Online Reading Challenge – May Wrap-Up

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read something set in Ireland that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: Good Eggs by Rebecca Hardiman. This is the story of three generations of the Gogarty family in Dublin, Ireland. The Gogarty family are all rambunctious people in their own way – full of spunk and the desire to get their own way. All the main characters have issues, but this book is rife with added humor that make the story endearing. They are all ‘good eggs’ looking for second chances.

Kevin Gogarty is frustrated. His eighty-three-year-old mother, Millie, has been caught shoplifting yet again. AGAIN! At a loss of what to do, Kevin hires a caretaker to come into his mother’s house to help take care of her. After all, his wife isn’t home to help. Kevin is currently unemployed, stuck at home managing their full house while his wife travels around the world to exotic locations for work. He’s not bitter at all.

Millie is livid. She’s just fine, thank you very much.  Her nosy son’s plan means that she will have to miss her planned vacation with Jolly Jessica to the States. This new caretaker is destined to be a pain in her side, no matter what they all say. She doesn’t need any help.

Kevin’s daughter Aideen is annoyed. Her parents think she’s sullen and misbehaved, but if they had to deal with her spoiled rotten twin sister, they would act the same way! After one of her outbursts, her parents decide they have had enough and send her to a new boarding school during the school week. She can’t believe she’s been banished. Her troubles escalate even more at the school when Aideen befriends the campus rebel.

Millie’s new home aide, Sylvia, walks right into the Gogarty family mess with a smile on her face. Sylvia is upbeat and nothing seems to phase her. Kevin has high hopes that Sylvia will be able to alleviate the stress his mother causes him on a daily basis. Little do they all know that the addition of Sylvia will tip the family towards their greatest disaster yet.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought that I would. I found myself laughing out loud at some points, as I could definitely picture the hijinks in my head. I was drawn to certain characters and found myself instantly invested in what was going to happen next in each of their lives. All in all, a hilarious romp of a debut novel. I can’t wait to see what Rebecca Hardiman writes next.

In June, we’re headed to Australia!

Online Reading Challenge – May

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge travels to Ireland, nicknamed the Emerald Isle for its wide expanses of lush, green fields! Our Main title is Good Eggs by Rebecca Hardiman. Here’s a quick summary from the author.

A hilarious and heartfelt debut novel following three generations of a boisterous family whose simmering tensions boil over when a home aide enters the picture, becoming the  calamitous force that will either undo or remake them—perfect for fans of Where’d YouGo, Bernadette and Evvie Drake Starts Over.

When Kevin Gogarty’s irrepressible eighty-three-year-old mother, Millie, is caught shoplifting yet again, he has no choice but to hire a caretaker to keep an eye on her. Kevin, recently unemployed, is already at his wits’ end tending to a full house while his wife travels to exotic locales for work, leaving him solo with his rebellious teenage daughter, Aideen, whose troubles escalate when she befriends the campus rebel at her new boarding school.

Into the Gogarty fray steps Sylvia, Millie’s upbeat home aide, who appears at first to be their saving grace—until she catapults the Gogarty clan into their greatest crisis yet.

With charm, humor, and pathos to spare, Good Eggs is a delightful study in self-determination; the notion that it’s never too late to start living; and the unique redemption that family, despite its maddening flaws, can offer.

This title is also available in the following formats:

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