Life, Libby, and the Pursuit of Happiness, Reviewed
September 14, 2007
is introducing
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Hope Lyda has always wanted to write. Ever since she was a young tyke with a spiral notebook in hand, she had the urge to fill it. Sadly, Peggy Meets the Midgets did not cause Hope to be deemed a child prodigy, so she continued her path of education. She was grade-obsessed but also truly enjoyed sharing laughs with her circle of creative friends.
Hope attended the University of Oregon and graduated with a double major in Journalism: Advertising and Telecommunications and Film. With aspirations to write screenplays or teleplays, she of course ended up doing public relations for non-profits until she entered the publishing field in which she has worked for 10 years.
Her passions are quiet ones—she loves a good read, an afternoon of free thinking time, writing, journaling, road trips, travel, and pondering life from her back yard pergola. She loiters in bookstores frequently, though has never been arrested for such. Her big hope is to encourage others to embrace their dreams and understand their faith journeys through the practice of journaling and the art of creative living. She hopes to also inspire such things through the themes in her fiction including Hip to Be Square and Altar Call. (There are also visions of a nice Casita with a hammock in Mexico—but one thing at a time.)
When not living in her head, she resides with her husband, Marc, in the Pacific Northwest.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Libby Hawthorne makes exotic trip itineraries but never leaves Seattle. She’d like to attend church but winds up at a bookstore. She longs for love—but who has the time? Delayed happiness has been worth it, because she’s about to get her dream promotion…
Or not.
So now what?
When a corporate merger leaves her demoted and disillusioned, Libby realizes she needs to start living authentically…and soon. But just as she tries to uncover her purposed life, her cruel and unusual boss, Cecilia, demands that Libby hide Seattle’s most famous homegrown rock star in order to keep her new, bad job. For the first time in years, Libby doesn’t have a step by step plan to guide her. She must trust her faith and her heart. But what is she supposed to do with her growing admiration for Blaine Slater, a new VP from Chicago, or the surprising kindness of the rock star living incognito in her Seattle apartment? Through the humorous twist and turns, Libby uncovers a big life truth—the detours we are afraid of might just be the perfect path to happiness.
SALLY SAYS:
I read Hope Lyda’s first two books, Hip to Be Square and Altar Call, a couple years ago when they were released. And I liked them. So I was looking forward to this latest book of hers.
This will sound bad at first, but it gets better so read on. (Sorry, Hope!) I did have trouble getting into Life, Libby, and the Pursuit of Happiness. I didn’t really care for Libby, the heroine. She was a bit of smart-aleck, and while a lot of her sarcasm was directed toward the nutty people she worked with, still, it wasn’t endearing.
But I had to finish the book so I kept going.
And I’m glad I did.
For those of you who are chick lit fans, you’ll find Libby grows more endearing as the book goes on. She’s got a lot of spunk (although she’d be shocked to hear that said of herself), and she does what’s right, despite getting caught up in a PR plot and being tugged in all directions. She’s got a crazy family that she begins to understand as the book progresses, and I always love stuff like that, figuring out why someone acts as bizarre as they do because, yes, there’s usually a very interesting reason for it.
I got the flu yesterday, all shaky and hot and cold and clammy, but I curled up in bed and read on. The last half of the book moves so fast, it was hard to put it down. So all in all, I do recommend Libby’s story.
And I will read Hope Lyda’s next book.
Comments
3 Responses to “Life, Libby, and the Pursuit of Happiness, Reviewed”
Sorry to hear you have the flu! Reminds me to start looking around for a place to get my flu shot. The shot is not a guarantee of anything, but hey, I’ll take all the help I can get. Hope Lyda sounds like an interesting author. Does she have her characters journal? I used to love journalling (on the computer) but have mostly given it up, except for jotting down the cute things my daughter is doing.
oh, I’m so sorry you’re not feeling well. I’ll be praying you are up and at ‘em soon and ready for a thrilling Texas two-step by Tuesday. (How’s that for alliteration? LOL)
How’re you feeling now? I pray you get completely well soon! Must be better for conference!