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Life's a Beach
Life's a Beach
Author: Claire Cook
Life's a bit of a beach these days for Ginger Walsh, who's single at forty-one and living back home in the family FROG (Finished Room Over Garage). She's hoping for a more fulfilling life as a sea glass artist, but instead is babysitting her sister's kids and sharing overnights with Noah, her sexy artist boyfriend with commitment...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9781401340780
ISBN-10: 1401340784
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 288
Rating:
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 108

3.3 stars, based on 108 ratings
Publisher: Hyperion
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Life's a Beach on + 18 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Very cute book. I found it at the beach and it was perfect... This book is funny and all about sisterhood & being 41 and living at your parents. I enjoyed every minute.
reviewed Life's a Beach on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I had really looked forward to reading this book and then found myself struggling to get through it. It was just too slow moving for me. It didn't grab me from the beginning and it never got better. Disappointing.
Danette avatar reviewed Life's a Beach on + 22 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
This is a contemporary novel set in a beach community on the eastern coast of the USA. The main character is a 41 year-old single woman who is wondering why she is still unmarried despite having had a prolific number of boyfriends. She is experimenting at being a jewelry artist while living freely in an above the garage apartment her parents own.

The supporting cast: her parents, her sister, her sister's family, a boyfriend (Noah), and her pets, have lots of personality. The problem is the main character Ginger is dull. Everyone else is rippling with interesting things about them. The dad loves to pick up junk at the dump and bring it home, the mom comes across as an ex-hippy type who is still free-love with her husband, the sister is uptight about turning 50 in the extreme, even Noah the boyfriend who is supposed to be pretty much a non-entity according to Ginger, is interesting and comes across as much deeper than the other characters give him credit for.

Ginger on the other hand is like dust in the wind: whichever way others blow her she goes. The only decisions she makes are ones that don't really propel her life in any significant manner. Maybe she is supposed to be this way, but I like a main character with more moxie. Even just a little more moxie would have helped the story.

Furthermore, I didn't think there was ever a real ah-ha moment, which I relish in a good book, and the metaphors (gifts of frogs and the idea that she lived in a FROG [finished room over garage] meant to indicate that she jumps freely from relationship to relationship when things get rough) is also lamely done.

The humor is sometimes humorous.

Overall, the story was entertaining but not riveting. I was not uncomfortable putting it down and doing other things and leaving it lay for a few days at a time, which I did too often. A really good book would not create that nonchalant response.
reviewed Life's a Beach on + 109 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book,funny!!
reviewed Life's a Beach on + 213 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book was painful. It was really hard for me to get through. Nothing really happens. Maybe i missed the point?
Read All 19 Book Reviews of "Lifes a Beach"

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reviewed Life's a Beach on + 8 more book reviews
It was a funny read! Loved the dad's corky sense of humor. Great book on how life's choice change where you will end up.
lindakr avatar reviewed Life's a Beach on + 9 more book reviews
I thought it was a good book. I didn't find it hilarious but it was a fun, light read. I really liked the fact that the characters were over 40 and brave enough to follow their dreams. And, there were some moments that I think many women can relate to in their lives.
reviewed Life's a Beach on + 34 more book reviews
Enjoyed this book - very easy reading!
reviewed Life's a Beach on + 2 more book reviews
Good beach read
reviewed Life's a Beach on + 4 more book reviews
Perfect summer light fare. Very well written, though, so not too lite!!
pj-s-bookcorner avatar reviewed Life's a Beach on + 858 more book reviews
I rarely give a bad review. And I rarely do NOT finish a book I've started. However, in my opinion this was a waste of my time. No real plot, self-absorbed main character, rambling. Wasn't for me.


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