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A review by beckymmoe
Lakeshore Christmas by Susan Wiggs
1.0
Ugh. What a total waste. I had picked this book to listen to on audio to put me in the Christmas mood while I worked on holiday presents, but instead it gave me no end of frustration. I couldn't stand Maureen. She did more to perpetuate the prim-librarian-who-has-no-life label herself than anyone else did for her. She instantly judged other people harshly, and then decided how they in turn would view her and went with her views even when actual facts went in another direction. Even finding out what was really "wrong" with her didn't garner her any sympathy in my book. She was annoyingly obtuse and went out of her way to keep others a good couple of feet away from her at all times and I have no idea why the other characters even kept trying to be close to her at all, let alone what on earth drew Eddie to her.
Eddie's character alone might have bumped my review up a star, but by the end of the book he was just as annoying as Maureen, so...no.
I love libraries. I can't even begin to calculate the number of happy hours I've spent in them throughout the years. The fact that we could walk to ours from our house was a big selling point when we bought it, actually. I have myself been involved in efforts to keep our local branch open in recent years so that my kids can have as many good memories there as I did. The way librarians were portrayed in this book was fairly insulting to the librarians I have known and do know, and the struggle to keep their local library open was, quite frankly, just not at all inspiring.
Daisy's character was just thrown in the novel for no apparent reason (okay, I've read book eight so I know WHY she was there. But I don't understand what she was doing in THIS book. Her connection with Maureen is so laughingly tenuous that she really can't even be considered a secondary character here. It's as if Wiggs took another story and just crudely smashed it into the one that she was originally writing and voila--there's Daisy!) and it was extremely distracting. Every time she was the focus I was drawn right out of the story--and I really wasn't all that connected to it in the first place, so it was particularly annoying. Plus, knowing that we'll hear all about the pertinent details later on in Daisy's book just make having to read them here completely unnecessary.
Which brings me to my final point--there was constant telling and retelling in this book. It honestly made the whole experience twice as long and painful. How many times do we need to hear that Eddie spent every childhood Christmas driving from venue to venue? That Maureen's always found magic in Christmas? That Eddie's always taken refuge in alcohol, just like his parents? That Maureen has a close and loving family? (Who, by the way, always knew that Maureen wanted a nickname, but never thought to give her one? What the heck? Why wouldn't they give her one, then, being so close and loving and all? And it's not like it takes a genius to come up with "Mo", it's pretty standard.) I could go on and on here...the book does!...but I really just need for it to all be over, so I can begin to try to forget. Ugh.
Eddie's character alone might have bumped my review up a star, but by the end of the book he was just as annoying as Maureen, so...no.
I love libraries. I can't even begin to calculate the number of happy hours I've spent in them throughout the years. The fact that we could walk to ours from our house was a big selling point when we bought it, actually. I have myself been involved in efforts to keep our local branch open in recent years so that my kids can have as many good memories there as I did. The way librarians were portrayed in this book was fairly insulting to the librarians I have known and do know, and the struggle to keep their local library open was, quite frankly, just not at all inspiring.
Daisy's character was just thrown in the novel for no apparent reason (okay, I've read book eight so I know WHY she was there. But I don't understand what she was doing in THIS book. Her connection with Maureen is so laughingly tenuous that she really can't even be considered a secondary character here. It's as if Wiggs took another story and just crudely smashed it into the one that she was originally writing and voila--there's Daisy!) and it was extremely distracting. Every time she was the focus I was drawn right out of the story--and I really wasn't all that connected to it in the first place, so it was particularly annoying. Plus, knowing that we'll hear all about the pertinent details later on in Daisy's book just make having to read them here completely unnecessary.
Which brings me to my final point--there was constant telling and retelling in this book. It honestly made the whole experience twice as long and painful. How many times do we need to hear that Eddie spent every childhood Christmas driving from venue to venue? That Maureen's always found magic in Christmas? That Eddie's always taken refuge in alcohol, just like his parents? That Maureen has a close and loving family? (Who, by the way, always knew that Maureen wanted a nickname, but never thought to give her one? What the heck? Why wouldn't they give her one, then, being so close and loving and all? And it's not like it takes a genius to come up with "Mo", it's pretty standard.) I could go on and on here...the book does!...but I really just need for it to all be over, so I can begin to try to forget. Ugh.