Sunday Rewind - Kristin Rockaway, Author of The Wild Woman's Guide to Traveling the World

It's been awhile since I've done a Sunday Rewind, so I'm happy to be getting back to it.  Today's post is about my interview with Kristin Rockaway on Episode 18 of the GSMC Book Review Podcast.  The day Kristin and I did the interview GSMC had just moved offices, so I remember sitting on the floor of an empty office with nothing but the phone and my notes.  Kristin is very easy to talk to, though, and her book was really enjoyable, so the surroundings didn't matter, it was still a fun interview.

Source

Objectively, Sophie is a success: she’s got a coveted job at a top consulting firm, a Manhattan apartment, and a passport full of stamps. It isn’t quite what she dreamed of when she was a teenager dog-earing pages in exotic travel guides, but it’s secure. Then her best friend bails just hours after they arrive in Hong Kong for a girls’ trip, and Sophie falls for Carson, a free spirited, globetrotting American artist. He begs her to join him on his haphazard journey, but she chooses responsibility and her five-year plan.

Back in New York, that plan feels less and less appealing. As Sophie recalls the dreams she’s suppressed, the brief international jaunts she sneaks in between business trips no longer feel like enough. Carson isn’t ready to let her go either, but as they try to figure out their relationship, Sophie realizes she may have to pursue her passions with or without him. (Source)

The Wild Woman's Guide to Traveling the World reminded me a lot of one of Sophie Kinsella's novels.  Sophie (the character, not the author) is a professional woman who travels a lot for work, but most of the other areas of her life are in a bit of a disarray.  She isn't completely content with her job, but it pays her bills, lets her travel, and fits into her neatly mapped out life-plan.  Then she meets Carson and her plan gets turned upside down.

Eventually Sophie begins making changes in her life, but one thing I really appreciated about the book is that she doesn't meet Carson and her life suddenly, and miraculously, turns in a new direction.  In fact, Sophie and Carson end up having an impact on each other in various ways, and each learns more about themselves from being involved with the other.  The book is romantic, funny, well-written, and gave me a serious case of wanderlust.

Genres:

• Women's Fiction
• Romance
• Travel

What I enjoyed:

• The descriptions of places Sophie and Carson visit on their travels.  If I can't travel myself, then reading a book set in an interesting location is the next best thing, and you can tell that Kristin herself loves to travel from the way she writes.
• As I mentioned above, Carson doesn't swoop in and save or rescue Sophie.  They develop a relationship and from that both begin to learn things not only about the other, but themselves as well.  Because of this learning curve each has to make some decisions about where they see their lives going and if they think the other might be a part of that future.
• The humor.  It's not zany or slapstick, but like Kinsella's novels, Kristin gets her characters into (and out of) some crazy situations that are guaranteed to make you laugh even if you might also be rolling your eyes.

Who should read The Wild Woman's Guide to Traveling the World?

• Fans of Women's Fiction.
• Fans of travel (or just reading about travel).
• Fans of romantic comedies.

Quotes:
You know I normally put some of my favorite quotes in this section, but sadly this is another book I loaned out and haven't gotten back yet so I can't look up those quotes.  (Note to self:  STOP lending out books until you write the quotes down somewhere!)

Where you can find Kristin online:

Website: http://kristinrockaway.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KristinRockaway
Twitter: @KristinRockaway
Instagram: @kristinrockaway
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/KristinRockaway/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Kristin-Rockaway/e/B01LYQTE1E/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1519000297&sr=1-2-ent
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15294188.Kristin_Rockaway

Author Bio:

(Source)

Kristin Rockaway is a native New Yorker and recovering software engineer. After working in the IT industry for far too many years, she finally traded the city for the surf and chased her dreams out to Southern California, where she spends her days happily writing stories instead of code. When she’s not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and son, browsing the aisles of her neighborhood bookstores, and planning her next big vacation.

Her second novel, Start Me Up will be released from Graydon House/HarperCollins in the Summer of 2019. Her debut, The Wild Woman’s Guide to Traveling the World, is in stores now.

