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44th out of 270 books
—
120 voters
The Owl & Moon Cafe
After losing her teaching position at the local university, Mariah Moon will do anything to keep her gifted twelve-year-old daughter, Lindsay, in a prestigious private school -- which means moving in with her mother and grandmother in an apartment above The Owl & Moon Café.
When her mother, Allegra, is diagnosed with leukemia, Mariah rises to the challenge of running th...more
When her mother, Allegra, is diagnosed with leukemia, Mariah rises to the challenge of running th...more
Paperback, 368 pages
Published
July 4th 2006
by Simon & Schuster
(first published 2006)
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This was pretty enjoyable. It was a two-day read, told from three different viewpoints. Fairly predictable, but still fun.
I’m afraid this book was a bit of a disappointment for me. In this case it would partially be due to reader expectations. The book was recommended to me as a novel with elements of magical realism in it which, alas, never appeared. Instead we have the story of four women who are forced to live together over the family owned café. We have Gammy the bible spouting “elder’ of the clan and her daughter, Allegra who is an aging hippie about to be diagnosed with leukemia. Rounding out the cast of char...more
This wasn't bad. I was a little skeptical at first, kind of worried that we were in romance/"women's lit" territory, which isn't usually my cup of tea, but it didn't end up being too romancy for me. Despite there being two big romance stories (one with a superrich doctor and one with a ruggedly handsome Scot) (seriously) (I mean... could that stuff be any more cliché?). There were other storylines that reeled me in though, and while the line of "finding my perfect mate will solve ALL THE THINGS...more
Mapson explores love and family relationships through the eyes of four generations of women, all of whom are facing various problems and difficulties in their lives. Lindsay is a middle-school student who is enthusiastic about science. Her mother, Mariah, a college professor, has just lost her job and is concerned about financing Lindsay’s tuition at her private school. Allegra, Mariah’s mother, owns and runs a café called “The Owl and Moon” and lives in an apartment over the café with her mothe...more
Four generations of women run the family business The Owl & Moon Cafe in the picturesque area of Monterrey/Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA. Each of the women is struggling. Gammy has aching legs and a undaunting Catholic faith. Allegra is battling leukemia. Mariah has lost her job as a college instructor and is forced to return to the cafe to earn enough money to keep her highly intelligent daughter in an expensive, private school. The 12 year old daughter, Lindsay is struggling with friendship issue...more
"After losing her teaching job, embittered single mom Mariah return s to Pacific Grove to work at the café in order to support her brilliant daughter, Lindsay, and keep her in private school. But at the café Mariah has to deal with her aging and bible-thumping ""Gammy,"" and her 60s-loving mother, Allegra. Things quickly turn sour for Mariah as the family learns that Allegra (her mother) has leukemia and must undergo chemotherapy. But into Mariah's life comes a handsome Scotsman who sweeps her o...more
A really good books about strong women who overcome many obstacles. I've read JoAnn Mapson's other books and this one is really good. It is about the moon womes, Gammy,Allegra, Mariah and Lindsay. Each has an obstacle to overcome and al end up working at the family cafe. Gammy has gotten older and needs to slow down, but still works a full day at the cafe, Allegra runs the cafe and finds out she has Leukemia. Mariah loses her job and comes back to work at the cafe and to live above it with her...more
I've never read Mapson before. After this book I'm not in a hurry to do so again.
It was a fine book to breeze through. But it felt like a dragonfly in that it just kept skimming the surface of story. The worst part of it was that with four female protagonists the author never fully fleshed out any one of them or made any of them--other than the sanctimonious, acrimonious grandmother--stand out. All four women felt like aspects of the author's voice, not fully-fleshed characters of their own.
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It was a fine book to breeze through. But it felt like a dragonfly in that it just kept skimming the surface of story. The worst part of it was that with four female protagonists the author never fully fleshed out any one of them or made any of them--other than the sanctimonious, acrimonious grandmother--stand out. All four women felt like aspects of the author's voice, not fully-fleshed characters of their own.
