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39th out of 58 books
—
5 voters
Wallflower in Bloom
by
Claire Cook (Goodreads Author)
From the acclaimed bestselling author of Must Love Dogs comes a winning and witty new novel about a woman who emerges from the shadow of her overbearing family and finds herself “dancing with the stars.” Deirdre Griffin has a great life; it’s just not her own. She’s the around-the-clock personal assistant to her charismatic, high-maintenance, New Age guru brother, Tag. As...more
Hardcover, 272 pages
Published
June 5th 2012
by Touchstone
(first published June 1st 2012)
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I got this book free through Goodreads First Reads. I love Claire Cook's books. They're alway a joy to read. Deidre Griffin was born a middle child. She always felt left out. Not very special. Invisible. After college she ends up working for her famous brother like the rest of her family. Until one day she's had enough of him controlling her not so great life and she quits. Getting a little too drunk while surfing the internet she reads that one of the guest stars from Dancing With the Stars has...more
Claire Cook has a very unique style of writing that I'm not sure I like, but the book was a good read and I really enjoyed it. Wallflower in Bloom is definitely not what you expect it to be, which makes it all the more interesting in the end.
Wallflower in Bloom tells the story of a true wallflower – Deirdre Griffin’s eyes are even wallflower brown! Standing the shadows of her superstar guru brother, Tag (who I imagined as looking a lot like Tony Robbins), Deirdre doesn’t have much of a life beyond her siblings and parents. After an embarrassing incident involving frumpy, old undergarments paired with a new love interest; and after nearly running down her ex-boyfriend in a golf cart, Deirdre drowns her sorrows in a boozy milkshake (c...more
Story Description:
Touchstone|June 5, 2012|Hardcover|ISBN: 978-1-4516-7276-3
From the acclaimed bestselling author of Must Love Dogs comes a winning and witty new novel about a woman who emerges from the shadow of her overbearing family and finds herself “dancing with the stars.”
Deirdre Griffin has a great life; it’s just not her own. She’s the around-the-clock personal assistant to her charismatic, high-maintenance, New Age guru brother, Tag. As the family wallflower, her only worth seems to be a...more
Touchstone|June 5, 2012|Hardcover|ISBN: 978-1-4516-7276-3
From the acclaimed bestselling author of Must Love Dogs comes a winning and witty new novel about a woman who emerges from the shadow of her overbearing family and finds herself “dancing with the stars.”
Deirdre Griffin has a great life; it’s just not her own. She’s the around-the-clock personal assistant to her charismatic, high-maintenance, New Age guru brother, Tag. As the family wallflower, her only worth seems to be a...more
Reviewed at Novel Escapes
Wallflower in Bloom is another delightful novel by Claire Cook. A fun, easy read, this novel is about family and discovering who you are amidst an incredibly tight knit (read: overbearing) family, and is perfect for your summer beach plans!
Deidre is a smart heroine, albeit a she's a bit of a pushover when it comes to her family. As the youngest of three children to hippy parents, she constantly feels like she takes the backseat and becomes the family wallflower and rema...more
Wallflower in Bloom is another delightful novel by Claire Cook. A fun, easy read, this novel is about family and discovering who you are amidst an incredibly tight knit (read: overbearing) family, and is perfect for your summer beach plans!
Deidre is a smart heroine, albeit a she's a bit of a pushover when it comes to her family. As the youngest of three children to hippy parents, she constantly feels like she takes the backseat and becomes the family wallflower and rema...more
Wallflower in Bloom seems like something Cook was destined to write. Maybe that sounds silly, but for someone who is living proof that it's never too late to step out on your own, I feel like this book is as much her story (my story) as it is Dee's.
Dee is the sister of America's most well-know motivational speaker and self-help guru, Tag. She coems from an overpowering family, one full of dysfunctional love. But rather than lift each other up and encourage each other to chase dreams, they have...more
Dee is the sister of America's most well-know motivational speaker and self-help guru, Tag. She coems from an overpowering family, one full of dysfunctional love. But rather than lift each other up and encourage each other to chase dreams, they have...more
I’ve read and enjoyed chick lit. This isn’t one of those chick lit books.
