Once in a Blue Moon by Eileen Goudge

Once in a Blue Moon by Eileen Goudge: (click on the book to find it on Amazon click on my title to go to her web page)

I’ve been replaying in my head what I have to say about this book for the last couple of  weeks.  Honestly, before Danielle (extraordinarymommy) posted an invitation to the book club, I had never read anything by or even HEARD Eileen (or so I thought … more on that later).

Not only did I read the book, I had the opportunity to chat with Ms. Goudge last night on MomTv and Twitter. How cool is that? I will try not to let any of that cloud my judgment on the book, but I will say she was REALLY sweet and just like any of your friends. How often does that happen when you become a NY Times best seller. Not very!

I searched for the book and couldn’t find it at Wal-Mart or Target and it was checked out at the library.  It occurred to me that I had the FREE kindle ap on my iphone. Why not? The book was $10, so if I didn’t like it wasn’t too much of a loss. I will not crowd this review with talk about reading on my phone but just wanted to throw that out there so you have something to look forward to in the future.  I do plan to review and compare it to Barnes and Nobles E-reader.

Let’s get back to Once in a Blue Moon. It drew me in from the first page. How could it not? A sister reminiscing is really near and dear to my heart since I am one of five girls (nine kids total). The book really flowed nicely and didn’t seem to have too much fluff. Yes, she described a room or a certain area but that is important for visualizing where the character is so I can put myself IN the book. It was easy to identify what characters I was supposed to like, which ones i wasn’t and which ones I knew had potential.

I think most people that read the book just want to reach into the book (or screen) and hug the Momma Hen of the book. You’ll immediately see why we all love this LIVELY and colorful character.

There were two characters I thought I knew would be together in the end but  twists and turns kept them apart and made me second guess  myself. Was I right? Did it work out or not? You’ll have to decide for yourself.

Then there was the maternal storyline. That really tugged at me and made me really sad at first. I have a very close family member going through the same thing and we are getting closer to making all the leaps and bounds this character had to. The reasons are not by any means the same (the character in the book did some illegal things, my family member did not) but the loss still hurts and you still have to do whatever it takes to correct your path so you can HOPEFULLY reach a happy end.

I’m trying not to give any spoilers about the book for those of you  that haven’t read it, so if any of this doesn’t make sense to you, that is why.

Earlier i mentioned that I had never read anything by Eileen Goudge. Well….That’s not entirely true! She helped launch the Sweet Valley High series and was a ghost writer for 5 of the first 12 books! How cool is that?

I am really looking forward to the next book she is currently working on. While I wait, I guess I need to buy a few more of her best sellers! What better way to compare kindle with B&N e-reader then reading something by the same author? Sounds like a good excuse to get more of her books to me!