see a therapist, the circumstances of her past, including her missing mother, come rushing back. Meanwhile, her extended family in Elmwood Springs are anxious to see and take care of their grown-up Baby Girl.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette / Maria Semple / 330 pgs

This is the second time I've read this book. My book club will be talking about it in June, but I went ahead and reread it now, although that's not quite the right way of putting it. I actually listened to it. I'm just going to say this is one of those books where reading it is FAR better than listening to it. I wasn't a fan of the narrator, and the letters, e-mails, and faxes lose their charm when you're hearing them, rather than reading them.

This is mostly an epistolary novel, though it is also narrated in sections by Bee Branch, a 15 year old girl, who sounds like a whiny brat in the audio book, but did not come across so in the print book. Her agoraphobic mother, Bernadette Fox, has gone missing, and it is through all of these letters, e-mails, and faxes that Bee is trying to piece together how, why, and where her mother disappeared.

The story is fun, funny, and kind of crazy. I enjoyed it back in 2014 when I first read it, and I still enjoyed it this past week, even if the audio book was not the best way to experience the book. The movie has been in development for quite a long time, with Cate Blanchett attached to star as Bernadette. Would recommend!

A Dog's Journey (sequel to A Dog's Purpose) / W. Bruce Cameron / 336 pgs

A Dog's Journey is the sequel to A Dog's Purpose, soon to be released as a movie in the cinemas at the end of the month. Whereas in A Dog's Purpose, the dog who is known alternatively as Toby, Bailey, Ellie, and Buddy learns that his purpose is to love and protect his boy, Ethan, in the sequel, our canine hero learns that his/her purpose is to love Ethan's granddaughter, C.J., and ultimately to love and take care of all humans. Buddy is still alive at the beginning of the book, but ultimately passes and is reborn as Molly, then Max, and finally Toby again. The ending is sweet and might require tissues. I really enjoyed both books, and although it is wrapped up perfectly, I sure wish there was another book. Very well done, and I can't wait for the movie, so I can take my dog-loving husband to go see it.

 P.S. I am totally a cat person, and have my own four-legged friend who takes care of me, Mia, but that didn't keep me from loving both of Mr. Cameron's books.

P.P.S. This book fulfills a few of the challenges I started in 2017 and it is the first book I started in the New Year. The challenges include:

The #2017FullHouseReadingChallenge - Category: Page Turner
The #2017AudioBookChallenge - No Category
The #2017PopSugarReadingChallenge - Category 21: A book from a nonhuman perspective

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend/Katarina Bivald/394 pgs.

What a fun debut novel by this Swedish author! Sara Lindqvist travels from Sweden to meet her pen pal, Amy Harris, who happens to live in Broken Wheel, Iowa--an extremely small town that has seen better days. Upon arriving, Sara learns that she has showed up on the day of Amy's funeral. The residents don't quite know what to do with Sara, and vice versa. It's a heart warming story of a small town pulling together, and a tourist discovering herself in a most unexpected place. Highly recommended!

After You/Jojo Moyes/352 pgs.

This is the sequel to Moyes' Me Before You, and does it justice! I'm usually skeptical about sequels when I've enjoyed the first book so much, that this was a pleasant surprise. In After You, Louisa Clark is trying to put her life together after--spoiler alert!-- Will Traynor's death in Me Before You. There is further character development, surprises, and humor along the way. I don't want to say too much about the story, but it's a believable conclusion, and equal to its predecessor. Highly recommended!