Belong to Me audiobook

I'm basically copying this from what I wrote on my blog, which is why it's so lengthy:I thought this was positively delicious. And I’m not just saying that because I got the book for free, either. I’m not afraid to trash free stuff, you know (Hi there, Old Navy Jeans! You still suck!). I’m saying it because it really is lovely.I first encountered Ms. de los Santos’s writing when I picked up her book Love Walked In off one of those tables at the megabookstore with the “buy 2 paperbacks for the price of 3″ signs or whatever. I don’t think I’ve ever hidden the fact that I am a sucker for an attractive book cover despite all proverbial advice not to choose one’s reading material (or anything else) that way, and the cover for Love Walked In spoke to me. Anyway, I ended up loving the book and was so pleased to learn that de los Santos was building further upon those characters with Belong to Me.Reading Belong to Me is like walking around with one of those geared-towards-children “READING IS FUN!” posters pinned to your back. That’s what it is: pure, unadulterated fun. It is a 390-page reminder of why I love to read. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me roll my eyes at the questionable realism, it made me snort, it made me nod my head in agreement, and it made me want to jump into the pages and hang out with most of the characters and then it made me want to jump out of the pages and hang out with the author. I mean, sure, we read books sometimes because we want to be moved at our very core or because we want to feel intellectual or because we want to learn or because it won a Pulitzer or a Booker Prize or whatever. But sometimes we read to be entertained. Belong to Me does just that - and the best thing about it is that it does that without being too embarrassingly vapid or chick lit-ish.It doesn’t hurt that I want to be friends with Cornelia Brown, the main character, either, despite the fact that she describes herself as weighing about the same as “your average sack of groceries” (I tend to resent thin people). I can get past that - easily - with her description of her first suburban dinner party:“It was a pastel-colored prairie of linen pants and sleeveless tops, stretching in every direction as far as the eye could see. I stood on its edge and felt myself in my dress turning - subtly, like an early-autumn leaf or a days-old open bottle of red wine - from easy and elegant to overreaching and tarty.”And then, later, as she so appropriately describes the way I feel at most events involving my in-laws:“‘I’m good at dinner parties!’ I wanted to shout. ‘Dinner parties are my natural habitat! I am appropriately dressed and good at dinner parties!’”Cornelia, honey, you’re not alone.I don’t want to ruin the book for you by telling you much more, since I suck at keeping secrets and will inevitably overshare too much of the plot, but you should definitely read this. Set down War & Peace for a little bit and settle in for some scrumptiosity (a word, I promise!). And Ms. de los Santos, if you’re anything like Cornelia or Clare or any of your other characters (hell, even Piper-like-viper-but-with-a-p) and you’re up for a chat over too much wine, I’d be honored to join you. I can’t wait for your next book to come out.

What a sweet story... really, with nice poetic references and beautiful, loving people that don't exist anywhere but in books like this. So, yeah... of course, I hate them.. Mostly because I'm that woman... the urbanite who moved to the suburbs and I'm that woman longing for the security blanket that is estrogen-induced friendship. Of course I didn't have the hot doctor husband and the financial security and BA in Art History, But, you know... those are really just the perks of the story, not the meat... Anyway, lord knows I tried to (look for that bond, that is...stay with me, folks) but the women in my suburban setting do not quote from Cukor's The Women. (Or Hell, let's be real, the new version coming out will suffice.) They aren't interested in new relationships and they most certainly do not hold dinner parties... or, at least, none that I know of. So, forgive me if I snub my nose at this wispy Winona Ryder-esque Cornelia character (and I do that with the utmost respect to de los Santos as I really did like this book) because she achieves what I'm still waiting for 5 years out. I have to admit that this would make a great chick flick. I envision Nora Ephron and see an all star cast of Daniel Craig, Kiera Knightly, Kelly Ripa's husband (can he act? It doesn't matter.) and yes, maybe they CAN dig up Winona... I can't imagine that she's busy... Maybe they can get those Twilight kiddos to play the wise -beyond-their-years-14 year olds. I envision some great movie tie-ins from Corningware and Roche Pharmeceuticals... I just re-read that and it sounds like I hated the book, I really didn't. Chock me up as bitter... And if you showed up at my door with a plate of cookies, I wouldn't necessarily turn you away, Winona.. honest.

I fell in love with BELONG TO ME. This novel is so beautifully written, and the character are so wonderfully described I felt I knew them. Only after I finished reading did I discover that the author's previous novel, LOVE WALKED IN, included a few of the same characters, and I'm now looking for a copy. This novel contained quite a few memorable lines. The book was about family, friendship, lying to protect others - so many different things. I really hated when BELONG TO ME ended. I would not consider this chick lit, and I highly recommend it. I shall be looking forward to the next book written by Marisa de los Santos. I received this book for my honest review.

