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Spin the Bottle
by
Monica McInerney (Goodreads Author)
Lainey Byrne is a master at controlled chaos, juggling her hectic, demanding job, her chef boyfriend with his crazy hours, and her roiling family with all its daily dramas. But her life truly threatens to spin out of control when her aunt May, who owns a B&B in Ireland, passes away. In order for the Byrnes to collect their inheritance, someone from the family must take...more
Paperback, 479 pages
Published
October 1st 2010
by Pan Publishing
(first published 2003)
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This novel centers on the day to day trials and triumphs of an Irish immigrant family now residing permanently in Melbourne. The father of the family, Gerald Byrne, has suffered a workplace accident and is being subjected to the delaying tactics of his insurer which has caused depression and hardship in his life. His wife and grown up children are sympathic and loving but everyone is tiring of the ongoing battle for money, good health and dealing with a chronically depressed invalid.
When Gerald’...more
When Gerald’...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Lainey is an event planner--highly organized, energetic, ambitious, a bit bossy. Her father is bedridden after an industrial accident and her mother is getting a bit fed up with the situation. Her three brothers are all a bit eccentric in their own way. And she and her boyfriend seem to be more or less ships passing in the night--he's a chef with his own restaurant, and with their schedules, it seems they hardly see each other at all.
Into this chaos comes a new wrinkle -- an elderly aunt in Irel...more
Into this chaos comes a new wrinkle -- an elderly aunt in Irel...more
Well, I can finally shout it: I'm totally in love with United Kingdom's writers (British, Irish, etc.), they are just amazing!!! They're unique way of writing is marvelous, exquisite, and totally opposed from American ones (well, I have my faves there too!).
This novel is more than a romantic one: is about finding yourself in that long, hard, anxious, delirious, happy, magical journey called "introspection", thru meditation and thinking what you do really want to have in your life.
Lainey is a br...more
This novel is more than a romantic one: is about finding yourself in that long, hard, anxious, delirious, happy, magical journey called "introspection", thru meditation and thinking what you do really want to have in your life.
Lainey is a br...more
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I really, really enjoyed this book! First time reading this author and will definitely be reading more. Found out today characters in this book are also in another book but appears to be a stand alone story. We have Lainey and her family, who are from Ireland, but moved to Australia years ago They are estranged from her father's Aunt May, who owns a bed and breakfast in Ireland. Aunt May dies and leaves the B&B to her brother on one condition; one member of the family must move to Ireland an...more
A quick light read about an Irish family who emigrated to Australia many years earlier. Now as a condition of the inheritance left to them by a spinster sister, a family member must return to Ireland to run a B&B for a year or forfeit. Of the 4 adult children, efficient, organized, dependable Lainey is selected to go. She takes a leave of absence from her job (as an events coordinator) and breaks up with her boyfriend, Adam, a chef and new restaurant owner (because it wouldn't be fair to be...more
Jun 26, 2009
Jess
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who like untraditional chick lit, people interested in Ireland
Shelves:
first-reads,
2009
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I won this book through GoodReads and felt that it would be a perfect poolside read - and I was right!
