Book Review: Fluffy fun that you’ll forget within an hour
What do you get when you throw together an attractive American female chef, her pretty but ill-tempered 18-year-old daughter, a handsome American art exhibit designer, and his charming 17-year-old son?
You get a big old case of mistaken identities, mistaken luggage, and a whole lot of flirting. In a nutshell, you get In the Bag by Kate Klise, a fluffy and fun novel that you’ll forget within an hour.
Daisy Sprinkle and her daughter Coco are in Paris for a holiday, but a pall is cast over their trip when Coco realizes that she’s taken someone else’s luggage from the airport, by mistake. She does, however, find the real owner’s ID in the bag, and thus begins her back and forth email relationship with Webb, who has her bag. As the frequency of their contact increases, so do their feelings for each other. When Webb, who’s in Madrid with his working dad, suggests coming to Paris to swap bags, Coco’s all over it. Both of them have to deceive their parents in order to make it happen.
Webb’s father, Andrew, is working on designing an important art exhibit in Madrid, while Webb spends his time emailing Coco. When Daisy gets a call from her friend Solange, asking her to come to Madrid to help out in a crisis, Daisy feels obligated. Unbeknownst to Daisy, the trip is the catalyst for what becomes Coincidence Central. Readers can see the ending coming from a mile away, but it’s still a fun trip.
What starts out as an unfortunate case of luggage loss, turns into a light-hearted romp punctuated by romance and harmless Euro-flirting. There was one thing in the book that bothered me though, because I wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or an insult. When Coco describes her mom’s clothes she says: “My mother…wears pseudo-stylish sexy librarian clothes, like $250 silk blouses.” Still not sure, but on behalf of my profession, I’ll take it as a compliment.
And because I had time on my hands this past weekend, I also read and thoroughly enjoyed Jack Reacher’s Rules. Taken from the plethora of Lee Child novels, this book is a collection of his main character’s life rules and sayings, as well as a few things that you’ll never hear Reacher say. If you’re a fan of Jack Reacher, described by Child as “Six-five, two fifty, hands as big as frozen turkeys”, then you’ll love this book. For those of you unfamiliar with Reacher, he’s a former Military Police officer who’s left the service and wanders from place to place. Here are a few of my favorites:
•“Use duct tape to keep a broken nose in place, or to patch up a knife wound.”
•“Things you’ll never hear Reacher say: I need to book an appointment with my massage therapist.”
•“It’s all about free will. It’s all about making choices. You can tell me now, or you can tell me after I break your legs.”
•“Ask a librarian – they’re nice people, they’ll tell you things if you ask them.”
Enough said. For other popular reading suggestions check out Richmond Public Library’s Web site at www.yourlibrary.ca/goodbooks/.
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