Review by Chavarika -- The Reel Sisters
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Review by Chavarika -- The Reel Sisters
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Reel Sisters" by Michelle Cummings.]
Book Summary
In the book The Reel Sisters, Michelle Cummings features the lives of five women who are brought together by the love for fly fishing. These are Rose, Sophie, Veronica, Amanda and Melody. The passion for fly fishing affords these women an escape from their busy schedules while also breaking down age, socio-economic and racial boundaries that would otherwise have prevented them from interacting freely.
During weekends in the warmer months, these ladies would meet at Rose’s cabin by the river for the purpose of fly fishing. Fly fishing is shown to be positively impacting other aspects of these women’s lives. Rose is portrayed as the chief mentor of the group as far as fly fishing is concerned. Being the eldest, she also serves as a mother figure that dispenses a lot advice to the younger women. Sophie is good at taking care of the needs of others while neglecting her own. However, the advice and encouragement of others enabled her to eventually change her anti-dating stance after having been heartbroken by John who had married another woman. As her outlook on life changed, she eventually finds herself dating Buck whom she had met 20 years earlier.
Amanda was married to Mike- a soldier who had been deployed to Afghanistan. The fly fishing retreats provided a much needed diversion from the nagging thoughts of thinking about what could possibly happen to her dear Mike. Veronica on the other hand was the CEO of a Woman’s Leadership Coaching Company who used to travel a lot and so found fly fishing an escape from her busy schedule. The experience also enriched her professional life in that she ended up writing a book titled Reel Leadership. The book illustrated how effective strategies in fly fishing could also help people achieve business success.
Melody, who was the youngest member of the group, had a passion for photography and sold pictures to online publications. She was a model for a nude online website, joining the group known as the Suicide Girls. She joined the fly fishing group after being rescued her from drowning while self-shooting nude pictures. Her association with this group of women eventually resulted in her being able to clarify her life purpose as a photographer, although her parents preferred she take up a musical career.
The story of “The Reel Sisters” unfortunately ends on a sad note as Amanda is involved in a fatal accident after Mike’s homecoming dinner following his injury in action in Afghanistan. Amanda’s death also reminded Rose of the death of her own daughter-Clara- who had died after accidentally falling into the river during a flash flood at the age of nine.
Elements I liked most about the book
The author did a lot of research in the compilation of this book since technical issues relating to entomology; angling, gender and biology are well articulated. The author also uses accessible and easy-to-understand language so much that her target audiences never lose track of the story as it unfolds.
The author also does a good job by dispelling gender stereotypes by portraying women as being at par with their male counterparts when it comes to the sport of fly fishing. For example, when asked by Melody whether she considered herself a fly fisherwoman, Rose insisted on “fly fisher” so as not to bring in the aspect of gender differentials. Another example is that of Sophie who wasn’t deterred by Buck’s sexist remarks that he thought she wanted fly fishing lessons for her father or boyfriend. Veronica as CEO of “Executive Couching for Women in Leadership” frequently travelled away from home while her husband Thatcher remained at home taking care of their restaurant business. Moreover Thatcher- Veronica’s husband-does the cooking in the house.
Elements I liked least about the book
While Michelle does well in the use of everyday language for everyday people, she also tends to go overboard on the use of vulgar language. Below, see two of such examples:
1) “I f****g love photography” on page 42, second paragraph, the first sentence.
2) “That sh*t is as expensive as cocaine” on page 42, second paragraph, the eight sentence.
Typographic and grammatical errors
I managed to pick about nine typographic and grammatical errors as I paged through the book. Below, two of the typos:
1) “…especially one who seemed like so much fun” instead of “…especially one who seemed to like so much fun” on page 11, third paragraph, the second last sentence.
2) “Its repetitious” rather than “Its repetitive” on page 37, the second sentence.
Book Rating
Overall, this is a very good book as it covers the “A-to-Z” of fly fishing while also using accessible language. However, the existence of a few typos and the use of vulgar and profane language tend to be a bit of a distraction. Given that the author was addressing specific target group-possibly young adults- I will rate the book at 3 out of 4 stars.
Recommended book audiences
I would highly recommend this book to anglers, gender activists and students of sociology since these issues are addressed by this book.
Audiences not suitable for this book
I wouldn’t recommend this book to a religious audience such as Christians and minors because of its liberality with vulgar and profane language. Below are just two examples of profane language:
1) "Holy sh*t” on page 63, second paragraph, the last sentence.
2) “… holy hell” on page 74, fourth paragraph, the second last sentence.
