This is the story of a woman and her Bunko-playing circle of close friends. Together, they face challenges like debillitating illness, divorce, infertility, and a husband being sent to Iraq with the National Guard. There are heart to heart discussions, shopping, and arguments. On the surface, it seems like it’d be a great Chick Lit book: fun to read, but easy to put down. There were a few things that made it a book that was hard for me to digest, though.
First of all, I think I must live in a different social hemisphere than the characters in this book do. I could not relate to designer shoes, buying Starbucks all the time, outdoing each other for themed decorations for their Bunko Nights, or the many luxuries they all seemed to have. The situations they face are real enough, but their reactions to those situations don’t seem mature or realistic. The friend I related to the most was Autumn, the easy-going mother of eight children. She seemed the one nod to those of us in the real world who scrimp and save, who don’t have the cash to decorate lavishly for a gathering of close friends, who wear what we have even if it’s not right in style that season and who have accepted that kids and nice furniture don’t get along. Honestly, if a friend of mine had walked into my house and had been as picky as the fastidious Madison was about sitting on Autumn’s furniture, I would have doubted the bonds of our friendship. Love me, love my mess!
Another thing which put me off was that I found the religious references in the book were done with a heavy hand. I see how the many Bible citations and discussions of faith fit into the story, but I sometimes felt more like the author was using the book to proselytize than to tell a story.
I might recommend this book to my Christian friends, particularly those who have wrestled with the question of their faith. I did find some inciteful insightful passages about the nature of belief and faith as I was reading – I have already shared one with a friend, actually! But unless you are looking for Christian lit, I wouldn’t pick this up. The meat of the story is faith-based, not Bunko based, or even character based….in my opinion.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:41 am - Edit
The greatest joy that I have discovered about friendship is that a friend celebrates your successes and challenges you to be a better person. I have many friends and while we share the same basic values none of us are exactly alike, neither in our financial station, our political views or our parenting models. The joy in that is that they stretch me and together we become better, well rounded people. That is the message I tried to convey in “The Bunko Babes”.
By background and conviction I am Christian so of course, my writing is going to reflect my world view; much in the same way, an African-American or a Muslim writer will inevitably flavor their writing with their own world view. The goal is not to proselytize but to describe, to allow the reader to enter a world they may have heretofore never experienced.
Of course “The Bunko Babes” is not for everyone — few books are — and it may not be your cup of tea. But if you would like a glimpse of the sustaining power of friendship and faith in the midst of daily difficulties like chronic illness, infidelity, and infertility I believe you will find the characters interesting and believable. In the process you may even come to a better understanding of an ordinary Christian’s life in much the same way that “The Kite Runner” opened up the culture of Afghanistan to the reader. Of course I do not mean to compare “The Bunko Babes” to Khaled Hosseini’s classic for that would be presumptuous.
Thank you for taking the time to read and review my book. I know that it takes time out of your busy schedule.
Many Bunko Blessings,
Leah Starr Baker
author of “The Bunko Babes”
http://www.thebunkobabes.biz
July 7th, 2008 at 12:53 pm - Edit
very well-written review.
July 7th, 2008 at 1:18 pm - Edit
Thank you for your comments, Ms. Baker. It is true that not every book is right for every person, and likely Bunko Babes was not the book for me. As I said, I would recommend it to friends who were more inclined to read Christian fiction. I did find much to think about amidst the story, on a religious/faith level, though. There were moments you hit the ‘describe’ level of writing very well – those were the parts I found most appealing and easiest to read. Other times, it seemed more like you were ‘telling’ – those are the times I felt you were proselytizing. I think finding the balance between the two will allow your future work to appeal to a wider audience. I wish you the best of luck. And kudos to you for writing and publishing a novel! That takes a lot of hard work, time and talent.
July 7th, 2008 at 1:51 pm - Edit
I will keep that in mind as I write the follow-up over the coming year. Thanks for the kudos. Writing and getting a novel published was one of the most difficult yet rewarding things I’ve done to date. I liken it to having a baby. When sending your baby out in to the world it is difficult not to want to yank it back when the road gets a little rocky. Many Bunko Blessings,
Leah Starr Baker
author of “The Bunko Babes”
http://www.thebunkobabes.biz
July 28th, 2008 at 6:17 pm - Edit
Mom,
Your review has caused me no little pause over the past three weeks and I have spent much time contemplating why it seemed you couldn’t connect with these women. Your comment regarding the shopping for designer shoes, decorating for Bunko theme nights and grabbing a Starbucks everyday took me completely by surprise. Me and my friends and honestly just about everyone I know do these things and we are certainly not wealthy. In fact, in Tulsa, we are simply middle class. Then today it hit me like an Oklahoma thunderstorm.
You obviously live in a part of the country where the cost of a cup of coffee is $8 or higher, where the price of real estate might as well be a trip to the moon for even the smallest lot and house (I found no mention of where you live in my quick perusal of your site). But in Oklahoma and much of the midwest, until recently, a grande cup of Starbucks coffee was $4.25, a gallon of gas was $2.00 (now it’s $3.67), a gallon of milk was $3 bucks and my 3500 square foot home on a half of an acre cost us only $165,000. As you read, you were comparing the luxury of these ladies life to what it would cost you to live in the same manner. Around here, you can build a top of the line, (granite countertops, real wood floors, 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3 living rooms, and a acre lot) home for right around $350,000 to $400,000 dollars. No wonder you felt they were wealthy. By the standards of NY and much of the east coast, to afford what we do we would have to be millionaires. Maybe, this will help you understand a little bit about where we as midwesterner’s come from. Only Madison was a part of the upper class around here and she would probably barely make your radar. Hope this will give you a little food for your thoughts.
