Book Review: The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe

Title: The Color of Tea

Author: Hannah Tunnicliffe

Publisher: Scribner

Pub date: 6/5/2012

Source: The Library








Goodreads summary:

Macau: the bulbous nose of China, a peninsula and two islands strung together like a three-bead necklace. It was time to find a life for myself. To make something out of nothing. The end of hope and the beginning of it too. After moving with her husband to the tiny, bustling island of Macau, Grace Miller finds herself a stranger in a foreign land—a lone redhead towering above the crowd on the busy Chinese streets. As she is forced to confront the devastating news of her infertility, Grace’s marriage is fraying and her dreams of family have been shattered. She resolves to do something bold, something her impetuous mother would do, and she turns to what she loves: baking and the pleasure of afternoon tea.

Grace opens a cafÉ where she serves tea, coffee, and macarons—the delectable, delicate French cookies colored like precious stones—to the women of Macau. There, among fellow expatriates and locals alike, Grace carves out a new definition of home and family. But when her marriage reaches a crisis, secrets Grace thought she had buried long ago rise to the surface. Grace realizes it’s now or never to lay old ghosts to rest and to begin to trust herself. With each mug of coffee brewed, each cup of tea steeped and macaron baked, Grace comes to learn that strength can be gleaned from the unlikeliest of places.

A delicious, melt-in-your-mouth novel featuring the sweet pleasures of French pastries and the exotic scents and sights of China, The Color of Tea is a scrumptious story of love, friendship and renewal.

My review/thoughts:

Grace Miller and her husband, Pete, are living in Macau, China for Pete's work. After they find out they can't have children, Grace opens a cafe called Lillian's where she makes macarons and serves tea. Grace makes friends with people she wouldn't have otherwise known after she opens Lillian's. We meet Marjory, Rilla, and Gigi just to name a few women that Grace becomes close to. Gigi is a feisty character that I liked reading about and was very memorable. This is the first time I've read about China so that was cool since I've never been there. Grace has a lot of issues but she works through them in the book. Overall, this was a light and fast read. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. It was a fabulous read. As soon as I finished, I wanted a macaron.

Review: Hope Springs by Kim Cash Tate

Title: Hope Springs

Author: Kim Cash Tate

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publish Date: June 12, 2012











Summary from Amazon:

In a small Southern community where everyone is holding tight to something, the biggest challenge may be learning to let go.

Hope Springs, North Carolina, is the epitome of small town life-a place filled with quiet streets where families have been friends for generations, a place where there's not a lot of change. Until three women suddenly find themselves planted there for a season.

Janelle Evans hasn't gone back to Hope Springs for family reunions since losing her husband. But when she arrives for Christmas and learns that her grandmother is gravely ill, she decides to extend the stay. It isn't long before she runs into her first love, and feelings that have been dormant for more than a decade are reawakened. And when Janelle proposes a Bible study a the local diner--and invites both African American and Caucasian women she has met--the group quickly forms a spiritual bond . . . and inadvertently adds to underlying tension in the community.

Becca Anderson is finally on the trajectory she's longed for. Having been in the ministry trenches for years, she's been recruited as the newest speaker of a large Christian women's conference. But her husband feels called to become the pastor of his late father's church in Hope Springs. Will small town living affect her big ministry dreams?

And Stephanie London has the ideal life-married to a doctor in St. Louis with absolutely nothing she has to do. When her cousin Janelle volunteers to stay in Hope Springs and care for their grandmother, she feels strangely compelled to do the same. It's a decision that will forever change her.

As these women come together, facing disappointments both public and private, they soon recognize that healing is needed in their hearts, their families, and their churches that have long been divided along racial lines. God's plan for them in Hope Springs-and for Hope Springs itself-is bigger than they ever imagined.

My thoughts:
Janelle, Becca and Stephanie comes back to their hometown, Hope Springs, because of a death in the family, but they each end up staying for another reason. This book was all about family, love, God, humility, change, grief, and a plethora of a bunch of other things. It showed how family comes together during tragedy. Janelle, Stephanie and Libby are cousins in the Sanders family. Janelle takes care of her grandmother and learns that she can still love after the loss of her late husband when she sees her first love, Kory, who has his own problems with his soon-to-be ex-wife. Becca Dillon is married to Todd who's father has just died. Becca learns a lesson in humility when things don't work out the way she wants them to. Grandma Geri has her own secrets which makes this story so rich. This story was like a seven layer dip with all the yummy goodness layered on top of one another. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt like I truly was in Hope Springs and made friends with these characters. This was a really great book that pulls at your heart-strings.

Review: Sisterhood Everlasting (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants #5) by Ann Brashares

Title: Sisterhood Everlasting

Author: Ann Brashares

Publish Date: 3/6/2012

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Source: NetGalley 

Summary from Goodreads:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ann Brashares comes the welcome return of the characters whose friendship became a touchstone for a generation. Now Tibby, Lena, Carmen, and Bridget have grown up, starting their lives on their own. And though the jeans they shared are long gone, the sisterhood is everlasting.

Despite having jobs and men that they love, each knows that something is missing: the closeness that once sustained them. Carmen is a successful actress in New York, engaged to be married, but misses her friends. Lena finds solace in her art, teaching in Rhode Island, but still thinks of Kostos and the road she didn’t take. Bridget lives with her longtime boyfriend, Eric, in San Francisco, and though a part of her wants to settle down, a bigger part can’t seem to shed her old restlessness.

Then Tibby reaches out to bridge the distance, sending the others plane tickets for a reunion that they all breathlessly await. And indeed, it will change their lives forever—but in ways that none of them could ever have expected.

As moving and life-changing as an encounter with long-lost best friends, Sisterhood Everlasting is a powerful story about growing up, losing your way, and finding the courage to create a new one.

 My review/thoughts:

This book is the last book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. The girls Carmen, Bee, Lena and Tibby are all grown up in their late 20s and and living in different places. They have lost touch with each other and feel it immensely. Tibby tries to get them together and tragedy strikes. Somebody dies and it shows the remaining girls friendship withstand the lost of one of there own. If you are a crier, you will need a lot tissues to get through this book.There were surprises, too. It showed how each remaining girl coped with loss. It was a fabulous read that made you think about what's really important in your life.