Customer Reviews

Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have to admit that I bought this book by its cover...I had never read any of Jennie's books before this one! I bought the book on Friday evening after work and finished it on Saturday evening! I truly felt as if I was reading about my life! After twenty two years of marriage, I woke up not knowing who I was or what I was suppose to do with my life! My ex was having an affair and my world was turned upside down. Jennie thank you for bringing to life a very painful, but "growing" life experience for many of us! I will read any book that you write and can't wait to purchase more of this one for some of my friends!!!

On a whim one day I bought "Riding With the Queen" by Jennie Shortridge. Loved It. Followed through by purchasing "Eating Heaven." Loved it. When I saw she had a new one, I snatched it right up and am I ever grateful that I did.

Mira is a middle-aged women who lives on the coastline of Oregon where she has dutifully taken care of her husband, daughter, father, grandmother and several relatives from her huge Italian family while also teaching 6th grade science. She faces menopause with a daughter, Thea, 22, and so rebellious she breaks Mira's heart. Mira's hubby has found a new woman, opineing he is unhappy and has a "friend;" she is helping him feel better in many ways.

Mira breaks; Mira hits the highway north!

Not knowing where she will end up Mira settles for where her radiator breaks.....downtown Seattle. She finds a job managing a coffee shop and a rat-trap apartment above it to live in. All the upheaval that is her new life is shared with us in so many amusing, touching, down-right heartbreaking details that the book can not be put aside. The prose is smart; the characters so believable, the plot always surprising. I LOVED this book. It is my favorite of all.

If you get the chance to purchase this book then do!!! Soon. Women will see so much of themselves between the pages. I laughed; I cried; I mused. It is sublime.

Thank-you Ms. Shortridge for making my reading life just that much more pleasant!!!!

I had the good fortune to attend Jennie's book launch party at Queen Anne Avenue Books last week - it was thoroughly enjoyable! I walked out with my autographed copy of the book on Thursday night, and tucked my reading time in between family committments, etc. finally finishing it (lingering in the bathroom so as not to be disturbed) on Sunday. What an entertaining story! Jennie's characters are drawn with such depth, I couldn't wait to see what they were going to do next. Mira was scarily familiar as she navigated her perimenopausal way through her life changes, and the supporting cast, from family members to coffee shop clientele, all rang so true. Jennie has an obvious talent for character development and dialogue. I'm excited to read her other 2 books as well. Treat yourself to this rollicking good book!

Okay, 1st confession - I am not a woman. 2nd confession - I am not middle-aged (although I can see it from here). What can I say, 40 is the new 20, right? One last confession - I have never had a husband cheat on me - which would be a great surprise to me and an even greater one to my wife. So, it is easy to see I am not the target market.
That being said, I truly enjoyed this book. Jennie has written characters so vibrant, so real and so familiar that I swear I have been to the Serafino Family Christmas party. The interactions between the characters are real. Reading this book brought up memories of my family and some of their antics - in a good way. By the way, if you do not have a friend like Lannie then go find one. Everyone deserves to have a 'Lannie' in their life.
Mira's coming-of-(middle)age struggles kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next - all the way to the last page. As the story unfolded, I found myself alternately saying "You go girl!" when Mira takes a step forward; and "Oh! Mira, Mira, Mira - what were you thinking?" when she finds herself going back a step.
Jennie's dialogue (both internal and external) are masterfully written and engaging. She has skillfully back-dropped the story in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Having visited the Oregon Coast on several occasions and being a resident of the Seattle area, I was able to visualize all the locations in the book easily. She uncannily brings out the legendary Seattle coffee fetish with good humor. I think we have all stood in line behind some of the customers we see at The Center of the Universe. Yet, Jennie does all this with a light touch. She weaves the world around the characters in such a way that it adds to the story rather than detract from it.
In short, you do not have to be a perimenopausal woman who has had a bad relationship to enjoy this book. A good story is still a good story.