Incredibly Blessed in Oklahoma,
Leah Starr Baker
author of “The Bunko Babes”
http://www.thebunkobabes.biz
July 28th, 2008 at 6:50 pm - Edit
Leah,
First, in fairness, I’ve not read your book, but you touch on interesting points that I feel compelled to comment on your comments. First, just how much coffee is in that grande cup? A pint? If it is a pint’s worth, then that Starbucks coffee costs $34/gallon in Oklahoma. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a Starbucks anything myself, but even if it’s more like $20/gallon (depending, again, on just how much is in a grande) that’s still an awful lot to spend on a little caffeine, especially when buying coffee in a grocery store can get you quite a bit more bang for the buck.
Let’s look on the flipside of the Starbucks math; if you get a Starbucks a day in Oklahoma, that’s $127 every 30 days and over $1500/year. According to the 2000 US Census (as cited on the Washington Post at http://projects.washingtonpost.com/elections/keyraces/census/ok/) the median household income in Oklahoma was $38,770. (With lower costs by area come lower incomes, generally speaking.) Are you telling me the average Oklahoman, in the Starbucks a day example, spends just over 4% of their total gross income on Starbucks?
Obviously, I’m keying in on the Starbucks reference here; I’ve only spent one week of my life in Oklahoma and was there on business (so I wasn’t paying a ton of attention to market values of things) and I’ve not read your book. But for me, 4% of my total gross income seems a bit to spend on coffee. Aren’t there better things to do with that money?
July 28th, 2008 at 7:48 pm - Edit
As we discussed, Leah, not every book is for every person. Your characters did not live in ways to which I can relate. It does not have so much to do with the area of the country in which I live as it does differing views of the world. I experience my world at a different pace than your characters. To each his own…
July 28th, 2008 at 9:43 pm - Edit
In the book and in my life, we don’t really get a Starbuck’s a day but we do go to the coffeehouse as a place to relax and visit. To us, a Starbuck’s is like a bar may be to other’s. And my comment was not meant to mean that anyone should like the book but simply as a admittance to my confusion regarding the not connecting and the wealthiness of the characters.
Topher, the $4.25 is for the largest size and that may be the venti. I honestly just order a large or medium because of the various names for each size at the different coffee shops. I’m sure you have things that you love to splurge on in your life. This just happens to be one of the things that I and a lot of my friends enjoy. We also do not spend money on alcohol so I guess you could say this is our legal beverage of choice. I would be interested in that just out of curiosity. But you are right, we often do not know the amount of money that we spend on things that are not necessary to our survival (cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, designer shoes) and these are the first things that we should look to cut out of our budget when things get tough (such as escalating gas prices and cost of utilities). I admit I don’t get a coffee near as often as I used to before these increases.
Thanks for bringing up such an interesting point.
Many Bunko Blessings,
Leah Starr Baker
July 29th, 2008 at 9:47 pm - Edit
Leah,
Since you asked, I’ve not been to a bar in around three years, give or take, and I have never “frequented” bars (much less a specific one). I’ve not seen a movie in the theatre since Cars came out just over two years ago. I am the oddball at work who passes invitations out to lunch most of the time and eats the leftovers I bring in. My wife and I do most of our splurging on our children by making the active choice to sacrifice some creature comforts and have her stay home with them at least until they’re both in school full time. A family of four on an income of one these days is a bit tough, but we get compliments on our kids when we do go places and although the youngest does have a definite “monster streak” they really are turning out to be smart, well-adjusted kids. I would say we eat out too much, but that’s more than once or twice a month in my book.
We do have our spending faults; when we do get things, we tend to get the “better” things. When we were first married, we didn’t get just any washer and dryer, we got the Maytag Neptune washer and dryer, for example, believing that it would give us the best long term value between operational costs (water usage) and endurance. We’re generally “thrifty” though, trying to make the most of each buck as we can. Again, I wouldn’t say cheap, because as with the last example sometimes the best value is in the top dollar item… but to go back to what caught my eye in the first place, Starbucks is *not* the best dollar value in caffeine consumption. If your aim is to sit with your friends and chat, perhaps a cup of coffee is the best vehicle to do that around; it’s certainly less expensive than a dinner. However, a cup of coffee in someone’s living room or even someone’s jug of iced tea as you sit at a picnic table with friends at a park… well… food for thought.
And I want to state again, I’ve not read your book so I am in no way trying to comment on it. I could easily see people who would stop at Starbucks every day; I work with someone who doesn’t come to work without his Dunkin Donuts coffee, which I can’t imagine being much cheaper. I see some of my co-workers eating out every day. There are really people out there like that. There are levels I don’t relate to them either, though, so I can see what “Mom” is saying in that regard too. I don’t think she thought it was a bad book based on her review, just one that didn’t click for her. That’s just my two bits as a regular reader though.
Finally, I do want to commend you on trying to “wrap your brain around” the reviews you receive. It seems you’re trying to make sure you understand your feedback, which can only improve your skills as a writer the more you understand different perspectives. That in itself makes me think perhaps I will look for some of your books at some point. Kudos to you for that.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:24 pm - Edit
Topher, thanks for getting back to me. I know how hard it can be surviving on one income only. My husband works an average of 60 hours a week to pay the bills. It was much easier before I got lupus and had to quit officially working. But God did redeem the situation when he gave me the idea for the storyline in “The Bunko Babes” and allowed me to get it published. (I have yet to get my first royalty check though). It has been wonderful watching my kid’s grow into great little people. They will be in 1st and 2nd grade this year and I can hardly believe it. How old are your kids?
I commend you for the sacrifices that you make in order to allow your wife the joy of being at home with your children. I wish you God’s blessings in all you do.
Leah Starr Baker
author of “The Bunko Babes”
http://www.thebunkobabes.biz