I really enjoyed the overall storyline, though at times it was predictable. It was a sweet love story/self realization of a girl who has to leave Australia and go back to Ireland to run her aunt's bed & breakfast for a year in order to inherit the property. The family intends to sell it after the year so they can take care of their recently injured/out of work father. The story takes you thr...more
I really enjoyed the overall storyline, though at times it was predictable. It was a sweet love story/self realization of a girl who has to leave Australia and go back to Ireland to run her aunt's bed & breakfast for a year in order to inherit the property. The family intends to sell it after the year so they can take care of their recently injured/out of work father. The story takes you thr...more
The ONLY thing that I disliked about this book had more to do with me... as your typical egocentric American, I assumed (and you know what they say about that) that Lainey lived in the U.S. So I was a little confused at first. There is some jargon I had to kind of translate since it's Australian or Irish lingo, but that just served to expand my vocabulary. (Woohoo!). I thought this was a terrifically well developed book. It was a smooth read (I won this in a Goodreads contest and began reading i...more
Nov 30, 2009
Jessica
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
chick lit fans
Greetings from Somewhere Else follows the Byrne family - particularly Lainey Byrne. After her father has a terrible accident at work and is bed-ridden the family falls on financial hard times. Things look up when their aunt May passes away in Ireland leaving a B&B to the family - selling the B&B would ease all the family's financial problems. But, there is a catch, someone from the family must run the B&B for a year before it can be sold. Lainey ends up being the reasonable choice an...more
I won this book through GoodReads and it isn't my normal type of book, but the premise sounded rather intriguing, so I gave it a shot. To my surprise I found that I rather enjoyed the story and the characters. It isn't the usual chick-lit story where boy and girl fall in love, have some sort of falling out, and then girl finds THE man of her dreams and lives happily ever after! The story enveloped me so much that I want to travel to Ireland to experience the places and sights that Ms. McInerney...more
Another First Reads book. After realizing that not all of the First Reads books are going to hit the best-seller list, I tried not to get my hopes up with this one. First of all, YAY to winning free books! Second of all, I loved it! The characters were so well-drawn and realistic, all with their foibles and quirks. Nobody was terribly predicatable, and I like that in a book. I also appreciated the fact that the plot was pretty inventive, surprising but not too far-fetched. It was great to be abl...more
Won this book from First Reads and was pretty excited- it's the first book I won! Starting the book I knew it wasn't quite what I normally read but I stuck with it. I ended up really enjoying it and read the second half of the book in about a day. The characters were overall genuine and likeable, although there were some moments I rolled my eyes at... The story was great- I generally love reading about other cultures and this gave me a bit of that in Ireland. I really liked the youngest brother...more
I picked this up mostly because I'd seen her described as an Australian Maeve Binchey. I'm not sure her books were quite as well written as Binchey's, but it was still a pleasant story. Greetings from Somewhere is about a young woman who finds herself in Ireland for a year, trying to keep up her aunt's bed and breakfast, so that her family can inherit the property (per her aunt's will) and get the money they desperately need. While I liked the overall story and characters, the plot felt a little...more
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very easy to get into. I usually dont read this kind of book, but i found myself quickly escaping into the beautiful Irish landscape and getting lost in and engaging story of love, humor, and family. I also liked the reading supplements at the end to make the reading further enriching. However, even though i enjoyed reading this right now, I think I would have appreaciated the book more if i was a little older. Anyway, Greetings From Somewhere else was...more
I quite enjoyed this book though at time I was exasperated with Lanie, like when she broke up with Adam so quickly and without much thought to him.
Lanie Byrne and her family of 3 brothers and her parents migrated from Ireland for a better life in Australia. Life is fine and the children all have good jobs, the oldest boy Brendan is married, the rest, Lanie, Declan and Hugh are single. Their father has an accident at work and breaks his back and the insurance company is slow to pay so they are st...more
Lanie Byrne and her family of 3 brothers and her parents migrated from Ireland for a better life in Australia. Life is fine and the children all have good jobs, the oldest boy Brendan is married, the rest, Lanie, Declan and Hugh are single. Their father has an accident at work and breaks his back and the insurance company is slow to pay so they are st...more
This is a pleasant, sweet, breeze of a book about a likeable young woman who has problems that most of us would consider a bargain. She has a very successful career, a nice boyfriend, a supportive family and some good friends. She has to return to Ireland to take care of an inherited B&B for a year before the family can sell it. Oh darn! She leaves her boyfriend behind and struggles through a couple of quirks that get wrapped up in some gentle personal-growth lessons by the end. In fact, thi...more
I won this book from a First Reads giveaway and wasn't sure what to expect, but I ended up really enjoying it. I appreciated that it was a light story, but not one of those chick lit books that is dumbed-down. I felt Lainey was a very realistic portrayal of a career-minded woman in her early thirties, as well as the Byrne family's dynamic. They are a loving family, but not without their own issues which I found very relatable.
My favorite part of the book though was learning more about the Irish...more
My favorite part of the book though was learning more about the Irish...more
Sep 11, 2009
Sara
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Sara by:
Goodreads
4.5 stars. What a wonderful book!! I liked this even more than its predecessor, Upside Down, Inside Out. This one focuses on Lainey, a successful events planner in Australia who's suddenly called back to her home country of Ireland after her aunt dies to run the aunt's bed and breakfast.