Mirabella is 45 years old and has just found out that the man that she loves is having an affair, if that wasn't bad enough, he never even had the courage to tell her himself - she actually stumbled on this information when she noticed that he had been calling a certain phone number over and over. When confronted, he finally admitted it. Mirabella accepts the news and decides that its time to move on and start a new life somewhere else - she ends up in Seattle in a coffee shop where she ends up serving all kinds of different types of coffees to all kinds of different types of people.

This book, while some may consider chick lit, is not your standard chick lit fare, although the humor and the cozy writing are present! Love and Biology is a the wonderful telling of a women who gets to do it all over again - on her terms - even if she is unsure what those terms really are. This is a coming of age of a 45 year old woman who discovers that she does "have what it takes" to be happy.

This messages of hope and "can do" attitude comes out loud and clear in the wonderful writing. I loved the interaction that Mira shares with her customers and they are (in many cases) a great source of comfort and wisdom - much is learned in the relationship between Mira and her "gang". There is something comforting about sitting in a coffee shop, sipping a nice, warm, delish coffee!!! and Jennie Shortridge uses this picture perfect setting and creates a novel that will warm your heart - I suggest cuddling up in a good, comfy chair, next to a fireplace maybe? at your local coffee shop while you slowly sip a steaming latte and enjoy this book - one perfect chapter at a time.

Jennie Shortridge has a natural writing style that pulls you in the story and leaves you wanting more at the end. We read this book in my book club and all agreed that the characters were so well drawn out, we felt as if they were friends of ours. The reality of the main character's actions and controversial decisions made the book all the more interesting. Highly recommended to any female reader.

This book has a nice balance of wit and drama. I was pleased with the ending, that really made the book come together. If the ending had been the opposite, I wouldn't have given the book 5 stars. The author did a great job at making you care about the characters, especially the main one. The only part that was slightly annoying was that the main character was acting so irresponsible for so long, but that was part of the story. The ending really just made the book, in my opinion.

Vulnerable, honest, hopeful, just a little quirky, and seeped in northwest flavor. I didn't know where I was going, but I sure enjoyed the ride.

This was an absolutely fantastic book! This is my second book by this author (she also wrote another of my all-time favorites - Eating Heaven) and I think her writing is wonderful, as are the stories she tells.

This book is about Mira, a woman in her mid-40s who leaves her husband and family. It's not the most unique plot, but this one is told with such warmth and depth that it's completely fresh. I love how Mira is re-discovering her sexuality and learning to live as herself. I love how the relationship between her and her daughter seems so real to me - as a daughter, it very closely mirrors my own relationship with my mother. I love how she grows up a bit, too, and begins to be more accepting of others and of herself.

I give this one all 5 stars!

Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe is a wonderful and warm addition to the world of women's fiction. The picture of espresso on the cover says it all: it is inviting and comfortable, but a little bitter: there may be some realizations within that you don't necessarily want to have.

In my opinion, that's the best part of the book. Too often in books such as this, there is a no-good husband and a saintly wife. Though the book seems to start off that way, it quickly evolves into something more. Mira has to rethink her entire marriage and make some hard realizations, not only about her husband, but about herself as well. The fault isn't one-sided, and understanding is needed on both sides.

It is also nice to see the evolution of Mira's character in this book. Though she is definitely the same person at the end of the book as she was at the start, much has changed. She seems more aware, more thoughtful; she realizes that she has been living in a state of denial, and not everything has to be picture perfect, as she had planned it. And indeed, the book doesn't end on a perfect note. There are still difficult decisions to be made and relationships that haven't been patched up; in other words, it is real life.

There are definitely difficult, and sometimes unpleasant, characters to deal with, from Mira's daughter Thea to Sequoia, a difficult coworker. And Mira doesn't always handle these obstacles perfectly - sometimes she prolongs her own unhappiness, which, of course, is frustrating for the reader. But in the end, Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe is a warming read that makes you realize what really is important in life, and that keeping yourself happy is just as important as everyone else being happy.