The Cherry Cola Book Club (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
I read the second book in this series first because a friend bought the first one and I purchased the second one so that we could read both and exchange. When my friend returns the second book, I will need to look through it again to refresh myself on what happened to the characters that I met in the first book.Like the second book, this is a fairly simplistic read. It is the story of Maura Beth Mayhew, a small-town librarian who is fighting to keep the library open because the City Council feels that the library does not serve enough patrons to justify the expense. I felt that the council had a point as it seemed that few people visited the library. Maura Beth has been the librarian in Cherico, Mississippi for six years, but it seems as though she has not made much effort to promote the library until closure is threatened.A new resident who has recently moved to Cherico from Nashville suggests a book discussion group (which most libraries offer)as a way of promoting the library and interesting more residents in reading. Maura Beth sets up the book club with her help. We learn about two of the book club discussions and they seemed a little odd to me. Over the years I have been a member of many book clubs, but none of them were set up like this one.Reading and libraries are close to my heart so these books should be right up my alley, but the characters are one-dimensional and not much happens in the books. One of the women who becomes active in the book club has a morning cooking show on the radio. Since she has started testing recipes for her program, her husband had gained a lot of weight so she has nicknamed him "Stout Fella." This nickname might be cutesy if used a few times, but it was overused so much that it became annoying. These books are probably o.k. for a light summer beach read, but I am not interested in reading another book in this series. I will give this book 2 stars just to be nice. I generally do the majority of my reading at night in bed to help clear my mind so I can fall asleep at a decent hour. Usually, this does not work for me because I wind up enjoying the book so much that I want to stay up to read just one more chapter which easily turns into five more chapters. Not so much with this book. I'm going to finish it to the end, but it's definitely a "sleeper". It's doing a great job of putting me to sleep...so much so that I'm actually falling asleep before I even get through with one chapter. Seriously, I'm born and raised in SE Alabama. Who talks this way amongst each other and amongst friends? Is the author even Southern (sorry, I didn't read the author bio)? The only Southerners that I think might talk this way to one another might be the elderly. The conversation is so stilted. Some of the expressions are "Southern", but way overdone in this book and not used in the correct context. Maura Beth is supposed to be in her late 20's, but she talks as if she's in her 80's. The book itself might have been interesting, but I just can't get past the dialogue to actually enjoy the book.Rarely, would I not recommend a book to others, but this is one I wouldn't recommend to anyone unless you just need something that will make you fall asleep at night. It's certainly been working for me.UPDATE: If you can get to chapter 11 the book does become somewhat better with the dialogue. I finally finished reading this one and I would read more of Ashton Lee's books hoping that her dialogue between the characters are not the same in every one of her books.
What do You think about The Cherry Cola Book Club (2013)?
OMG this book was torture ... and I have no idea the plot or purpose of it ...
—TYI
Cute. The recipes at the end were nice. Books, food and the Deep South.
—crowden
Very light summer read. Quick and easy. Quirky characters.
—Ebony
I didn't finish this. It read too much like work.
—deadonce
