Leigh, a kidney transplant gal in her 20's, decides to head on a road trip to thank her donor's family and track down her estranged mother. Driving from Wisconsin to California, she picks up a teen hitchhiker….or rather the kid picks up her, by holding her purse hostage at the rest stop. In Colorado, they pick up Leigh's new age girlfriend to tag along, stop at all sorts of places along the way. Larry's family is a surprise, as is what they find at the end of the road in Los Angeles. A quirky, fun, light read. ( )

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Why did I wait so lone to read this book? Leigh Fielding lives with her brother and his wife about 30 minutes from where I am sitting. I loved all the local references. Also my mother was on dialysis for some time before she died so those references rang true as well.

Leigh was lucky to receive a kidney transplant and through a mix up the anonymous donation didn’t stay so anonymous. Leigh has planned quite a road trip and she has added a stop to visit one of her donor’s relatives. She wants to find out what he was like and to thank them for the gift they have given her. Against her brother’s wishes Leigh heads west in what turns into a very memorable trip. She gains a passenger along the way, they stop to see the sights, visit her best friend in Colorado, meet up with an old boyfriend, has an interesting stop at the donor’s mother’s house and then head to California to hopefully reconnect with her mother.

This was Jess Riley’s debut novel and it a heartwarming and sometimes a heartbreaking story. It is also full of some laugh out loud and crazy moments. I found it to be very well written with a very balanced pace. Easy to picture all the events as they happened because of the author’s descriptive writing style. There was a twist that added just a little suspense too. It was almost a learning experience as Leigh has PKD, polycystic kidney disease. I had heard of this disease but didn’t know much about it.

The trip that Leigh calls her Unfinished Business Trip was quite a journey. I am honored to have been able to travel on it right along with her. I loved this story. ( )

Leigh Fielding, a kidney transplant who is now free of dialysis, sets out on a road trip seeking adventure and reunions with an old flame, an old friend and her long gone mother. Shortly into the trip she meets Denise, a teen with a horrendous tale who needs a ride, and, against her better judgement and in order to get her purse, she agrees to give her a ride. Leigh uses plenty of humour to help alleviate stress and get through difficulties, and receives a number of calls from her older brother who has taken care of her one way or another for over half her life.

At the back of this novel there is a piece about the kidney disease Leigh suffers from in this novel, and the story was partly written to help make this known. In that it is successful. I liked some parts, didn’t care for others, and for a while was considering giving this 2.5 stars, but it did get somewhat better as I got past the midway point and so overall I have to say that I liked this once I overcame some of my disbelief of certain characters and scenarios.
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Driving Sideways, by Jess Riley
★★★ and a 1/2 (rounding up to 4)

Synopsis: Leigh Fielding wants a life. Seriously. Having spent the past five years on dialysis, she has one simple wish: to make it to her thirtieth birthday. Now, thanks to the generosity of the late Larry Resnick and his transplanted kidney, it looks like her wish may come true.
With her newfound vitality (and Larry's kidney) in tow, Leigh hits the road for an excursion that will carry her from Wisconsin to California, with a few stops in between: Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, the Rockies, Las Vegas--and a memorable visit to thank Larry's family for this second chance.
Yet Leigh's itinerary takes a sudden detour when she picks up seventeen-year-old hitchhiker Denise, a runaway with a bunch of stories and a couple of secrets. Add to the mix a long-lost mother, a loaded gun, an RV full of swingers, and Hall and Oates' Greatest Hits, and Driving Sideways becomes a hilarious and original journey of friendship, hope, and discovery.
In A Sentence: A fun and comfortably quirky novel.
My Thoughts: This was a decent read, really. I liked Leigh's quirkiness and felt that I could relate to her in many ways. That's always a plus, to be able to relate to the main character. The other characters were enjoyable as well: Wes, Jillian, Denise, they were all fun to read about. I also really liked how the plot went in unexpected twists and turns while at the same time traveling it's fairly predictable main route.
The plot had many fun moments. Some were pleasant to read about, some were hilarious, and some were downright outrageous. It had it's eye-opening moments as well, where things don't go as planned and subsequently change Leigh's outlook on life. Overall, this whole book was an interesting read.
There are some slight downsides to this novel, however. The writing is good, but not great, and sometimes it seems a little jerky. There were a couple times where I wondered where the author was going with the story, but in retrospect, the plot's pace made sense.
Overall, this is certainly a good story that goes in surprising, and sometimes amusing directions. I would say it's a light, but not too light, read. I had fun with it and I think generally, most readers would too. ( )

Driving Sideways by Jess Riley is a wonderful debut novel—I certainly hope Ms. Riley is hard at work on her next novel because I’ll be sure to buy it.

This is a truly delightful story of Leigh Fielding, a young woman of 28 who suffers from polycystic kidney disease, an incurable illness that generally destroys kidney function and requires ultimately dialysis or a kidney transplant. After some years of dialysis, Leigh gets her kidney transplant and, after recovering from the surgery, has decided to take a long overdue road trip.

This is one of the funniest road trips I’ve ever read. Told from Leigh’s point of view, we are treated to Leigh’s observations as she travels from Wisconsin to California, along with the delightful people she picks up along the way.

This is a great story of courage and hope, along with some of the funniest lines I’ve ever read. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a funny, enlightening read. ( )