First of all, the scenery sounds beautiful. Reading this made me want to travel to Ireland and see all the sights for myself! I felt completely immersed in the setting and fell in love with the area the way Lain...more
First of all, the scenery sounds beautiful. Reading this made me want to travel to Ireland and see all the sights for myself! I felt completely immersed in the setting and fell in love with the area the way Lain...more
Though I've enjoyed McInerney before, at first I wasn't sure I was going to like this; the plot seemed too familiar, the main character too annoying. And early on there's a slip into 3rd person omniscient that is disconcerting (the rest of it is told in 3rd person limited).
However, it was a very enjoyable book. The plot didn't quite go where I expected it, there are flights of fancy that made me laugh out loud, and the family dynamic develops delightfully and beautifully.
However, it was a very enjoyable book. The plot didn't quite go where I expected it, there are flights of fancy that made me laugh out loud, and the family dynamic develops delightfully and beautifully.
Lainey's family, estranged from the relatives, live in Australia, and inherit a B&B in Ireland, but learn there is a stipulation...one of the family members must live IN the B&B and run it for one whole year, before they can inherit it. Lainey is the only possible one to do this, off she goes, leaving her boyfriend, job, etc.
She has no cooking or cleaning experience.......
I thought it was sorta boring, lacked substance....maybe it was just my mood while reading it...blah, blah
She has no cooking or cleaning experience.......
I thought it was sorta boring, lacked substance....maybe it was just my mood while reading it...blah, blah
I thought that this book was entirely too long for the subject matter. But it was cute. I enjoyed the scenes between Lainey and Adam, I felt like they were a really great (if somewhat unrealistic, because he was so sweet) couple. I've always dreamt about opening up my own B&B, so I really enjoyed that part of the book as well. I wish someone would give me a B&B in Ireland to take care of for a year! My complaint with this book was just that I felt like there was entirely too much whining...more
I am so excited to read this over the July 4th mini break! Update: I began reading it while waiting for the fireworks to begin and only put the book down to watch the pyrotechnic display. I read this in one sitting and finished up at 2am this morning. It was an easy, fun chicklit read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will definitely add Monica McInerney to my list of authors whose books I enjoy to read. I'm doing to check out her others.
Similar to her other books, in that it is about an Irish family that emigrated to Australia. Aunt May dies and leaves her B&B to her brother, but with a condition. Someone from his family has to live there at all times for a year before he can sell it. He's too ill to go and sends his only daughter. The story is about Lainey (Elaine) and how she copes with her new "job" and how it changes her life. Nice, light and easy reading.
It was special when Lainey learned the quiet little moments in life can have the biggest impact. Her insights about herself and her relationship with Adam were revealed in layers, like peeling an onion. The concept, "you need to open your eyes to the world around you" hit Lainey when she realized where she went wrong in her life and relationships. A nice book to read.
I was interested in the story, it just seemed to drag on for a long time. Some of the dialogue seemed a little silly and I started to skip some of her 'fantasy' daydreams after they started to show up way too frequently. It was a great premise, I just thought some of the execution could have been better. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either. It was ok.
Aug 06, 2009
Melissa
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
first-reads,
goodreads-authors
One thing I really liked about this book is that I could relate a lot to the main character. I have always been the worrier of the family. I have been the one who took on way too much. I think this is a great book that gives me hope. I hope I will some day find where fate is taking me and I hope it is toward happiness.
This was my idea of a comfort read. Lainey is a nice, normal control freak who finds herself in Ireland, trying to run a B&B that was left in shambles by her control freak aunt (family is a major part of this story) and trying to figure out how she feels about wonderful Adam. It won't ever win any awards but it makes you laugh and appreciate your own family.
This was my free book from goodreads! I thought it was a little slow at the beginning, but picked up mid-way through, and I enjoyed the last half a lot.
I felt like the ending was rushed and would have liked to have seen more of what happened with the B & B after Lainey left, and how her dad was faring, etc.
I felt like the ending was rushed and would have liked to have seen more of what happened with the B & B after Lainey left, and how her dad was faring, etc.
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Monica McInerney is the internationally bestselling author of seven novels including Upside Down Inside Out, Family Baggage, The Alphabet Sisters and The Faraday Girls (which was named the General Fiction Book of the Year in the 2008 Australian Book Industry Awards.) Her latest novel Greetings from Somewhere Else will be published in the USA in July 2009.
Monica, 44, grew up in a family of seven ch...more
More about Monica McInerney...
Monica, 44, grew up in a family of seven ch...more
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