The Accidental Mother by Rowan Coleman

Though I found the beginning of this book a little clunky, the author soon hits her stride, and despite the unlikely premise, the book does work. After Sophie's friend Carrie dies in a car crash, Sophie learns she is now the guardian of Carrie's two young daughters. Surprised to learn that Carrie's husband has been gone for years, Sophie agrees to temporary custody, naively believing the children will have little impact on her swinging single lifestyle.

Bella and Izzy (the children) and their issues are well drawn, and offer some of the most poignant portions of the novel. Watching Sophie's development into a true adult as she works through issues of love and loss makes for a very enjoyable read. I also like the way Louis' character is gradually revealed through the novel. Life for these characters is like real life- messy and complicated but ultimately satisfying.

It isn't that I haven't been reading...

It's that I've been rereading. I've been sick for a couple of weeks now, and for me that means lots of time spent curled up with old favorites feeling sorry for myself. I've engaged in a veritable orgy of Agatha Christie reading, plus a dose of Austen with Pride and Prejudice. I'm behind on my book club reading (Water for Elephants is being discussed on Thursday), I haven't been able to make selections for my Decades list, and I've been terrible about blogging.

That said, I'm feeling much better and hope to get a healthy start on my book club selection tomorrow before the Oscars distract me. I'm scanning shelves again with an eye toward donating books to my library- I'm hoping have more space available will inspire me to reorganize my books and perhaps unearth some forgotten treasures. I'm determined to make some selections for Decades, and may follow SCB's example of including some books I read years ago in the mix. I just rediscovered my shelves of high school reading, and realized I would like to reread a few of those I'm sure I didn't fully appreciate the first time around. I'm also determined to give Jane Eyre another shot- I read it twice when younger (once around age 11 because my mom recommended it, once as a HS freshman for Honors English) and didn't like it at all, but I'm willing to give the Brontes another shot now that I'm an adult with a better understanding of complicated lives. Has anyone else out there reread a book they once disliked and changed opinions?