My book club, Circle of Friends, read a christian fiction book called Sunday Brunch by Norma L. Jarrett. In Sunday Brunch, sisterhood friendships lead to unhappy lives and gossip. Don’t walk away from the table or you may find yourself as front page table news. For the most part, all five women know what they want but don’t know how to get it or recognize it when it appears, and I guess I lost patience with it, but “Imma pray on it!”.
Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, christian fiction is not exactly my favorite, but I have found some that are pretty good. And I don’t seem to do well when the book is read to me; maybe this book required a close read rather than my e-reader reading it to me. I wish the author would have worked better to give us surprises that were both bad and good along the way. I was all in with only 25% still to read and found myself asking, “Is she saving it all for the end?”
The book blurb mentioned that I’d be encouraged to “root for them along the way.” But this was not my experience. Imagine you have five of your girlfriends who are all dealing with a crisis and they’ve all dialed your phone tonight. One’s on the phone, one’s on hold, the other is on text, and the last two have been told, “I’ll call you right back.” That’s what this book felt like for me: Work. At one point I just wanted to say, “Girl, Stop Whining!”
BOOK REVIEW INSIGHT
I have a friend that complained and complained about her situation but would do nothing about it; after ten long years of hearing it, I was burnt out. Our once supportive conversations soon became a long saga of me saying, “so what are you going to do about it? Because if you’re not going to do anything about it, then you’ve made your choice, so shut up about it already and stop complaining.”
So I guess that’s an insight for why I’m so disappointed with the book. Other than the fact that my book club would be meeting to discuss it, I had no interest in seeing where these women were going to land. If I hadn’t had to read this for book club, then I would have gone on to something else. I kept hoping that the book would manage to save itself by the end–it did not.
BOOK REVIEWS FROM OTHERS
I went back to check the Amazon reviews for this book and there are those who love it and those who don’t. Those who don’t love the book seem to have the same consensus that I have–boring. Sunday Brunch by Norma L. Jarrett was published some time ago; we often read both new and older books on referral. Although I didn’t enjoy the book, maybe someone else will as like I said, there are positive reviews as well. Remember, this is just one persons opinion–creative art is subjective. Unfortunately, this book is just not for me. I just wish I’d known sooner!
When I set out to write about books and help promote diversity in publishing, I made a promise to give honest feedback. You won’t always find unicorns and butterflies at The Write DNA but you will that find straight to the point coverage to help readers find their next great book.
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Sunday Brunch by Norma L. Jarrett
Waiting to Exhale meets Church Folk as five female attorneys do brunch each week to trade tales about their love lives, law firms, and the Lord!
Meet Capri, an attorney at a top Houston firm. She seems to have it all together all the time until a seductive client topples her self-control. Then there’s Jermane, a devout Catholic who met her husband in law school and has never been with another man. But now her workaholic marriage is threatened by temptation.
Angel, on the other hand, sees men merely as a means to sex. Her scorn for love of all kinds—godly or otherwise—is challenged by… READ MORE
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1 comment
Awww, sorry you didn’t enjoy it. And yes it was written a while back. It was meant to be a light fun read and met many women where they were at the time. It was a great time in contemporary fiction when so many novels were about connecting with women. And there was so much of my personal sister circle I celebrated and it was very much tied to my own person walk as a woman of God when I was in law school. I had questions! Books are a labor of love and not every books speaks to every reader. Please thank your book club for the support. Book clubs were my light when I first signed with Randomhouse and still are. Continued literary blessings!