Deirdre Gibson is the personal assistant and social media genius behind her older brother, Tag’s, rise to fame and fortune as a new-age guru. She is unsure, lacks confidence, and is certain that any guy who shows interest in her must be just trying to get to her brother. When her brother interferes once too often in her personal life, she abruptly quits and in a vodka-fueled stroke of inspiration starts an internet campaign...more
Deirdre Gibson is the personal assistant and social media genius behind her older brother, Tag’s, rise to fame and fortune as a new-age guru. She is unsure, lacks confidence, and is certain that any guy who shows interest in her must be just trying to get to her brother. When her brother interferes once too often in her personal life, she abruptly quits and in a vodka-fueled stroke of inspiration starts an internet campaign...more
Deirdre Griffin has the job that lots of women would kill for. Deidre is manager for her brother, Tag. Tag is a famous guru. Women all over are falling for Tag and his words of wisdom. Deirdre is meeting with an event manager for her brother, Tag. While at the hotel, Deirdre receives a unexpected surprise. A man walks into her hotel room, whie Deirdre is in a stage of undress with her granny panty style under wear, brushing her teeth, looking like a rabid dog foaming at the mouth. As if things c...more
In this novel, her ninth, local author Claire Cook manages to connect contemporary pop/social media (e.g., “Dancing With the Stars,” Facebook, Twitter, one dimensional self-help gurus), and our fascination/addiction to them. Holding the plot together is a “family” business, a motivational speaker, selling his message using a grammatical format, which is part of his family’s tradition and catches the ear of his audience. The parents’ commitment to insert “chiasmus” (the reader may need to do a bi...more
I think I have another girl crush. And Claire Cook, I'm talking about you, sister.
Before we begin this review, please stop what you're doing and get yourself a copy of Wallflower in Bloom. You're welcome.
Deirdre Griffin is approaching middle age and doesn't have a whole lot to show for it. Her life is consumed by her brother, Tag, an advice guru (as Deirdre puts it, "Think Deepak Chopra meets Bono") with millions of followers happily paying to hear such chiasmi slogans as "You don't have to be a...more
Before we begin this review, please stop what you're doing and get yourself a copy of Wallflower in Bloom. You're welcome.
Deirdre Griffin is approaching middle age and doesn't have a whole lot to show for it. Her life is consumed by her brother, Tag, an advice guru (as Deirdre puts it, "Think Deepak Chopra meets Bono") with millions of followers happily paying to hear such chiasmi slogans as "You don't have to be a...more
Why have I not read Claire Cook's books before? Why is she not be best friend?
The protagonist, Deirdre Griffin, has third child syndrome. She has a golden child oldest brother, a perfect and outgoing older sister, and the adorable little sister referred to and called throughout the book "Joanie Baloney." If a caboose child had been added to this family, I might have related a little bit better. Still, she has the third child syndrome down pat. She's overlooked, feelings get hurt, feels overshado...more
The protagonist, Deirdre Griffin, has third child syndrome. She has a golden child oldest brother, a perfect and outgoing older sister, and the adorable little sister referred to and called throughout the book "Joanie Baloney." If a caboose child had been added to this family, I might have related a little bit better. Still, she has the third child syndrome down pat. She's overlooked, feelings get hurt, feels overshado...more
My personal harbinger of summer landed on my desk recently--Claire Cook's latest book "Wallflower in Bloom". Cook's strength is writing about women who, for one reason or another, are reinventing themselves. Humor is another of her great strengths, so her stories will first make you laugh, and then make you think "I could do something like that". It's no wonder she has legions of friends/fans who think of her like a sister.
This time around, she introduces us to Deirdre, who works as a personal...more
This time around, she introduces us to Deirdre, who works as a personal...more
Deirdre has always lived in the shadow of her family, especially her brother, Tag: musician slash new age guru slash It guy. So when she finally loses it at one of their confrontations, she quits her job as his personal assistant. Using her brother's fame, she volunteered herself to be a replacement contestant for Dancing With The Stars. Thus begins her journey as a wallflower ready to bloom.
The story was okay, the pop culture references was expected since it talked a lot about social media and...more
The story was okay, the pop culture references was expected since it talked a lot about social media and...more
Dee has lived in the shadows of her famous guru brother. Fed up with feeling second fiddle, she makes a big decision one night; with a little help of some liquid courage. Now she finds herself center stage in one of the top-rated reality shows, far from the Wallflower she’d been in the shadows.
I love the blend of today’s pop-culture with a fun storyline, it made for a very hip and current tale. This is one of my favorite genres, so I was surprised to find so many books in this author’s library....more
I love the blend of today’s pop-culture with a fun storyline, it made for a very hip and current tale. This is one of my favorite genres, so I was surprised to find so many books in this author’s library....more
This was a quick read, too short in my opinion, but I did enjoy it. It’s a story about Deidre who is the personal assistant to her brother, Tag, a Tony Robins-like motivational guru. Tag’s motivational empire is a family endeavor. Their whole family…mom, dad and three sisters, all live and work with Tag, who is most certainly a narcissistic egomaniac. Most of the time he is only worthy of frustrated eye rolls from the reader, but occasionally genuine moments of brotherly love and concern shine t...more
My Thoughts
Deirdre is surrounded by family whose lives all center on her guru brother Tag. Along with that, everyone she encounters wants to use her as their way to get to Tag. Does anyone like Deirdre just for herself and not her connection to her brother? Her stepping out to do DWTS is going to be a true test of who she is and who she might become.
