Liner Notes

Laney gets a new job after graduate school and plans on driving cross-country by herself, listening to her old mix tapes and enjoying the solitude. Her mother surprises Laney by asking if she can along for the ride. Her lymphoma caused her to miss out on a great deal of her daughter's life, and now in remission, she wants to reconnect with her eldest child. Every tape Laney plays has a story to tell, be it from summer camp or college, and each tape is filled with golden oldies, music from her childhood, and modern tunes as well. This book is a rare one - the gimmick is actually well-executed, making this story as good as it sounds. With realistic characters, fantastic flashbacks, and a great soundtrack, you are sure to laugh, cry and sing along with Laney as you read her Liner Notes.

This book is so visual, so immediate. Laney and her mother are an example of the modern mother-daughter pairing - they want to be close but years of distance and illness have kept them from relating. Music, the American scenery, and the open plan of the road trip make for an emotional, funny, poignant, and real reunion. Liner Notes is so clear in the reader's mind that it's like watching a film, but getting to see all the footage. A winning read!

I stumbled onto this book at an airport and it kept me captivated throughout my cross-country flight. Following Laney and her mother as Laney explained herself via her old tapes, I felt I knew her. Or maybe it's just an easily-relatable book. In any case, Liner Notes is the kind of book you'll and and then buy for your best friend.

Liner Notes is an engaging road-trip story with a twist. Instead of a group of friends or two lovers, it's Laney and her mother, working through their mottled pasts as they drive across the country. They delve into family relationships, the mother's illness, and Laney's failed romances, all memories sparked by intriguing mixed tapes, the soundtrack to Laney's life. Some of the most gorgeous scenes are the tender renditions of the mother's long fight with cancer and the shadow this illness cast on Laney's young adult years. A great read for mothers and daughters or anyone who loves the kind of music found on cassette tapes under the seat of a well-worn car.

From the first page of this book, I was unable to put it down. Laney tells the story of her life to her mother during a cross-country drive - but tells it through her mixed tapes. I have tons of these mixes, and I could totally relate to Laney's stories. The plot works, the writing is witty and real and is kind of like a female "High Fidelity." A great read!