Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake: Summary and book reviews of Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen, plus links to an excerpt from Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake and a biography of Anna Quindlen.
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake A Memoir
by Anna Quindlen
Hardcover: Apr 2012,
208 pages.
Paperback: Apr 2013,
224 pages.
In this irresistible memoir, the #1 New York Times bestselling author writes about her life and the lives of women today, looking back and ahead - and celebrating it all - as she considers marriage, girlfriends, our mothers, faith, loss, all that stuff in our closets, and more.
It's odd when I think of the arc of my life, from child to young woman to aging adult. First I was who I was. Then I didn't know who I was. Then I invented someone, and became her. Then I began to like what I'd invented. And finally I was what I was again.
It turned out I wasn't alone in that particular progression.
As she did in her beloved New York Times columns, and in A Short Guide to a Happy Life, Quindlen says for us here what we may wish we could have said ourselves. Using her past, present, and future to explore what matters most to women at different ages, Quindlen talks about
Marriage: "A safety net of small white lies can be the bedrock of a successful marriage. You wouldn't believe how cheaply I can do a kitchen renovation."
Girlfriends: "Real friends offer both hard truths and soft landings and realize that it's sometimes more important to be nice than to be honest."
Our bodies: "I've finally recognized my body for what it is, a personality-delivery system, designed expressly to carry my character from place to place, now and in the years to come. It's like a car, and while I like a red convertible or even a Bentley as well as the next person, what I really need are four tires and an engine."
Parenting: "Being a parent is not transactional. We do not get what we give. It is the ultimate pay-it-forward: We are good parents, not so they will be loving enough to stay with us, but so they will be strong enough to leave us."
From childhood memories to manic motherhood to middle age, Quindlen uses the events of her own life to illuminate our own. Along with the downsides of age, she says, can come wisdom, a perspective on life that makes it both satisfying and even joyful. So here's to lots of candles, plenty of cake.
Oh wow, does Quindlen ever get it! Her essays are insightful, perceptive, poignant and wise as she addresses so much of our shared Boomer experiences: marriage and kids, the importance of girlfriends, expectations and let-downs, aging, and premonitions of mortality (Jill S). I thought Quindlen was talking about me and as I read - sentence after sentence, word after word - I was convinced she was writing my thoughts, my feelings. Her searching examination of her adventures is touching, loving, and joyful. Her wisdom is obvious (Bob S). (Reviewed by BookBrowse First Impression Reviewers).
The Washington Post
Where Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake succeeds is in Quindlen's warm yet pithy discussions about feminism, aging, the uselessness of stuff and the importance of girlfriends - "the joists that hold up the house of our existence."
Kirkus Reviews
A graceful look at growing older from a wise and accomplished writer - sure to appeal to her many fans, women over 50 and readers of Nora Ephron and similar authors.
Library Journal
Quindlen attracted eager readers with her Times column 'Life in the 30s.' Now she's in her fifties and ready to talk about women's lives as a whole.
Publishers Weekly
Quindlen holds for the most part a blithe, benign view of growing older. Yet in moments when she dares to peer deeper, such as at her Catholic faith or within the chasm of solitude left by children having left home, she bats away her platitudinous reassurances and approaches a near-searing honesty.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by R. Dodd Disappointing I thought this was going to be a thoughtful humorous reflection on a baby boomer wife/mother in her mature years. Instead it is a narcissistic rambling of life lived in wealth and privilege. Not interested.
Rated of 5
by Chris (Centerport, NY) Not her best but good As a fan of Anna Quindlen, I wanted the pages to jump right out of the book so I could devour them as I have with many of her other books. I wanted to savour each word and grow from all of her hard earned wisdom as I have in the past. As a woman in... Read More
Rated of 5
by Irene M. (Ashland, OR) Reflections Anna Quindlen's book of memoirs and observations is fascinating. I have always enjoyed her writing and certainly hope there is more on the way. She talks about times and attitudes that I have many times felt but couldn't seem to articulate. The... Read More
Rated of 5
by Laurette A. (Rome, New York) Gowing Up and Growing Wiser...You Bet! I thoroughly enjoyed "Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake" by Anna Quindlen. Once again Ms Quindlen has demonstrated her marvelous talent in giving us a book that is spot on with the experiences and thoughts a lot of us have had but have never quite... Read More
Rated of 5
by Mary Q. (Greeley, CO) Engaging Memoir With Anna Quindlen being one of my top favorite writers, I was so eager to read this book. It was not chronologically written but, rather, separated into various core subjects. I was not on her wave length initially, but as the book progressed I... Read More
Rated of 5
by Elise B. (Macedonia, OH) Couldn't Relate I am in my mid 40’s and I really wanted to read this book and think that the best was yet to come. I looked for ideas such as dealing with disappointments (things didn't out as planned), losing those you love, long term marriage skills, and... Read More
Anna Quindlen's memoir Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake has received rave reviews from BookBrowse readers, but it is just one of her many beloved books; check out the list below for more information on her novels:
Every Last One (2010):
Mary Beth Latham is first and foremost a mother, whose three teenaged children come first, before her career as a landscape gardener, or even her life as the wife of a doctor. Caring for her family and preserving their everyday life is paramount. And so, when one of her sons, Max, becomes depressed, Mary Beth becomes focused on him, and is blindsided by a shocking act of violence. What happens afterward is a testament to the power of a woman's love and determination, and to the invisible line of hope and healing that connects one human being with another. Every Last One is a novel about facing every...
Full of humor, clever insight, and a whimsical sense of the absurd - an irresistible and finely written fantasy for anyone who ever wondered what a certain age would look like from beyond the looking-glass.
An esteemed memoirist examines aging with the grace of Elegy for Iris and the wry irreverence of I Feel Bad About My Neck.
These are 2 of the 4 readalike suggestions for Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.
A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Stranger than fiction, blending tragedy and farce, How to Create the Perfect Wife is an engrossing tale of the radicalism, and deep contradictions, at the heart of the Enlightenment.
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
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Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
read more
Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
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British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales.(May 20 2013) Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate...
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(1187 words).
of 5
by R. Dodd
of 5
by Chris (Centerport, NY)
of 5
by Laurette A. (Rome, New York)
of 5
by Elise B. (Macedonia, OH)
Write your own review!
Every Last One (2010):
Mary Beth Latham is first and foremost a mother, whose three teenaged children come first, before her career as a landscape gardener, or even her life as the wife of a doctor. Caring for her family and preserving their everyday life is paramount. And so, when one of her sons, Max, becomes depressed, Mary Beth becomes focused on him, and is blindsided by a shocking act of violence. What happens afterward is a testament to the power of a woman's love and determination, and to the invisible line of hope and healing that connects one human being with another. Every Last One is a novel about facing every...
