Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Fiction - 3.5 stars

Claire Waverley is a caterer who uses plants from her garden to evoke feelings in her clients. She works in her garden, talking to her mysterious apple tree as if it can hear her. Family legend says that if someone eats from the apple tree, he sees the most important event in his life. Claire's sister, Sydney, flees with her daughter from her life across the country with an abusive man. She comes back to Claire in Bascom, NC and finds herself in the very place she escaped. Evanelle, an older cousin, has the gift of clairvoyance, and distributes gifts before the receiver know they're needed. These Waverley women are the talk of the town, and their legacy of loneliness and magic brings them closer together as they find love and friendship. Garden Spells is an enchanting, easy read, and like The Peach Keeper, it's just a good story. It's an awesome read for a lazy Sunday.

Movie review - Chef

Movie - 5 stars

I know this is a book blog, but every once in a while I have to comment on other media that moves me. In Chef, Jon Favreau writes, directs, produces and leads an all-star cast in a truly entertaining comedy about passions and relationships. Chef Carl Casper (Favreau) has one too many bad reviews from a harsh food critic (Oliver Platt) and decides to resign his position as head chef of a restaurant due to creative differences with the restaurant's owner (Dustin Hoffman). Carl heads to Miami with his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara) and son, and decides to strike a deal with his ex's ex-husband (Robert Downey, Jr.) to purchase a food truck. Reuniting with a former member of his kitchen staff (John Leguizamo), Carl finds his passion again for the kitchen, forms previously unrealized bonds with his son, and embarks on new adventures with old adversaries.

Chef showcases three things I am most passionate about - 1. Strong family bonds and caring people. 2. Incredibly attractive culinary creations. 3. Awesome soundtrack. It also showcases the phenomenal talent of Jon Favreau, one of my favorites who is also known for Four Christmases, the Ironman series, Swingers and Friends. The relationships he's developed in his previous works are all highlighted here as some of the Hollywood elite captured some of the smaller roles in this (Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Hoffman, etc.).  I loved this movie!!!

This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

Fiction - 4 stars

Judd Foxman's father has died, his wife has cheated on him with his boss, he's quit his job (see previous for reason) and he's moved into a basement apartment of a noisy house inhabited by a Chinese couple. He's not doing well. On top of all of this, his father's final wish is for his (dysfunctional) family to sit shiva and spend seven days and nights under the same roof. Longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed and former passions are reawakened in this week-log remembrance of a man they all loved but barely knew. This is one of the books I won during Barnes & Noble's Page to Screen weekend giveaway, and I am so lucky. I probably would not have picked it out myself. I can see why they've made a movie of the story, and I highly recommend it for anyone feeling a little down about their own dysfunctional family.

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Fiction - 3.5 stars

In her novel, The Peach Keeper, Sarah Addison Allen blends friendships, sibling relationships, and Southern hospitality into a sweet story with a very happy ending. Thirty-year-old Willa Jackson returned to her rural North Carolina home in Walls of Water to escape her failures. Instead of escaping them, she faces them head-on, reconnects with her family, and begins new relationships that she never thought she'd have.  In the meantime, she becomes involved in a 75-year-old murder mystery involving her grandmother and the beautiful mansion her family occupied in the 1930s. While not a Pulitzer Price winner, the book club candidate is an easy read, perfect for the beach or to read while sitting on your front porch swing, sipping sweet tea. It took me all of two days to read it, and I loved every minute of it.