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Hey Everyone! I wanted to share the good news that my second son was born August 11th! I will likely be blogging a little less in the next month or two, but I am still reading. The book I ordered Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta, also arrived on August 11th. I finished it last night and really enjoyed it! It took longer than normal to read as you can imagine. I’m trying to get some reading in during quiet moments in the house which are far and few between with an almost 5 year old and a two week old baby.

Mrs. Fletcher isn’t a knock you off your seat, blow you away thriller with plot twists and deception. It is a slow burning family drama with a very sexual undertone. Don’t let that deter you from reading it. It isn’t like an NC-17 sex scene filled book. The story deals with sexuality in more of an exploratory tone. The main character Eve Fletcher is in her late 40’s and is getting ready to drive her 18 year old son to college when she overhears him and his girlfriend engaged in a certain activity in his bedroom. The language she hears him use when speaking to his girlfriend in the heat of the moment disturbs her but she doesn’t get the opportunity to address it with him. This is in part due to his bad attitude and general teenage cocky boy attitude he gives her on their way to college in between his frequent naps. Brendan is your typical 18 year old jock who peaked in high school. He thinks the world is his to rule and that life is a giant party filled with girls to sleep with. Once Eve drops Brendan off, her life as a Mom seems to be over. She is filled with an emptiness that she is unsure how to deal with until a mysterious text comes through on her phone that says “U R My MILF” and a few other words that I won’t repeat here. If you are unaware of what MILF stands for, look it up. This text sends her mind off in all sorts of wild directions. It awakens her sexuality and takes her on a journey that leads her to new life experiences and gives her new found confidence. Although she has a great and fulfilling career, she re-enlists in community college.  She enrolls in a very interesting class on gender and sexual identity which is taught by a transgendered woman named Margo who Eve becomes very good friends with. The quirky students in her class open her eyes to the world and she enjoys their company. All the while she is growing and thriving, Brendan is slowly failing at the life he thought he would rule in college. This isn’t my typical go to book to read if I was just basing my pick on the book synopsis, but Tom Perrotta is one of my favorite authors. He takes a simple story and brings life to it with layers and layers of character development. Small moments are thrilling to read because of his intense details and descriptions. These are real people who could be your next door neighbor but their stories are compelling because of the way he brings them to life. This book won’t be for everyone, but if you are a fan of any of his other books which have become movies and TV series, you will like this one. Check out my previous blog post below where I wrote about his other works and just try one of them out!

Tom Perotta’s Other Awesome Books!!

Here is the official book synopsis:

Click here to purchase: http://amzn.to/2ewCOuz

New York Times bestseller!
 From the bestselling author of The Leftovers and Little Children comes a penetrating and hilarious new novel about sex, love, and identity on the frontlines of America’s culture wars.

Eve Fletcher is trying to figure out what comes next. A forty-six-year-old divorcee whose beloved only child has just left for college, Eve is struggling to adjust to her empty nest when one night her phone lights up with a text message. Sent from an anonymous number, the mysterious sender tells Eve, “U R my MILF!” Over the months that follow, that message comes to obsess Eve. While leading her all-too-placid life—serving as Executive Director of the local senior center by day and taking a community college course on Gender and Society at night—Eve can’t curtail her own interest in a porn website called MILFateria.com, which features the erotic exploits of ordinary, middle-aged women like herself. Before long, Eve’s online fixations begin to spill over into real life, revealing new romantic possibilities that threaten to upend her quiet suburban existence.

Meanwhile, miles away at the state college, Eve’s son Brendan—a jock and aspiring frat boy—discovers that his new campus isn’t nearly as welcoming to his hard-partying lifestyle as he had imagined. Only a few weeks into his freshman year, Brendan is floundering in a college environment that challenges his white-dude privilege and shames him for his outmoded, chauvinistic ideas of sex. As the New England autumn turns cold, both mother and son find themselves enmeshed in morally fraught situations that come to a head on one fateful November night.

Sharp, witty, and provocative, Mrs. Fletcher is a timeless examination of sexuality, identity, parenthood, and the big clarifying mistakes people can make when they’re no longer sure of who they are or where they belong.