I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. I had the advantage of going into it without really knowing anything about it and I would suggest doing that. It wasn't a twisty mystery but a well-written family dramady with quirky characters and unpredictable plot points- in other words, my favorite kind of book.
Lane is an advice column journalist who isn't a people person. She grew up moving a lot. Her son Henry is a mix of her introvert personality and his dad's fun-loving, social side. That's all I'm willing to say.
This book is for fans of The Lager Queen of Minnesota and Standard Deviation. It comes out in May 2020 and I hope you read it.
Thank you to Netgalley for the free, advance copy. I turned out lucky on this one.

Lane’s husband Aaron has died in a crash, his car crashed into another killing the occupants and the mystery woman in his car. Lane is now left to bring up their six year old son Henry and juggle her job writing Ask Roxie, an agony aunts column.

After Aaron’s funeral Henry stops talking to everybody except his mother. Lana decides that they should move from their apartment and rents a property from Nathan in New Jersey. Unfortunately the house has many flaws and needs a lot of repairs so Nathan offers her the rent of his other property in Martha’s Vineyard.

This is a moving story about grief and moving on. Lana has her own personal demons to work through as well as finding out why Henry has stopped talking. This is an emotional rollercoaster of a ride, Henry is such a sweet child and I did have a little weep when I found out why he hadn’t been speaking!!!

I’m looking forward to reading more of Nancy Star’s books.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

Rules for Moving by Nancy Star
Having been away from writing book reviews for a while, I was keen to get back on Netgalley’s lists so just asked for a random book to read on my new Kindle.
This was a very pleasant surprise: my first read of the author, Nancy Star who shows great skill in engaging the reader in what appears to be a mundane topic.
Our protagonist, Lane Meckler – I did have a problem with the name, but she is American – was very unforthcoming with her feelings and initially I struggled to engage with her. However, she is not written in the first person so when we are given an insight into the mind of her 6-year-old son, Henry, the situation becomes clearer. I was very impressed with her interpretation of young Henry and his childish understanding of his family life. In fact, there is little family in his life and this we learn is a reflection of the childhood of his mother.
Lane is a successful columnist but the advice she gives as her nom de plume, Roxie, bears little resemblance to her own actions. Having spent most of her childhood moving from house to house she adopts the Rules for Moving as dictated by her eccentric mother. As the narrative progresses Lane learns, mainly through her experiences with Henry, that these rules are counter-productive and thus adapts to living by her own dictats. The denouement is satisfactory for all in the family and I was left feeling contented and glad that I had read the book.
The geographical locations and the sometimes unusual words, made this a “foreign” book but this added an edge to the action that I also found pleasing.
I can recommend this book and will look out for other Nancy Star novels.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and #netgalley for letting me read and review Rules for Moving by Nancy Star. Such a sweet and sad story with so many funny bits in between! Highly recommend!

Rules For Moving is a very well written and thought provoking story that captured my attention from the first chapter and had me reading way past my bedtime because I wanted to know what was going to happen!
My only complaint would be that some of the story lines are hard to understand, for example, why do Lane's parents behave so strangely? The way they treat Lane is very strange and I can't understand her responses.

With thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the complimentary advanced reader's copy.

Rules for Moving is a delightful, moving, touching story that almost had me in tears several times throughout the story..

Lane’s husband, Aaron, is killed in a car accident, leaving herself and her son, Henry, suddenly without the third member of their family. Lane believes her husband was drunk and on his way to see the woman with whom she thought he was having an affair, as he had stormed out of the house after one of their all too frequent fights; in fact, both Lane and Aaron were pretty sure the marriage was on the rocks. We find out differently towards the end, but my lips are sealed.

There are parallel yet intersecting story lines in this book. Professionally, Lane is an advice columnist (Ask Roxie) for the Guild, an amorphous organization that appears to be in the business of social media influence. After Aaron’s funeral, Henry mysteriously stops talking except at home, and then only to Lane. She asks to be allowed to work from home (never allowed at the Guild) so she can spend more time with Henry, whose silence continues until almost the end of the book.