Every once in awhile I want to just read a simple, fun book and boy, did this one fit the bill. It was light, fluffy, airy - and I mean this as a co...more
Deirdre is surrounded by family whose lives all center on her guru brother Tag. Along with that, everyone she encounters wants to use her as their way to get to Tag. Does anyone like Deirdre just for herself and not her connection to her brother? Her stepping out to do DWTS is going to be a true test of who she is and who she might become.
Every once in awhile I want to just read a simple, fun book and boy, did this one fit the bill. It was light, fluffy, airy - and I mean this as a co...more
With Wallflower in Bloom, Claire Cook (whose Must Love Dogs was made into a movie starring Diane Lane and John Cusack) brings her fans another trademark sassy, lighthearted piece of women’s fiction. Though it’s fluffier than my usual fare, I enjoyed this read. You can’t help but root for this hapless heroine, a doormat who finally learned to shake herself off and stand upright. I held my breath with every backslide, exhaled with relief at every good step forward, and finally cheered from my comf...more
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Wallflower in Bloom is another one of those "woman pushed to the edge because she can't stand up for herself" kind of books. Dee is a "wallflower" who has never been able to stand up to her family. It was only after years of (what she perceived) wrongs that she finally was able to stand up for herself against an overbearing family and tell them "ENOUGH"! I can certainly relate to the family dynamics, especially regarding brothers (I have five of them) - bu...more
Wallflower in Bloom is another one of those "woman pushed to the edge because she can't stand up for herself" kind of books. Dee is a "wallflower" who has never been able to stand up to her family. It was only after years of (what she perceived) wrongs that she finally was able to stand up for herself against an overbearing family and tell them "ENOUGH"! I can certainly relate to the family dynamics, especially regarding brothers (I have five of them) - bu...more
Don't look at me like that. Sure, 3 stars means I did like this book, and I'm not even in the target demographic (a bit too male). I'm allowed to read something different once in a while. And enjoy it. So there. Besides, I like Dancing with the Stars.
What worked for me: The deadpan voice of the first-person narrator. Given her messed up personal situation and her hapless reactions, she could have some across as whining. By keeping her reasonably level-headed, the author makes it possible for us...more
What worked for me: The deadpan voice of the first-person narrator. Given her messed up personal situation and her hapless reactions, she could have some across as whining. By keeping her reasonably level-headed, the author makes it possible for us...more
I loved this book. A laugh-out-loud-funny, sometimes heartbreaking book that is perfect for a quick summer read. It has a little bit of everything: aging hippies, a new agey-Yanni-like spirtual guru, snarky sisters, The Grateful Dead, Facebook and Twitter, Dancing With The Stars, and, oh yes, lots and lots of chiasmus (a chiamus is a figure of speech where two or more clauses are reversed on themselves to make a larger point....such as "love is all you need, and all you need is love" or "when th...more
A quick "escape" read, this one lightly entertained with the story of Deirdre, personal assistant to her famous brother Tag, whom she finds increasingly demanding and self-centered. One night she has had enough, and quits her job and gets very drunk. She sees a commercial on TV that announces that the opening for a contestant on Dancing With the Stars will be filled with a "common citizen" nominated and voted on from the viewing public. She uses her access to his Facebook and Twitter feeds to pu...more
Claire Cook in her new book, “Wallflower in Bloom” published by Touchstone brings us into the life of Deirdre Griffin.
From the back cover: From the acclaimed bestselling author of Must Love Dogs comes a winning and witty new novel about a woman who emerges from the shadow of her overbearing family and finds herself “dancing with the stars.”
Deirdre Griffin has a great life; it’s just not her own. She’s the around-the-clock personal assistant to her charismatic, high-maintenance, New Age guru brot...more
From the back cover: From the acclaimed bestselling author of Must Love Dogs comes a winning and witty new novel about a woman who emerges from the shadow of her overbearing family and finds herself “dancing with the stars.”
Deirdre Griffin has a great life; it’s just not her own. She’s the around-the-clock personal assistant to her charismatic, high-maintenance, New Age guru brot...more
It was funny, amusing, and you wanted to read it all right away... I loved the chiasmus:
"Who will buy the cow if you give away the milk for free, yet once you get a taste of milk, who can resist coming back to the cow?"
"Failure is brief and necessary layover on the way to success, but you'll never reach success if you check your bags at failure."
"You don't have to be a winner to start, but you have to start to be a winner."
"When you dig in the earth, the earth digs you."
