Tuesday, December 14, 2021

WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here.  

1. What are you currently reading? The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer. Rachel Rubinstein-Goldblatt is a New Yorker with secrets. First of all, she loves Christmas and, as a prominent rabbi's only daughter, she knows her family wouldn't approve. Also, she's a published author. Under a pseudonym, she's written a series of Christmas rom-coms. Third, she suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome. This her family knows about, but few others do. She's found people to be dismissive of her very real suffering.

So now you've met the heroine of this book. This year, at her pubisher's request, she sets out to write a Hanukkah romance. As she researches The Matzah Ball, a major Jewish celebration at The Four Seasons, her secrets are compromised and her life gets very complicated, especially when an old love reappears.

I'm about halfway through and I'm really liking Rachel. She's not perfect, but she's highly relatable. I'm enjoying this book thus far and am rooting for Rachel.

2. What did you recently finish reading? 
This Christmas, by Jane Green/Jennifer Coburn/Liz Ireland. A trio of Christmas short stories. The first, by Jane Green, is about a married couple who has drifted apart and take a trial separation. He comes home to spend Christmas with the family and she's surprised by how she feels. The second, by Jennifer Coburn, is about a woman who is certain her new husband is still attracted to his first wife and is obsessed with finding Wife #1 a new man by the new year. The third, by Liz Ireland, is about a woman who brings her new beau home for a traditional family Christmas and everything goes awry. 

Did I enjoy this book? Yes. It's infused with good will and Christmas spirit.

Do I recommend it? Nope. The first and third stories were sooooo predictable I actually groaned at times. But it's Christmastime, so I have a higher tolerance for corn.

3. What will you read next? I think I'll grab another Christmas fiction.