A good three, three and a half maybe. 3.3? Christina Baker Kline has been my author of the year, and I admit that I have read all of her fiction works except one, and none of her non-fiction ones. I did discover that she has a non-fiction book on Feminism, which would have worked for the Feminism tag this month. But I couldn't get there. As the year draws to a close, I have too much else to enjoy and accomplish.I did not read Bird in Hand, because when I opened the book and read the first line,

Sweet, easy read. Basic plot line revolves around a woman who is trying to figure out what to do with her life- she ends up on a little island in Maine (in winter no less- can't imagine how cold that must be!) because something just feels right. The author does a nice job of intertwining this journey with her relationship with her Italian grandmother, who is of course, a fantastic cook.I'm always pleased when an author cna successfully include cooking into a good story. Definitely would recommen...

Well written and interesting about Italian cooking and a young woman's search for companionship in the coast of Maine. A good story, but somewhat slow.

Christina Baker Kline has a very readable, transparent writing style, spot-on dialogue, and characters I feel like I know. Angela Russo is a single, thirty-something event planner in New York. When an important charity event goes all wrong, she loses her job. She impulsively decides to move to Maine to pursue a new relationship with a sailing instructor she met on an online dating site. She befriends the owner of the local coffee shop and ends up working for him, convincing him to expand his bus...

Easy and light, with a horribly cliched front end, and a tail that sort of drifts off... This is a hard book to review. The first few chapters are painfully bad, and were I to stop there, it would have gotten a very bad review indeed. It does pick up from there, and is a bit charming in places, and then it sort of stops, on a vaguely optimistic note granted, but without much of an arc. Also, something to note, this book stripped of recipes (which are often effectively printed twice), and other b...

Really loved this well told story of a young woman trying to find her "soul mate" and figure out what direction her life should go in. Wonderful descriptions of the art of cooking and the love of good food, relationships, the beautiful Maine coast in winter.So lovely except I felt the ending fell short - sort of abrupt the way the book ended, as is the author just got tired of writing and decided to move on to another project - she left us hanging. I really wanted to know what happened to Angela...

I can not believe that this book was written by the same author as orphan train. It was so predictable and stupid. The best part of the book was the recipes in the back.

I was surprised how quickly I arrived at the final page of this novel, first in an annoyed, then in a grateful way.Caught up in the culmination of emotions and possibilities for the main character, Angela Russo, the story ended before I was ready. Even if there was so much more to explore and be discovered through the lives of these believable and varied characters, I appreciate (quite ironically) that this is "the way life should be".Some readers are drawn toward reading a story where everythin...

I almost quit reading this book so many times, and finally just skimmed ahead until the cliche chick-lit parts were mostly over. The beginning chapters are pure cliche: the heroine is unlucky in love, epically screws up her job, risks her job in pursuit of a guy . . . but luckily, she has a Special Gift and Unique Cultural Background! Sigh. Other reviewers were right, though - once in Maine, it got a lot better and there were some very nice chapters about food and community and community and foo...

This book was just bad. It had the air of a 16 year old trying to write a grown up novel. Predictable. Painful to the point of laughter. The only reason I finished the book was because I was listening to it as I drove and I did t have a chance to download a different title. The narrator was as bad as the book itself. Mispronunciations galore! So disappointing all around.

This book felt a little too light-weight to me and the ending was somewhat abrupt.

I signed this book out of the library because I remembered really liking an earlier book by the author (Sweet Water). This one starts off feeling like a fairly predictable chick lit book but gets better as it goes along. In fact, I sort of wish it had kept going. I got to the point where I felt like I was just getting to know some of the more peripheral characters and then it was done.

3.5 StarsI'm a total sucker for books about food. (Mmmmm...and Italian food?!) Add in the whimsical ideal of ditching a busy, rote life, running off to a small romantic town (in gorgeous Maine!) to simplify, sort out what's important, and start over....and I'm hooked! What an engaging escape novel with relatable characters and some particularly funny dialogue. I dug it!

Wow, Christina Baker Kline has really evolved from this (one of first novels) to her critically-acclaimed follow ups Orphan Train and a A Piece Of The World. Hmmmm. That sounded like a back-handed compliment. And it’s not meant to be; I’m just really impressed at how much she’s matured as a writer over the course of a few books. Again.... unintentionally back-handed. There was nothing wrong with this story at all: it’s a simple, heartfelt tale about... well, the way life should be. It’s got roma...

I've had this book in my tbr pile for years. Timing is everything because this was the perfect book for right now. Independence, self reflection, nostalgia, and a little romance sprikled on top.Angela had an unfortunate accident at work that had her seeking employment elsewhere. Yes, she was fired. Embarrassed by her mistake she decides to move to Maine with a guy she met on the internet and it's not as predictable as you might think. Maine is a long way from home and provides her with the space...

I started reading this book, then put it aside, the first part was more like a Harlequin romance novel. Then I decided to give it another try and about halfway through, it got much better. If the whole book had been like the last half, I would have given it another star, because the second half was an engrossing and enjoyable read. Recipes included.

Loved loved love made me want to run away AGAIN to Maine.

This read was a fresh breath of air from the psychological thrillers I have been reading. Every once in awhile it is good to take a step back and read a story that just causes you to inhale a bit deeper - enjoy the feel and energy of oxygen as it pulses through your being and reinforces that you're still alive. Sometimes we get so caught up in our day-to-day living and trying to fill the agenda we have laid out for ourselves that we forget to enjoy the simple pleasures in life like an afternoon

Angelo Russo is a 33 year old event planner in NYC. She is feeling in a bit of a rut, and on a whim clicks on an online dating site. She finds her "dream" man, a sailing instructor living on Mount Desert Island in Maine. She pictures an idyllic beach cottage, a dog and the perfect life. When she losses her job after a disaster at an event she had planned, she leaves her life behind and moves in with her "dream" man. But she soon discovers that the perfect, quaint picture she created is not reali...

After reading Orphan Train( which was amazing ) I wanted to read more of Christina Baker Kline! This was a very nice , quick read - you can pretty much predict what was going to happen- but all in all a good read. Main character Angela, faces the real struggles you would expect from a journey of self discovery. Kline captures the charms of life in Coastal Maine beautifully and is able to make the harsh winters seem warm and cozy through her writing. A nice chick-lit book for sure!