To hear the interview with Kristin please click here.

Meet Me in Milano by Mariuccia Milla

Episode 51 of the GSMC Book Review Podcast is a conversation with author Mariuccia Milla about her debut novel, Meet Me in Milano.  It is the first in a planned set of 5 novels that will intersect between locations and some characters, although they won't be a series per se.  This first book tells the stories of Jonathan and Melinda, a former couple who have both come to Milan for different reasons. Their social circles and lives begin to intersect in various ways throughout the book and both of them learn more about themselves through the communities in which they become involved.

Source

Meet Me in Milano is about a young architect who leaves her boyfriend and New York to look for a job and a new life in Milan, Italy. But her ex is not giving up so easily, and follows her there. The people they meet, the places they visit, and the things they learn about themselves during their separate adventures will bring you right there with them as they navigate the Milanese scene. The reader will meet successful and charming Milanese men like Alberto and Pierpaolo, the wise Lella, the beautiful Elena, and aspiring creative types who, like Melinda and Jonathan, have come to Milan to realize their dreams. Meet Me in Milano weaves Italian culture, food, language, and personalities into a delightful mosaic. Weekend trips for work and play in the beautiful Italian landscape provide deeper dives into the conflicts and opportunities that bring the characters together...or make them change direction. This is a book about the discovery of life and of self, through connection with place and other people. (Source)

I've never been to Milan, or even Italy, but Mariuccia does a really wonderful job of describing not only the places, but also the people and the culture.  This is a travel book in the sense that the 2 main characters move from New York to Italy for a period of time, but it's more than just a book that shows another place.  The reader truly gets to experience what it feels like to be a newcomer/outsider living in an unfamiliar place and learning to navigate the people, culture, traditions, and geography of that place. 

Melinda and Jonathan are young and still finding themselves.  Mariuccia presents them as fully human, with flaws and contradictions.  Melinda is both incredibly brave, and remarkably timid.  Jonathan tends to fix things and situations around him, but can't seem to fix certain aspects of his own life.  They are multi-dimensional characters, and I found myself both liking them and being frustrated by them in turns, pretty much like any relationship.

Genres:

• Travel
• Romance
• Urban Fiction

What I enjoyed:

• What Mariuccia calls "Italy porn."  Nothing in appropriate, just the things you expect from a book about Italy:  Food, beauty, art, architecture.
• Watching Melinda learn and evolve in a way that was relatable and human.
• The incredible variety of secondary characters who make up a rich tapestry of community which surrounds Jonathan and Melinda.

Who should read Meet Me in Milano?

• Fans of romance.
• Fans of books featuring travel.
• Anyone who wants to go to Italy or has already been and wants to relive some of that experience.
• Fans of risotto.  No really, there's a lot of risotto made and eaten in this book and it all sounds fantastic.  (also fans of gelato and cappuccino)  I was hungry for most of my reading.

Quotes:

• "A parade of dull gray bins marched through the black fettuccini curtains, loaded with shoes and phones and Clinique free gift sets  This was her limbo between New York and the rest of the world."
• "She was attracted to his pluck, thinking it might be contagious."
• "Italians have an expression, gallina vecchia fa buon brodo, old chickens make good broth."

Where you can find Mariuccia online:
Facebook: @mariumilla
Instagram: @mariumilla

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Mariuccia-Milla/e/B075XNJV1C/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Medium: @maryscipioni
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5818367.Mariuccia_Milla

Author Bio:

Source

Mariuccia Milla had a dream of going to Italy. After her first post-college job in New York City, she bought a one-way ticket and set out on her first adventure. Mariuccia stayed in Milan, where she worked in the field of architecture and interior design, for ten years. Afterward, she lived in Tuscany, and later near Lago Maggiore, before returning to the USA for graduate school after a total of eighteen years abroad.

Mariuccia is currently living in the Finger Lakes Region of New York, and plans to split her time between there and Italy.

Trained as a designer and a landscape architect, Mariuccia is particularly tuned in to the physical environment and how it influences people and their relationships.

To hear the interview with Mariuccia please click here.