STRONG ENOUGH (Amazon | Barnes and Noble)
Publication date: February 25th, 2013
Publisher: Ellen Harger
Synopsis:
Starting over is hard.
And sometimes, you have to burn a few bridges to do it.
Whitney Brown is average--average intelligence, average height, average weight--but she wants to be someone new. To kick-start her rebirth, she wears formal mourning, a black veil and vintage dress, to a wedding in her hometown, Woods Cross, a community that treasures family values. Is it an attack on marriage or has she just gone bonkers?
Emboldened but lacking a plan, she forces her foot in the door of a radio station in Sundown. A small metropolis of nearly 150,000, Sundown is a notch of urban flair along the Midwest's Bible Belt.
Getting in proves to be the easy part and the anonymity of being a DJ suits her well. But off air (and in person), Whitney must stand up to Sadi, an angry feminist and the bane of her college years while an old friendship with her former roommate, Leah, devolves around a guy.
It's 2002 and the Midwest radio scene is changing. Just as Whitney hits her groove, the radio station undergoes its own identity crisis. But what rocks Whitney to her core is the moment the condom breaks. Her abstinence only background leaves her embarrassed and facing a difficult choice.
Goodreads:
My Review
5 of 5 Strong Enough
If you like music and like to read this is the book for you. Strong Enough incorporates music and reading the two things I love to do. This is a story about love, friendships, and finding one's true self and where you belong. Have you ever just had enough and said F%^& it! Have you ever just wanted something but never gone after it? Well that is what happened to Whitney our main character in Strong Enough. She has decided she needs to find herself. But where to start? She dresses different and she is DJ'ing at a small record station. But what Whitney really needs is to find herself. See without knowing who you are or what you want you can't move on and do the things you want. You have to find the strength to be who you want to be and Whitney does it. She has her journey and life's bumps on the way but she never gives up.
Whitney's choices in life lead her to the cross road of where she will choice friends, lovers, and what she will do with life. I really loved this story and I loved the fact that every chapter had a name of a song that described everything that was going on in that chapter. Remember when I said I love music and reading well I love love love it when an author uses songs as chapter headings because I get a sense of what is coming in the chapter and I get to see the feelings the main character is going through at that moment. It is like short glimpses into their lives and I don't know about you but I love it when I get the glimpse and it is something totally different from what I thought it was going to be.
This is a summer must read on the beach with your ipod so you can get the full effect of the book!
Strong Enough Playlist:
Strong Enough Chapter Titles
The chapter titles of "Strong Enough" create a playlist for Whitney's story.
I will write about each chapter title and as I do, I'll link from here to the posts.
Prologue White Wedding by Herman's Hermits, When Pigs Fly
Get the Party Started by P!nk, M!ssundaztood
The Middle by Jimmy Eat World, Jimmy Eat World
Lemon Punch by Splash, Carbonated Jingle Single
Pink Houses by John Mellencamp, Uh-Huh!
In a Little While by Uncle Kracker, No Stranger to Shame
Rebels of the Sacred Heart by Flogging Molly, Drunken Lullaby
Mystery Dance by Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True
Someday by The Strokes, Is This It
If Jessie's Girl Was A Boy by The Ash Martins, Punking the Night Away
Superman by Mensen, Delusions of Grandeur
What Would Happen by Meredith Brooks, Blurring The Edges
Fell In Love With a Girl by The White Stripes, White Blood Cells
So Much to Say by Dave Matthews Band, Crash
Breathless by The Corrs, In Blue
What A Wonderful World by Joey Ramone, Don't Worry About Me
Love Songs by Fleming & John, Delusions Of Grandeur
Be Careful by Patty Griffin, 1000 Kisses
Dance The Devil Back Into His Hole by The Frames, Dance the Devil
Would? by Alice in Chains, Dirt
Near You Always by Jewel, Pieces of You
Headstrong by Trapt, Trapt
Muddy Hymnal by Iron & Wine, The Creek Drank the Cradle
Lousy Lullaby by Marry Me Jane, Marry Me Jane
Tiptoe by Ani DiFranco, Not a Pretty Girl
RU Ready by Never Ending, Shout!
Sweetest Goodbye by Maroon 5, Songs About Jane
Jezebel In Hell by Ode to Poe, Angry Johnny
One Way by The Levellers, Levelling the Land
Good Riddance by Green Day, Nimrod
ELLEN HARGER:
Ellen Harger was born at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. As a military brat, she moved often during her childhood--something she never resented and continued as an adult. The constant starting over influenced her first published novel, "Strong Enough."
At 14, her family settled in Missouri as civilians, permitting Ellen to attend one high school. She stayed in the Midwest to attend a small liberal arts college, studying creative writing and art. After 11 years, she moved to Boston. While there, she continued to study creative writing in Cambridge. Ever willing to explore new places, she moved next to the San Francisco Bay area. After 11 years away, and loving the symmetry, she returned to the Midwest to finish "Strong Enough." She has published a poem, "Guidelines," and released her novel as an e-book.
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