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I had very mixed feelings about this book. About half-way through I kept thinking, "What a soap opera." The characters seemed to lack depth, and the level of coincidence underlying the story seemed to require more "willing suspension of disbelief" than I was willing to provide. The pacing seemed a little flat. But it all came together in the end. The characters did "grow" and acquire more depth, and more understanding of themselves and each other. At some point the characters themselves compared...more
This was an ok book but not a great one. The story focuses on 4 generations of women who don't like each other a lot but stick together anyway. Some how, with the exception of the preteen one, they have all managed to get accidentally pregnant the first time they had sex. The great grandmother and grandmother run a popular cafe with one very religious and the other a hippie. Daughter Mariah loses her job teaching and is forced to move back into the cafe with her daughter to work there. I found t...more
This is a pretty entertaining read but I found the contrast of the characters to be a bit extreme. The hippy grandmother and the college professor daughter don't ring true to me. I felt a bit manipulated by the unlying story that marajauna should be legalized and does more good than harm and that spiritual life is of no value.
The immmature, irresponsible, free-love grandmother who is still living in the 60's is quite annoying as is the overly religious great-grandmother. I don't really think I w...more
The immmature, irresponsible, free-love grandmother who is still living in the 60's is quite annoying as is the overly religious great-grandmother. I don't really think I w...more
"The Owl and Moon Cafe" by Jo-Ann Mapson
Four generations of women, from the same family, end up living, working, and sharing family secrets together - during which time, they must learn the secret of living together in harmony. An unexpected job loss to Mariah Moon forces her to move in with her mother, Allegra, and Gammy, so that her daughter, Lindsay, can continue to attend her fancy private school. Gammy waits tables at the Owl & Moon, Allegra does all the baking and cooking, when Mariah...more
Four generations of women, from the same family, end up living, working, and sharing family secrets together - during which time, they must learn the secret of living together in harmony. An unexpected job loss to Mariah Moon forces her to move in with her mother, Allegra, and Gammy, so that her daughter, Lindsay, can continue to attend her fancy private school. Gammy waits tables at the Owl & Moon, Allegra does all the baking and cooking, when Mariah...more
As far as a work of fiction goes, this book is pretty decent. The characters are all complete opposites, yet they come together nicely, in a way that somehow complements each other. The story line revolves around a four generation family of women. Gammy, the oldest, is a devoutly religious woman who is constantly praying for the salvation of her daughter's soul. Her daughter, Allegra, is an old school hippie with no fear of getting arrested for the right cause. Allegra's daughter, Mariah, is a m...more
I expected this to be a fun read. It wasn't all that fun. It was about 4 generations of women, none of them very lucky at love, who end up working and living at the Owl and Moon Cafe. It wasn't a bad read because it did keep my interest, but some of the characters were not very believable. Although I would not discourage someone from reading this book, I could not recommend it either. I did like the feel of the book.
I liked this book. It is about everyday life with four generations of women living under one roof. Not easy - one is almost 70 and wants to retire; one is early 50's and has cancer; one is early 30's and has lost her job as a college professor, and the youngest one is 12 (maybe not quite a woman but definitely smarter than some of the others at times) and is in the eighth grade. A very good story of life.
Appearances, Hopes, and the Passage of Time. There are four generations of women. Second-class citizen begins their evolution, but it ends in giftedness. These are devoted, loving, and dependent women while the men of the story are active, caring placeholders. Affection is more central than work, and their physical discipline is subjective. Is obedience to the world more important than a broken heart? Don't relationships matter more than rivalries? I really enjoyed this book while it did leave s...more
Not what I was expecting from the author of Hank & Chloe, but still enjoyable. Shows she can write about more than cowgirls! Gets bogged down about 3/4 way in but she finds her way and wraps it all up neatly at the end. I loved the cafe setting the most, characters and way she brings in medical marijuana in a way that's not preachy but educational. I feel like I have a seen a movie by same name somewhere?
