Everyone Is Beautiful

by Katherine Center

Book Overview

"What a clear-eyed rendering of the grimy, exhausting, beautiful mess that is early motherhood I laughed, winced in recognition, and cheered wholeheartedly (sometimes out loud) for Lanie as she struggles to learn how to love everyone enough and still give part of herself to herself."--Marisa de los Santos, author of Belong to Me Lanie Coates's life is spinning out of control. She's piled everything she owns into a U-Haul and driven with her husband,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400066433
• ISBN13: 9781400066438
• Release Date: February 2009
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 237 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

From S. Krishna's Books

I really enjoyed Katherine Center's first novel The Bright Side of Disaster, so when I got the chance to review her new novel from Pump Up Your Book Promotion Blog Tours, I jumped at the chance. I'm thrilled to say that Everyone Is Beautiful is just as good as, if not better than, The Bright Side of Disaster. I love how honest Center's writing is. She doesn't try to hide anything; instead of telling us that Lanie is depressed and completely strung out, she shows us. She shows us how much Lanie gives to her family, and how there is little (if anything) left for herself. She shows us how much Lanie really needs something of her own, something to brighten her day and give her a chance to breathe. I have to say, reading the novel, I felt just as trapped as Lanie did. When Lanie finally does start doing something that is only for herself, I cheered for her. Center manages to get the reader fully invested in her characters. It's an amazing talent, and one that the author uses very effectively. I thought the central message of this book was incredible. No one is perfect, and everyone is beautiful. How many times have we really thought of ourselves as beautiful? Not many, I'm guessing. It's always "my eyes look puffy" or "is that a new wrinkle?" or "ugh, bad hair day!" I love the idea that everyone is beautiful. It puts a positive spin on life! I loved all the secondary characters in Everyone Is Beautiful as well. The only thing I wish for the novel is that there could have been more development of these wonderful personalities! Of course, I understand that it was Lanie's story, but it's just a testament to Katherine Center's character writing ability that I just wanted more! As you can tell, I really adored Everyone Is Beautiful. This is a book with great characters, constant humor, an interesting storyline, and a wonderful message. I enjoyed it immensely, and I highly recommend it! http://www.skrishnasbooks.com/2009/03/everyone-is-beautiful-katherine-center.html

A Must Read!

Lanie Coates is the mother of three young boys. Supporting her husband's dream to become a professional musician, she's agreed to leave everything behind in Texas and move to Cambridge, MS. For the past fifteen years, she's devoted her entire life to her family. Her passion with art and painting is soon replaced with diapers and crayons. Her body, much like her life, is unrecognizable. She's lost herself, and she desperately seeks to find some semblance of the person she was. She begins to devote time to herself, and begins going the gym each night, and even signs up for a photography class. This class helps her discover a passion that was unknown to her. Unfortunately, though passion is growing in the heart of someone else as well, and it's not her husband! Just as Lanie begins to feel at peace with herself, her world is turned over and she must struggle to fix it. EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL is a very honest look at hectic life of a mom. There are moments where you will laugh out loud, and moments where you will cry. As a mother of two boys myself, I could completely sympathize with Lanie's character. This is a must read of any mom, no matter the age of the child.

Great Read!

A wonderfully written, laugh out loud book about life, love, and motherhood. I don't think there's a mother alive who won't be able to identify in some way.

A Moving, Funny, Family Pageturner

Katherine Center has done it again - created a novel about family, motherhood and sense of self that is gripping, humorous, and dramatic enough to keep me reading right up until the end. Lainie is much more than simply the downtrodden, neglected wife and mother (though she is also that) and her fight for one hour of gym time is the start of her growing up a little and discovering who she is beyond the confines of her family. Where that discovery takes her is something Center lets unfold with the help of some characters who are quirky enough in and of themselves. One little white lie that will be horrific and family to anyone packing on a few pounds plays a major plot point later on (I don't want to give too much away). Lainie's attempts to hold her family and marriage together, while also finding her own artistic impulses and inspirations, is at the heart of this book. Tender and touching, it makes me hope there are many more such novels in Center's future.

honest, wise, and hysterically funny

Katherine Center's writing is so honest that I spent a lot of time wincing and thinking "I'm so glad it's not just me." The book is also so funny that I found myself laughing hysterically in almost every chapter (which is rare for me). Everyone is Beautiful is for every woman who has ever struggled to find, hold on to, and nurture authenticity in the midst of that wild, messy, wonderful thing called motherhood. This is the perfect book club book. It's also the kind of book that you hand to a close friend and grin when you say, "I think you'll relate."