Blanche’s Book Club: ‘All We Ever Wanted’.

I got back to Austin yesterday afternoon, took a quick nap, and headed to teach my first blog class of the semester! It was a busy day, but I always enjoy meeting new students. I have today and tomorrow off work, so I slept in this morning and am just getting things moving. It’s supposed to rain this afternoon and I think most of tomorrow, so I might be getting things done indoors… I do have two books to read before Sunday…

Speaking of reading, Blanche’s Book Club plowed through the latest pick, “All We Ever Wanted” by Emily Giffin. Here is the book’s description from Amazon:

Nina Browning is living the good life after marrying into Nashville’s elite. More recently, her husband made a fortune selling his tech business, and their adored son has been accepted to Princeton.

Yet sometimes the middle-class small-town girl in Nina wonders if she’s strayed from the person she once was.

Tom Volpe is a single dad working multiple jobs while struggling to raise his headstrong daughter, Lyla. His road has been lonely, long, and hard, but he finally starts to relax after Lyla earns a scholarship to Windsor Academy, Nashville’s most prestigious private school.

Amid so much wealth and privilege, Lyla doesn’t always fit in—and her overprotective father doesn’t help—but in most ways, she’s a typical teenaged girl, happy and thriving.

Then, one photograph, snapped in a drunken moment at a party, changes everything. As the image spreads like wildfire, the Windsor community is instantly polarized, buzzing with controversy and assigning blame.

At the heart of the lies and scandal, Tom, Nina, and Lyla are forced together—all questioning their closest relationships, asking themselves who they really are, and searching for the courage to live a life of true meaning.

This book was on my Summer Reading List, mostly because I liked that it was set in Nashville and it seemed like it had something to do with social media.

As the book description says, the family is well off, and something happens that tarnishes their picture-perfect life and just might ruin things for their son. In an interesting way (and without giving anything away) this book touches on racism, classism, and sexual harassment/assault but still remains easy to read, and fitting with the author’s usual style.

Emily Giffin has written dozens of books, and they’re rightfully popular (and I’m just now realizing I haven’t ready many of hers).

I’m recommending this book to anyone who loves social media (especially if you’ve made a mistake on it), if you love romance novels with a twist, and of course if you enjoy Emily Giffin’s books!

The next book Blanche’s Book Club will be reading is “The Bucket List” by Georgia Clark (also from my Summer Reading List). Follow me on Instagram @OrangeJulius7 and get live updates as I read this one – especially today and/or tomorrow.