Jan
3
The Shop Tart usually finds a lot of time to read on vacation. Not this time. Disney World does not afford a lady a lot of free time. Action packed and wonderfully magical every minute of the day! Luckily, la famille has an excellent tour guide.
Though she hasn’t been reading, she’s happy to have a book review for you, by the lovely Katherine Yon.
The Mermaid Collector
I go through cycles of reading where I devour a book or two a week and then go months without picking one up. I have been in the midst of a non-reading phase. I picked up The Mermaid Collector
several times and read a few pages, but was interrupted by various things such as my puppy trying to pull it out of my hands {he ultimately succeeded} or getting rid of Time Warner Cable and needing to focus on clearing out my DVR. But I digress. When I picked up the book for a third time I already needed a refresher. There are a LOT of characters in this book and I found I’d already forgotten which characters were related, dead, sleeping together, etc. I literally went back and took notes.
Unless we’re talking about The Little Mermaid
, I am completely uninterested in the folklore and fairy tales surrounding these watery creatures {whores}. Adults who claim to like mermaids creep me out. I assume people with mermaid fetishes/obsessions are some type of serial killer. It’s safe to say that the title of this book did not have me ‘diving’ in right away. Lame pun intended.
The Mermaid Collector is a set in Cradle Harbor, Maine, home to the annual Mermaid Festival. The festival is based on the town’s history. Back in the late 1800′s four men set sail for a short day trip and were lost at sea. They were eventually rescued, but returned home changed. After a year back home, the men leave their wives to return to sea. We learn that they encountered mermaids on their first voyage and were compelled to reunite with them for good. I suppose this small town hasn’t much else going on so they throw a festival in honor of the men who left their wives for mermaids? There’s a bit more to the history, but I can feel you’ve already lost interest.
Folklore aside, this book is chick lit to its core. Tess Patterson is the main character. Again, there are a lot of characters and it’s a bit of a stretch to classify her as ‘main.’ It almost has a bit of a Love Actually
vibe. Several different story lines are featured and are all connected by one person or another. Tess moved to Cradle Harbor with her manic-depressive mother Ruby when she was nine-years-old. Ruby marries Buzz. When Tess is a teenager her mother drowns herself in the sea. Ten years later, a hot piece by the name of Tom Grace moves to town. He’s inherited the lightkeeper’s house and has decided to move his younger brother to Cradle Harbor for a fresh start. Their parents died in a car accident years ago. Tom’s brother Dean is a total wild child, y’all! Tom is hardened from years of looking after Dean’s crazy ways. After meeting once, Tess basically forgets the guy she’s been pining after for ten years and finds herself drawn to Tom. There’s something about Tess that softens Tom like no other woman has before. OMG, meant to be! The book concludes with the beginning of the festival and happy endings for all.
Characters who I did not even mention include: Joan, Frank, Beverly, Petra, Linus, and Lydia. You’re welcome.
It’s really not a bad book and it was an easy read. If I were more of a romantic and didn’t have such an affliction to mermaid culture and worship, I probably would have thoroughly enjoyed it. Well, maybe not.
Evidence of puppy attack:
- Katherine Yon
So, there you go! What are you reading these days? Anything good? The Shop Tart will be picking up something new soon and would love a few suggestions.
Happy Shopping and don’t forget to tell them you read it on the Shop Tart!
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Filed Under books, Disney magic, guest post, resort, wish you were here! | 6 Comments
Comments
yay!
I’m reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. An excellent read! I can’t put it down!
Shana, I LOVED that book. So did my husband, in fact. Katherine reviewed that one and liked it, too.
Ha! I just finished Gone Girl. It was fun. Starting Bossypants by Tina Fey tomorrow while on work retreat. Really, really excited about it.
I just finished Gone Girl, too, and I couldn’t put it down. Now I’m reading the “adult” J.K. Rowling book A Casual Vacancy. Still not sure how I feel about it…..
That’s a great photo of the boy reading the Disney map.