Landline

Landline by Rainbow Rowell 
310 pages
 

Georgie McCool is a sitcom writer, a mother, and a wife, probably in that order.  Her husband, Neal, stays home to take care of their two daughters.  They are set to go to Omaha, Nebraska from Los Angeles to spend Christmas with Neal’s mother when Georgie learns that someone wants to air her sitcom, the one that she and her best friend have been writing since college, the one that matters.  The catch is that he wants to meet with them on December 27 and today is December 17 and she and her friend, Seth, need to have three more episodes ready to share at the meeting.  There is no way Georgie is going to Omaha.  Neal takes the kids and goes to Omaha without her.  Georgie is afraid that she has finally ruined her marriage but finds out that calling Neal’s mother’s landline from her old rotary phone at her mother’s house allows her to connect with Neal in an unusual way. Maybe she can figure out how to save her marriage after all.  I really liked this story.  It’s mostly a realistic romantic comedy type story, but with a twist of supernatural thrown in.  People who have liked Rowell’s other books will probably love this one as well.

Landline

Landline by Rainbow Rowell
310 Pages


Landline starts with scriptwriter Georgie McCool telling her husband Neal that she won't be able to go with the family to spend Christmas with his mother because she has too crank out a new script for her dream pilot.  Their marriage, already rocky, suffers as a result and off the husband goes with Georgie's 2 daughters.  Georgie tries to keep in touch with the family but her cell phone keeps dying.  Then one night she tries to call using her mother's phone and finally gets a hold of Neal, only it is the Neal of the past, before they got married.  Through conversations with this Neal, Georgie begins to realize how much the couple has lost as the years progressed.

Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park was a very popular YA book and this novel, aimed at adult audiences is proving to be popular as well.  The only thing I had a problem with in the novel was that the blamed seemed be one-sided and current day Neal seems one-dimensional. 

The Commitment

The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family by Dan Savage, 291 pages

Gay marriage is constantly in the news, and it has been for years. Most of the news stories focus on court cases or ballot initiatives or, more recently, states legalizing gay marriage. In The Commitment, Savage focuses gay marriage (and marriage in general) from an angle rarely seen in the news: the personal point of view. At the time the book was published in 2005, Savage and his boyfriend, Terry, had been together for 10 years. They had a six-year-old son who they adopted at birth and everything was stable in their little family. The couple was even planning a huge anniversary party to celebrate their decade together.

But on the subject of marriage (which was not legal for them in their home state at that time; Washington legalized it in 2012), there was disagreement. Savage was afraid that by "formalizing" their relationship, they'd jinx it; Terry didn't want to do anything straight people did and would rather get "property of" tattoos; Savage's Catholic mother surprisingly was pressuring them to tie the knot; and, perhaps even more surprisingly, their son DJ was vehemently against the idea of his two dads getting married, saying that "boys don't marry boys."

This book follows Savage and his family as they wrestle with the idea of marriage. It also sheds a lot of light on Savage's family, both nuclear and extended, as he examines the marriages of his siblings, parents, grandparents, and various aunts, uncles, and cousins. This was a really interesting, insightful book, though there were a few TMI moments (which is to be expected from Savage, who is a syndicated sex-advice columnist). Overall, a good book, especially for those who already support gay marriage (or are at least leaning that way). But those TMI moments make it not for the faint of heart.

Silent Wife

The Silent Wife by A.S.A Harrison
326 Pages

Jodi and Todd have an open marriage.  That is, Todd sleeps with other people and Jodi doesn't mention it.   Finally Todd finds himself ensnared by another and begins to leave Jodi.  Backed into a corner, Jodi retaliates.

Touted as the next Gone Girl, this novel is only similar in the fact that we have a marriage gone bad.  Jodi is sort of an anti-character.  She doesn't do much, even though she is one of the narrators and the reader will get frustrated with her lack of action.