Loved, loved, loved, loved, loved LOVED this book. It was the kind of book that I would think about all day... dying to get home and pick it up again. I even started bringing it on my lunch break and reading it in the park-- I couldnt get enough! I can't remember the last book I read that I became so obsessed with. You have to read Love Walked In before you read this one in order to truly fall head over heels in love with Teo, Cornelia, and Clare... and then in Belong to me you will fall MORE in love with them along with Dev and Piper. This author is amazing (maybe the best I have ever read) at character development... I truly felt like I knew everyone one of these characters, and have found myslef talking about them like they are real people. I am a bit worried for the movie of Love Walked In to come out, just because I feel like if they don't cast it properly, it will never come close to comparing to the book (it probably wont anyhow) But if it is good... they will HAVE to make this book into movie too!

I bought this from a used bookstore a few years ago and it sat on the shelf watching me pick other books in front of it so many times. I guess I thought it was going to be chick lit, predictable and superficial. Nope. “But I’ve found that if you insist on it together, goodwill comes. I’ve found that love can be a decision. Forgiveness, too.”Holy cow did Marisa De Los Santos show me how wrong I was to judge a book by its cover. This story is about a collection of families in the suburbs but it is so well done. The different, but still connected story lines, the alternating points of view in each chapter, the depth of Dev… oh Dev! what an incredible kid. This books blows Little Fires Everywhere out of the water.

Belong to Me is the ultimate chick lit book, and as a bonus it's really well-written. I fell right into the story, and although I read the novel that preceded it (Love Walked In) I don't think it's absolutely necessary - a reader new to Marisa de los Santos could follow this novel just fine.Back to the chick-lit categorization: it's just so girly. I can get into a girly book as well as the next girl, but I don't think this was written with men in mind (unless the men in question were the type that love the movies "Fried Green Tomatoes", "Beaches", and "Steel Magnolias".The women in the book are strong characters, and the novel revolves around three: Cornelia, Lake, and Piper. Each has chapters told from their own point of view, but as their lives intersect the chapters also become more intertwined. Plot twists and surprises ensue.I think that people that like Jennifer Weiner's novels would also like this book. I'm a fan of both. I'm somewhat surprised that this book isn't a title in Oprah's book club.Take that comment as you will.**Disclaimer: there are some damn good books on that club list!

I liked this sequel even more than the first, Love Walked In. de los Santos has a gift and I'm so glad she's sharing it with us!

Utterly readable, even if you haven't read Love Walked In, this story stands alone. The author (a poet) has a lovely fluid style. She makes the reader privy to all of the private thoughts (and this is a VERY thoughtful bunch) and weaves it all together with just enough history and background that the story makes sense. And I especially enjoyed how it explored women's friendships - the work it takes to make friends in adulthood. So often characters are "lifelong" friends or fall easily into friendship. Not here, and it was refreshing.My only complaint was the 14 year old characters seemed so much more mature than their years, it was almost unbelievable.But this is a great springtime read. It is a deep book masquerading as something lighter.

You know when you read a book about women that are friends..and these friends just all fit together in a perfect little group, well this isn't about those storybook friends. This book is about real people. The snob..free spirit..cancer patient..but you learn that really isn't who they are, there is much more to them and you realize how they can be friends..I'm 1/4 way into the book and I think I love these people more than most characters I've ever read. Marisa de los Santos writing is so fluid. I can't wait to read more!

At first I was resentful towards all the new characters in the story of Teo and Cornelia and Clare and then... I was hooked and I didn't want to leave them. Really enjoyed the read.

This is the second book I have read by Marisa de los Santos in less than six months. The only problem with this is that she has only written one other novel. I might have to save it for a special occasion. As I noted with Falling Together, de los Santos writes about people that I would like to spend time with. They lead interesting lives and have a good sense of humor. They don't take themselves too seriously and it turns out that they make good friends. Because it is fiction, there are plenty of crises for them to survive, but of course they do and de los Santos makes it all seem possible.I recommend this book to anyone who likes stories about contemporary events, to people who like to read for the sake of reading and to folks who want to escape their lives for awhile and live in someone else's life.

Cornelia, Teo, and Clare from Love Walked In return along with some other lovable (Dev) and questionable (Piper) characters, all of whose lives intersect in a most satisfying way. In chapter 2, I was afraid this would be a common housewife story. By chapter 3, I liked the book. By chapter 9, I was in love with the story! And by chapter 15 I was up 2 hours past my bedtime trying to get to the end!Another really good story with well-developed characters from Marisa de los Santos. (and already at #5 on the bestseller list in its first week!)

Review to come