"Change is hard, so peopl...more
"Who will buy the cow if you give away the milk for free, yet once you get a taste of milk, who can resist coming back to the cow?"
"Failure is brief and necessary layover on the way to success, but you'll never reach success if you check your bags at failure."
"You don't have to be a winner to start, but you have to start to be a winner."
"When you dig in the earth, the earth digs you."
"Change is hard, so peopl...more
What if your whole life you felt like an appendage to others in your family? What if the world seemed to center around your older brother, a New Age guru with millions of fans, and you were simply a wallflower in your own life?
Deirdre Griffin's life takes an unexpected turn one day when she decides she has had it with living her life as her brother Tag's Personal Assistant, the one who arranges everything about his life and his career, the one who helps keep his egocentric world on track.
Watchin...more
Deirdre Griffin's life takes an unexpected turn one day when she decides she has had it with living her life as her brother Tag's Personal Assistant, the one who arranges everything about his life and his career, the one who helps keep his egocentric world on track.
Watchin...more
This story was an unexpected pleasure. When it started out I was thinking it was going to be another "monologue" book. You know, the kind that just goes on and on with out actually having a point or interaction. I was glad to find I was not only wrong, but emerged in a story with great wit and lots of relationships that were diverse and reminded me a lot of my own family.
We often see only the wrong done to us in our family and don't acknowledge our own hurtful pranks or words. We always see the...more
We often see only the wrong done to us in our family and don't acknowledge our own hurtful pranks or words. We always see the...more
I really enjoyed this entertaining summer read from the author of Must Love Dogs. The story is about Dierdre who escapes from the shadow of her overbearing family, especially her famous self-help guru brother, Tag who she has worked for as his around-the-clock assistant. Just like Mary in the Mary Tyler Moore show, Dierdre decides to shed her wallflower personality, start over and make it on her own. It leads her to new experiences, including participating in the show Dancing with The Stars. I l...more
What a fun read! Have you ever felt invisible? Everyone take you for granted? Well, that's the story of Deirdre who works for her famous brother Tag.
Fan of Dancing With the Stars? You'll love this...our Deidre gets mad, gets drunk and manages to land on the show.
The story is good in you root for her to be free and to work things out. I couldn't wait to see what happened.
Enjoy!
Fan of Dancing With the Stars? You'll love this...our Deidre gets mad, gets drunk and manages to land on the show.
The story is good in you root for her to be free and to work things out. I couldn't wait to see what happened.
Enjoy!
As my own personal chiasmus is "Lives to read, reads to live" I knew that I was going to like this book by page 5. After reading on page 12 the description of how the protagonist Deidre tore a hole through the worn cotton fabric of her "baggy old underpants" I was in love with this book.
Deidre Griffin is a middle aged personal assistant to her famous motivational- speaker and older brother Tag. Living in the background her entire life and never having anything she could truly call "her own" her...more
Deidre Griffin is a middle aged personal assistant to her famous motivational- speaker and older brother Tag. Living in the background her entire life and never having anything she could truly call "her own" her...more
Claire Cook is the perfect summer read. All that is required of the reader is to sit back and enjoy. Wallflower in Bloom refers to a middle-child in a family of over-achievers raised by "Deadheads". Deidre is personal assistant to her famous brother, Tag, and though she keeps his empire running, she feels unappreciated and as though life has passed her by. One night a brilliant idea occurs to her: she should be famous in her own right as a contestant on Dancing With The Stars. In the cold light...more
While it took me a little bit to get into this book, I found it to be a compelling page turner. I had a love/hate relationship with the main character Deirdre, well hate is not quite right more like "sorry".
Deirdre is the do it all girl/personal assistant for her motivational speaker/musician guru. She is extremely bright girl with very little self esteem.
The book will give you some really good chuckles, and you will be cheering her on in some of her antics! At other times you will be in tears...more
Deirdre is the do it all girl/personal assistant for her motivational speaker/musician guru. She is extremely bright girl with very little self esteem.
The book will give you some really good chuckles, and you will be cheering her on in some of her antics! At other times you will be in tears...more
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I wrote my first novel in my minivan when I was 45. At 50, I walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of the adaptation of my second novel, MUST LOVE DOGS, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack. Midlife rocks! My tenth novel, TIME FLIES, will be here in June 2013, and I'd be so grateful if you'd add it to your to-read list. Thank you! And don't miss the fabulous TIME FLIES sweepstakes - detai...more
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“even reflected glory can be intoxicating.”
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2 people liked it
“I opened both eyes. Dread was sitting on my chest as if it were an animal. I mean, dread so real it had physical presence, like a Labrador retriever I could teach tricks to. Here, Dread. Sit, Dread. Roll over, Dread. Play dead, Dread.”
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1 person liked it
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Aug 09, 2012 05:53am