I have a whole bookcase of books waiting to be read. I don't always remember why I chose to get them and sometimes choose which one to read by the cover. I know, I know! This is one I grabbed off the shelf because of the cover but it turned out to be a heart-warming story of a family trying to put itself back together. I really enjoyed it. Sometimes, I guess, you really CAN judge a book by its cover!
This book is told through the perspectives of four generations of a family who are all very ( actually extremely) different from one another. Each character is so extreme in who they are, I found it unbeleivable. It centers around the family cafe and the hardships that they all went through. Very depressing although it comes through with the predictable happy ending.
This book was alright, but I wasn't terribly impressed. The story was quite predictable and I felt that the characters were underdeveloped.
It felt to me like the book had originally been much longer, but the story was pruned down, and in the pruning process some vital information to the story was removed.
I would recommend this as a quick summer "beach read".
It felt to me like the book had originally been much longer, but the story was pruned down, and in the pruning process some vital information to the story was removed.
I would recommend this as a quick summer "beach read".
I wanted to enjoy this book more then I actually did. The characters all seemed to have the same voice, even though they were supposed to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. it was also more predictable then I expected, I kept waiting for something more and it never materialized. I'm not regretting reading it, just not gonna recommend it to anyone.
I couldn't wait to finish this book so that I could get to a better one. Poorly developed characters, a thoroughly predictable plot and trite dialog made me wonder that I ever bothered reading it except that the library was closed for a holiday weekend and I was fresh out of new reads.
I wonder that this book ever got published.
I wonder that this book ever got published.
This was an ok book but not a great one. The story focuses on 4 generations of women who don't like each other a lot but stick together anyway. Some how, with the exception of the preteen one, have all managed to get accidentally pregnant the first time they had sex. The great grandmother and grandmother run a popular cafe with one very religious and the other a hippie. Daughter Mariah loses her job teaching and is forced to move back into the cafe with her daughter to work there. I found the ch...more
I really liked this story. It had a very interesting family story line, about lack of communication between generations and it hit home about leukemia for me. One of the characters gets a form of leukemia my son had and takes the same medication. There was also an aspect of the story that dealt with medicinal marijuana, which I found quite interesting and helped to convince me to be more understanding of using marijuana for pain and nausea relief.
This book was cute, despite all of the plot holes. I always enjoy books like these-- strong female characters who rise above the poo that life flings at them. I wasn't too thrilled with the abrupt ending, I didn't get enough closure, I suppose. But, it was a good, quick read-- I'll consider more from this author as I come across them.
I quite enjoyed this book. Not quite as much as others of Jo-Ann Mapson, but it was still a good book. I was very pleased that she brought in some of the characters from the Bad Girl Creek books. This is one of the things I really like about Jo-Ann Mapson, she integrates characters from books into other books.
An easy read, more along the lines of a young adult book. Didn't require a lot of effort on my part. Predictable but also enjoyable. I do wonder if the author gets to see the cover before the book comes out, because the description of the Owl and Moon sign differs from what is pictured. Am I the only one who notices things like this?
I liked the characters in this book. They were well written and robust. What I didn't like was that the story had too much going on and therefore some things seemed unfinished when the book ended. The author missed an opportunity to have a good discussion on medical marijuana. Because there wasn't a good conclusion, the topic seemed thrown in simply for the shock factor.
While it may have been a bit predictable, this book was highly entertaining. Unique, interesting characters, and the interaction between the four generations of women was enjoyable. Nothing earth-shattering here, but a fun, interesting read!
I quite enjoyed this book. I loved the story of the 4 Moon women, all four generations living and working in the cafe and how they all figured out their problems and found happiness. It was sweet and sad and full of forgiveness.
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Jo-Ann Mapson, a third generation Californian, grew up in Fullerton as a middle child with four siblings. She dropped out of college to marry, but later finished a creative writing degree at California State University, Long Beach. Following her son's birth in 1978, Mapson worked an assortment of odd jobs teaching horseback riding, cleaning houses, typing resumes, and working retail. After earning...more
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