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Sep 22, 2011

Monique rated it:

Hmm did not like this book as much as I expected..I just figured with the title there would be alot more secrets, more well drawn characters, more drama, just more..And I dont feel it lived up to my own personal hype but still I labored through just to find out what was going to happen...however you never really find out the answer to any of the storylines you really care about and it just really leaves you hanging..a great book club read as it poses many questions..Okay so the plot three childr More...

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Sep 03, 2009

Shonda rated it:

I enjoy reading books about family dynamics. Each family member has his/her own role that allows the family to function. In Real Life and Liars, Ms. Riggle explores the depth of family relationships.

The story is told by the four main characters in alternating chapters. There’s Mirabelle, the hippie, nonconformist mother; Katya, the oldest, materialistic daughter; Ivan, the insecure, middle son; and Irina, the youngest daughter without a sense of direction. The children come home for More...

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Jun 28, 2009

Therese rated it:

I’ll be honest with you–I wasn’t certain how I’d feel about Kristina Riggle’s debut novel, Real Life & Liars, because I knew the story involved the “C” word–and I don’t mean Chocolate. Cancer in a book is a hard thing for some to warm up to, especially when you’ve lost loved ones to the disease, as so many of us have. But Kristina’s novel isn’t so much about a woman coming to terms with her own mortality as realizing her tornadic impact on the world around her–and in a very short span of time fo More...

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Aug 28, 2011

Sandra rated it:

This book was not too bad. Not a favorite by any means but a good read.

OVERVIEW: Sometimes you find happiness where, and when, you least expect it.

For Mirabelle Zielinski's children, happiness always seems to be just out of reach. Her polished oldest daughter, Katya, clings to a stale marriage with a workaholic husband and three spoiled children. Her son, Ivan, so creative, is a down-in-the-dumps songwriter with the worst taste in women. And the "baby," impu More...

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Sep 08, 2010

Jenny rated it:

An excellent debut. I recieved my copy a couple of years ago from ALA in Chicago. Real Life and Liars, is more than a just title. The book deals with a family coming together for a family reunion, focusing on 4 charicters in the family. The mother, and her three children. Each has a secret, and is afraid of the reaction and retibution from others. As the secrets boil to the surface and things change, the family struggles with the lies that they tell themselves, and the faces they put on for More...

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Sep 29, 2009

Lori rated it:

Real Life & Liars tries hard not to be emblazoned with a "chick lit" tag. It's about Important Stuff, like Cancer, Family, Unplanned Pregnancy (and just a tiny bit of Love).

But for all it's trying, it's just another book about a not-quite-dysfunctional family whose problems are not-quite real.

For that, it's an enjoyable enough read. The characters are a little quirky -- not TOO quirky, of course, just enough to make you notice. And the book is a little funny -- More...

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Jul 07, 2009

Caroline rated it:

I adored Real Life & Liars, the first novel by LiteraryMama.com's fiction coeditor, Kristina Riggle. The novel takes place over the course of a weekend, when Mira Zielinski's three grown children come home to celebrate their parents' wedding anniversary. I loved all the characters, from the knowing but flawed Mira, her distracted novelist husband Max, and then their three kids: Katya, a suburban mother of three who, as Mira puts it, "drags [her younger siblings:] along under the wheels of More...

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Sep 05, 2009

Karin rated it:

I read this entire book thinking "I've read this before." I didn't quit because I didn't have anything else laying around that I wanted to pick up. I checked the flyleaf and it was published in 2009, maybe I read the hardback?

Anyway, three kids (unhappy marriage, sad loner, unplanned youngest who is now unexpectedly pregnant) are coming home for their parents' 35th wedding anniversary. Little do they know that Mom has breast cancer and isn't planning on treating it. Pre More...

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Oct 11, 2009

Rhonda Rae rated it:

This was a wonderful novel with real people and lives so true to what we deal with on a daily basis that I found myself LOL, nervous, and yet anticipating the resolution of great things for their future.

An easy read that put me in their world. I especially enjoyed the first person narrative of the mom and the third person interjections of her children. What a great way to allow the reader an inside view of what each was feeling.

I'd recommend this book to everyone, a ver More...

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Jan 11, 2010

Katelyn rated it:

I really liked this book told from 4 viewpoints from the same family: the mother and her 3 grown up kids (Katya, Ivan, and Irina). It's set in MI (the Russian names are just from a phase of the flower-child mother's.) All of the characters have obnoxious things about them, or traits that clash with the others' but these are believable characters and it's interesting to see how they view themselves since you get the switching off viewpoints. good story about family relationships. I really like th More...

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May 18, 2010

Dee rated it:

This book was a slow start. I said to my husband: "None of these people is happy, it's kind of depressing to read." That was after the first 3 or 4 short chapters. But I'm a perseverant reader and I kept going. You get into the family and think 'it's got to get better'. Well it did. You get frustrated with all the issues and stupidity of people, but it really is like Real People! Then there is the crisis of the story and you see people turn around slowly and the liars start to se More...

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Oct 28, 2010

Laura rated it:

I really enjoyed reading this book, and then talking about it at our book club meeting.

The strength of this book was in the characters. Each one had an aspect I identified with. Each also had something about them that made me want to slap them upside the head. Some were closer to one part of this than the other. They were all wonderfully complicated.

Mirabelle is the hippy mom that tried very hard to impart her values (forcing non-conformity!) on her oldest child, but relaxe More...

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Nov 13, 2011

Sara Diane rated it:

I picked this one up because it was agented by an agent I'm interested in, and it was well worth the read. A story about a mother who is dying of cancer and her three adult children, Real Life and Liars is a well-written exploration of family dynamics.