Lane’s rental house is literally falling to pieces - not a day passes when some major system fails. Her landlord is embarrassed by the situation and bends over backwards to make things right.

The turning point comes when Lane’s mother suddenly arrives for a visit, with no explanation. The landlord invites them all to stay at his summer home on Martha’s Vineyard, and from there, eventually, all is resolved.

This is a story with a happy ending. There are a lot of interesting threads that wind up together. The Rules for Moving are literally Lane’s mother’s rules: the family moved a lot and she had rules for moving, packing, and she maintained her very self by a long set of intricate rules, rules that Lane did not impose on Henry. The fact that her rental home was falling apart is a metaphor for her own life, a life that is truly reconstructed and becomes strong and solid by the book’s end.

Nancy Star is a wonderful storyteller with a gift for description, dialogue, and uncovering the true voice of her characters. Henry, around whom much of the story revolves, is a delightful child, one who actually reminds me of me: I didn’t speak much in school until midway through college myself. Henry’s reason for silence turns out to be one of his grandmother’s rules. While I was a painfully shy child, his choice of silence certainly resonated with me.

Highly recommended. I look forward to reading more by Nancy Star. I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley.

I really enjoyed this except at some places it felt too long and complicated. I especially liked the lead character, Lane, and even more than her, her son Henry. I used to teach elementary school, and this author has really captured the essence of a young child’s thought processes in a captivating and endearing way. I was confused at several different points about what was going on with Lane‘s family of origin… Her mother, father, and sister,… It was all explained in the end, but it felt to me like it took a little too long to get to that place of understanding for the reader.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Interesting and well written. I would have liked more character development but was able to read the book and enjoy it without. The setting and story were similar to but not exactly the same as other books I've read. I found the main character to be likable. I didn't enjoy the ending because it seemed to me to be too rushed and too pat, as if the publisher or editor said "Okay, time to end this book NOW!" and proceeded to do just that.

Beautiful, tender, and moving. Such great insight into family dynamics and the mind of a child. This was my first read by Nancy Star, but I’ll definitely be looking up her other work.

Rules for Moving by Nancy Star is a stand-alone contemporary romance novel.
The story is told in a dual pov.
Meet Lane. She's an advice columnist, blogger, married withan adorable son. After a traumatic event, she decides to move and start over. Only that is quite not the best idea. The move brings back memories better not revealed. Her son stops speaking to everyone except her.
Both have a lot of healing to do.
Rules for Moving is a heart-wrenching touching read that gave me all the feels. The writing is excellent and I loved the characters and the storyline.

Rules of Moving was an interesting read, however I didn't really enjoy it that much. Even though there were times I wanted to put the book down, I still managed to finish it. The first half of the book was very slow, but thankfully it got more interesting towards the end. My favorite character was Lane Meckler's six year old son Henry. He went through some heavy stuff for someone his age. Lane is a bit of an anti-social person, but she was a great mom. She had a lot of patience with Henry, and even though she was still being affected by her past, she still did a great job raising Henry. I can't really blame Lane for turning out the way she did if you look at how she was raised.

Her relationship with her parents and sister was very weird and I couldn't really get a feel of what was going on. It felt very chaotic and not everything made sense. Her parents were very secretive and I had no idea why. It was very difficult for me to like Lane, I couldn't really connect with her. I still don't feel like I really know her. The change of pace in the last quarter felt refreshing and the new characters elevated the story. I especially enjoyed Henk's friendship with Nathan. I also liked seeing Lane grow as a person and finally be happy. I just wanted the change to happen a bit earlier in the story. Honestly, this book wasn't my cup of tea and that is probably why I didn't really like it that much. I do love the cover of this book and I think it fits the story really well.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing (they never steer me wrong) and Net Galley for an e ARC of this title.in exchange for my honest review. I really loved this book. It started out in a way I didn't expect, but watching the path of advice columnist Lane Meckler go through grief that is messy...her husband, with whom she was about to separate, was killed. Her young son stops speaking to everyone but her. She decides to move, but that brings back many memories of moving multiple times when she was young and how that affected her.

