I just finished "A Page Out of Life" by Kathleen Reid. I started this book yesterday afternoon and finished up about five minutes ago. Obviously it is a very easy read. This book is also a very captivating read. The women in this book are real woman with real problems: a son facing federal charges for price fixing, a cheating husband, a boyfriend who is currently married to someone else, and an absentee father, just to name a few.
You will find yourself rooting for these woman and wanting their problems to be solved with ease. Do not be turned off by the scrapbooking storyline. At first I thought that this would be a boring book but it turned out to be wonderfully entertaining and uplifting. This is a book to inspire the everyday woman and the openminded man! ( )

Humorous and easy reading, anyone who enjoys a good book, and also, scrapbooking, will delight in this novel. Set among a scrapbooking club, the diverse group share revelatons and figure out their own futures, while discussing their pasts. Fast-paced and connects with characters; entertaining reading.

This book follows three main characters: Ashley, Tara and Libby, who are in a scrapbooking club together. Ashley is a frazzled mom of four, Tara is a single grad student and Libby is a grandmother whose son is involved in a corporate scandal.

I was interested in this book because the characters scrapbook (like me!). But this book is in SERIOUS need of editing. There are continuity error and grammatical errors throughout and the writing is just.not.good. Someone needs to give the author a thesaurus and a lesson on how to craft a metaphor. The general story was mildly entertaining until about two-thirds of the way through when there is a completely unrealistic plot twist that makes little sense. I think the publisher is banking on the fact that scrapbookers will be so excited about the fact that the book has scrapbooking in it that they won't care that it's poorly written. Luckily, I checked it out from the library so I didn't waste my money. ( )

Originally posted at http://www.skrishnasbooks.com

When Kathleen Reid was kind enough to send me a copy of her latest book, A Page Out of Life, I was very excited. Though I know nothing about scrapbooking, I tend to enjoy novels about women coming together to do something they enjoy: cooking, reading (Elizabeth Noble’s The Reading Group), or even knitting (Kate Jacobs’ Friday Night Knitting Club), which is something else I am clueless about. While Reid’s book was very reminiscent of these other works, it still has the merit to stand on its own. If you don’t know anything about scrapbooking, you will enjoy this novel for the strength of its characters and a peek into a foreign world. If you are fond of “scrapping,” you will adore this novel.

Reid’s characters were extremely relatable, even though I am in completely different situations than most of them. The character I identified most with was Tara, but Ashley’s story really spoke to me. Who doesn’t understand/sympathize with the pain of putting your children first? Of losing your own life because you want to give your children everything? Reid portrays this eloquently without condemning Ashley for letting go of herself. Instead, the author gently points out that while providing for your children is incredibly important, it is just as crucial for a mother to see to her own needs and desires in order to be happy. As the characters are in different situations in their lives, each reader should be able to identify with one of them, while sympathizing with all.

The only things that felt lacking about the novel were the sometimes cumbersome dialogue and the conclusion; I didn’t feel satisfied with the way the novel ended. I felt as though there were many loose ends that hadn’t been tied up – here’s hoping for a sequel! In the meantime, I am eager to dig up Reid’s previous novel, Paris Match. ( )