I'm not a huge fan of the multi-narrator/POV style (The mother is first person, the three "children" are in third), but it wasn't as annoying as some.

This is NOT a book for any of the CPers to be reading--wait unt More...

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Apr 13, 2011

Rose rated it:

I liked this book even though I disliked more than half of the main characters. I liked the mom Mirabelle & her son Ivan, but both her daughters were terribly annoying. Still, I enjoyed reading about this messed up family & found myself wishing they'd all just end up okay in the end. I found the relationship between Ivan & his best friend very touching & was hoping they'd end up together. By the end of the book I had grown fond of everyone, even the idiots I didn't like much at first.

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Apr 13, 2010

Sarah rated it:

I got this book from paperbackswap.com just in time for my trip to Colorado and I read this book on the plane. It was the perfect plane material, a great spring read. Did I love it? No, but I found it thought-provoking, especially as we try to make our own decisions while still functioning within a larger familial unit. I appreciated her viewpoints on cancer and pregnancy. Once again, I'm sick of writers presenting their story from multiple viewpoints, as I feel it is a complete cop out.

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Aug 13, 2009

Upstatemamma rated it:

I debated between three and four stars. I enjoyed the story. I really liked all the characters. It drew me in. I was involved but in the end it did not really go anywhere. One of the main characters has breast cancer and I think that this is probably a good book for someone who has a loved one with breast cancer. The things we see through her eyes are pretty intriguing. So, it was a an okay book, a pretty fast read but definitely not one of my favorites.

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Jul 25, 2009

Diane rated it:

I rate this book 3 1/2 stars. Not four only because I think the whole woman/breast cancer thing is getting a little old. A genuine story about three adult children visiting their parents for their 35th anniversary party. The author develops each of the characters really well with the story switching between the three children and their mother. I also liked that it was set in Michigan, my home state. A step above a typical beach read.

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Dec 20, 2010

Patty rated it:

I picked up this book at the Ann Arbor Book Fest and got to listen to the author who was in panal discussion with four other Michigan authors.

Entertaining read! Typical family reunion novel.. with a little twist that makes it unique. I really like the characters and the author gives you pleny of information thru flashbacks and present interactions in perfect short chapeters for each majoir character.

I know I will want to read more by Kristina Ribble.

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Oct 27, 2010

Gail rated it:

I chose this book from the library shelf at the last minute when I couldn't find the book I was looking for -- it was surprisingly good. All of the characters and strong and well-written, each pulling his/her own weight throughout the story. This is one of those books, like the one I read before (The Gate at the Stairs), whose characters you miss when you close the cover for the last time.

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Sep 06, 2011

Kelsey rated it:

I thought this book was really good. At first I didn't want to read it out when I started I was hooked. I found myself really feeling for Irina. The fact that she felt she was never really wanted by her mom and having that same feeling for the baby she was now carrying herself kind of tugged at my heart. Overall it was a good book, I'm glad I picked it up.

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Jun 30, 2011

Melissa rated it:

I really enjoyed the dynamic relationships in this book. Not only does Kristina Riggle give us great insight and understanding of the family aspect but we see the relationships and development of the characters with those outside of their immediate family.

I find myself wondering about the characters and what became of them once the story ended.

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Apr 27, 2010

Melissa rated it:

Another of my Half-Price books clearance corner specials... and I love all the books that make it back there, $2. What a great read, you get to hear the story from the sides of all the characters... and it is just fun to jump into their lives and situations and hear how they all turn out fine, despite what each is individually facing. A good, quick read!

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Apr 07, 2011

Penny rated it:

Upon finishing this, I would have given it 3 stars because Riggle tells you what the characters are like as opposed to really developing them. The story has way more potential than it delivers. That said, it has been a couple of weeks since I've finished it and it still stands out, so I must like it more than I thought I did.

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Jun 09, 2009

Karen rated it:

LOVED it. Funny, suspenseful, affecting and just downright wonderful. It's amazing this is a debut book. Don't let the cancer thing put you off; this novel is about much more than illness. This is a novel about the wonderful foilbles of family life. Reminded me a little of Anne Tyley, only with more plot. Don't miss it.

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May 22, 2011

Doris rated it:

Excellent first novel. Four main characters, mother and three grown children, written from their individual viewpoints. The mother's voice is in first person, the three children, Katya, Van, and Renee in third person. The family's reaction, individually and corporately, to Mira's breast cancer, recently diagnosed.

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Aug 26, 2010

Kathleen rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jun 24, 2010

Abby rated it:

A family- each member with their own private struggle over a major issue- get together for the parents' 35th wedding anneversary party. The weekend falls into chaos as secrets and issued are revealed. A good story, but the ending was too open- even for me who likes an open ended story. I am excited to read more from this author.

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Sep 06, 2009

Michelle rated it:

3.5 stars. A different spin on the cancer-themed family drama. I liked the unconventional style of the primary narrator and even though there were multiple viewpoints, the author adroitly shifted between them. Admittedly I found some of the characters tough to like but all in a nice read (would make a good plane or beach book).

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Mar 29, 2011

Lisa rated it:

I typically have a hard time reading books that change back and forth from different characters points of view but this was well written and kept my interest. A realistic story about a not easy subject that had me feeling every emotion throughout the book.

Looking forward to reading the next one of hers in my pile :)

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Feb 02, 2011

Dahlia rated it:

Very funny all the elemtary school drama...reminds me alot of where im at now Middle school you go through the life of a 5th grader and the drama in her life
and heres a little text-to-text: it reminds me of Diary Wimpy kid with allt eh challenges he has to-go through.

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