Whew! A lot happened in this book. In Rules for Moving, Lane Meckler is an advice columnist with all of the answers for her readers, but when it comes to navigating issues in real life, she struggles. After being thrown a massive curve ball, she has to learn to help her six-year-old son, Henry, navigate through grief and change, especially after he stops speaking to anyone besides her.

The story is predominantly told from Lane's point of view, but there were a few endearing chapters in Henry's voice. Star expertly painted a picture of childhood anxiety and its negative ramifications. After the death of his father, Henry constantly worries that his mother is dead. His intuitive nature picks up on more of his mom's emotions than she think she lets on, but when misinterpreted, leads to even more angst. Throughout the entire novel, I wanted to pull him close and reassure him that everything would be okay.

I found several of the characters incredibly unlikable, and while I understand that people like that truly exist, it became slightly overwhelming as Lane and Henry encountered one after another. Also, Lane's entire family had deep-rooted issues that, while wrapped up at the end, didn't quite feel resolved, or even adequately addressed. Perhaps that was the author's intent, with the primary storyline was about Lane and Henry's path to healing. Overall, I truly enjoyed the novel and loved the bond between mother and son. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

RULES FOR MOVING is a good domestic drama that follows a mother and her young son after the father is tragically killed. while this is a familiar trope in women's fiction, Star makes it fresh. The father, for example, is no hero, but not a villain either. And the son, after an undisclosed traumatic event renders him voluntarily mute, is just a treasure of a character. watching him navigate school and camp without speaking is eye-opening. And the mother has plenty of secrets of her own, secrets that have affected her family of origin for decades. Well written, with a good plot and interesting characters.

You can run, but you cannot hide.
This is the theme of this novel of heartache, fear, guilt, family, friendship and love.

"She was a Meckler after all; the Mecklers could move at speed. It was staying that was the problem."
Lane is a columnist who helps to solve problems. Yet, she cannot solve her own. Will running help?
Moving has always been the way to "move on" and hide lies and problems.
Can she and her son Henry move on when tragedy strikes? Will the truth come out in her own family?
This is an emotional story that will encourage you to reflect on both Lane's family and their journey and your own journey and possible secrets that should come forth.
A wonderful heartfelt book!

Oh my gosh, if I could give 4 1/2 or 4 3/4 ⭐️.... what a wonderful book! This is the first book, in a long time, that touched my heart so much and brought me to tears.

There were a few idiosyncrasies like short, clipped sentences and the “mother/grandmother” always saying “Oh, well” that I found irritating. But the basic storyline was so touching, and slowly evolving. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend!

Synopsis: Advice columnist Lane, who has moved innumerable times in her life and detaches from belongings as well as feelings, comes to terms with her life and emotions. At the loss of her husband and subsequent psychological muteness of her young son, she navigates her way through grief, self reflection, and positive changes for the future.

I was given an ebook ARC unedited proof in return for an honest review by @netgalley

LOVED IT!

Review also on www.goodreads.com
and Instagram @on_a_sandbar

This book tells the story of an advice columnist going through some stuff herself. You could say she is in need of some advice and guiding herself.
Used to moving as a kid, Lane decides to move with her kid after a traumatic event. Henry doesn’t speak to anyone because of the things that happened. As the story unfolds you get a real understanding for this family and Lane’s not so great childhood.
The book is a pretty good read and I really enjoyed it. I did find there were some gaps and some things here and there that just didn’t sit right for me.

A wonderful read characters that drew me inthat come alive. An advice columnist who needs help a little boy who stops taking.a book full of quirky characters enjoyed every page an author to follow,#netgalley#lakeunionpublishing

The book cover drew me in. I really enjoyed the book. It was well written and flowed well. Good interesting storyline to keep you happy. Nice characters too