******
The Reel Sisters
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Book Summary
In the book The Reel Sisters, Michelle Cummings features the lives of five women who are brought together by the love for fly fishing. These are Rose, Sophie, Veronica, Amanda and Melody. The passion for fly fishing affords these women an escape from their busy schedules while also breaking down age, socio-economic and racial boundaries that would otherwise have prevented them from interacting freely.
During weekends in the warmer months, these ladies would meet at Rose’s cabin by the river for the purpose of fly fishing. Fly fishing is shown to be positively impacting other aspects of these women’s lives. Rose is portrayed as the chief mentor of the group as far as fly fishing is concerned. Being the eldest, she also serves as a mother figure that dispenses a lot advice to the younger women. Sophie is good at taking care of the needs of others while neglecting her own. However, the advice and encouragement of others enabled her to eventually change her anti-dating stance after having been heartbroken by John who had married another woman. As her outlook on life changed, she eventually finds herself dating Buck whom she had met 20 years earlier.
Amanda was married to Mike- a soldier who had been deployed to Afghanistan. The fly fishing retreats provided a much needed diversion from the nagging thoughts of thinking about what could possibly happen to her dear Mike. Veronica on the other hand was the CEO of a Woman’s Leadership Coaching Company who used to travel a lot and so found fly fishing an escape from her busy schedule. The experience also enriched her professional life in that she ended up writing a book titled Reel Leadership. The book illustrated how effective strategies in fly fishing could also help people achieve business success.
Melody, who was the youngest member of the group, had a passion for photography and sold pictures to online publications. She was a model for a nude online website, joining the group known as the Suicide Girls. She joined the fly fishing group after being rescued her from drowning while self-shooting nude pictures. Her association with this group of women eventually resulted in her being able to clarify her life purpose as a photographer, although her parents preferred she take up a musical career.
The story of “The Reel Sisters” unfortunately ends on a sad note as Amanda is involved in a fatal accident after Mike’s homecoming dinner following his injury in action in Afghanistan. Amanda’s death also reminded Rose of the death of her own daughter-Clara- who had died after accidentally falling into the river during a flash flood at the age of nine.
Elements I liked most about the book
The author did a lot of research in the compilation of this book since technical issues relating to entomology; angling, gender and biology are well articulated. The author also uses accessible and easy-to-understand language so much that her target audiences never lose track of the story as it unfolds.
The author also does a good job by dispelling gender stereotypes by portraying women as being at par with their male counterparts when it comes to the sport of fly fishing. For example, when asked by Melody whether she considered herself a fly fisherwoman, Rose insisted on “fly fisher” so as not to bring in the aspect of gender differentials. Another example is that of Sophie who wasn’t deterred by Buck’s sexist remarks that he thought she wanted fly fishing lessons for her father or boyfriend. Veronica as CEO of “Executive Couching for Women in Leadership” frequently travelled away from home while her husband Thatcher remained at home taking care of their restaurant business. Moreover Thatcher- Veronica’s husband-does the cooking in the house.
Elements I liked least about the book
While Michelle does well in the use of everyday language for everyday people, she also tends to go overboard on the use of vulgar language. Below, see two of such examples:
1) “I f****g love photography” on page 42, second paragraph, the first sentence.
2) “That sh*t is as expensive as cocaine” on page 42, second paragraph, the eight sentence.
Typographic and grammatical errors
I managed to pick about nine typographic and grammatical errors as I paged through the book. Below, two of the typos:
1) “…especially one who seemed like so much fun” instead of “…especially one who seemed to like so much fun” on page 11, third paragraph, the second last sentence.
2) “Its repetitious” rather than “Its repetitive” on page 37, the second sentence.
Book Rating
Overall, this is a very good book as it covers the “A-to-Z” of fly fishing while also using accessible language. However, the existence of a few typos and the use of vulgar and profane language tend to be a bit of a distraction. Given that the author was addressing specific target group-possibly young adults- I will rate the book at 3 out of 4 stars.
Recommended book audiences
I would highly recommend this book to anglers, gender activists and students of sociology since these issues are addressed by this book.
Audiences not suitable for this book
I wouldn’t recommend this book to a religious audience such as Christians and minors because of its liberality with vulgar and profane language. Below are just two examples of profane language:
1) "Holy sh*t” on page 63, second paragraph, the last sentence.
2) “… holy hell” on page 74, fourth paragraph, the second last sentence.
******
The Reel Sisters
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Worldlines by Adam Guest
