Eight Hundred Grapes was recommended on a twitter feed that I came across this summer.  It happened to be present on the list of the library’s available audiobooks and became my company during my recent commutes.  It immediately catches your attention as the main character takes off on a 7 hour road trip – in a wedding dress!

I would describe this novel as a “summer read” or a “beach read” – enjoyable but light and amusing.  It tells the tales of a family and their struggles to deal with a number of challenges including but not limited to a discovered 5 year old daughter, the sale of the family vineyard and home, adultery and an upcoming wedding in the midst of the turmoil. When you need to focus on the road, this type of a light book is easy to listen to during the drive.

The novel was littered with information about wine and running a vineyard.  Who knew that it takes 800 grapes to make one bottle of wine?

I would not necessary recommend this as stellar fiction but did enjoy something lighter during my drives.  Today I have started listening to Mitch Albom’s new book The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto so my readers can look forward to a review of this novel sometime next week.