Recent Reads, 26/40: Since You’ve Been Gone

Book 26 of my 40 book challenge was Morgan Matson’s Since You’ve Been Gone.

This book was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed reading it. I think I first heard of it because there was a contest on Instagram via Iconosquare that tied in with the book. After reading the premise, I was sold.

Emily is the kind of girl who prefers to hide behind others, allowing them to shine so she can stay out of the spotlight. Her friendship with Sloane is perfect for that…Sloane is fearless and beautiful, always making conversation with new people, dressing in fantastic vintage clothes, and pushing Emily outside of her box. Emily is prepared for another amazing summer with her best friend…but Sloane and her family have appeared to flee town without telling her.
Eventually, Emily gets a letter from Sloane in the mail (no return address, of course) with a list of 13 things Emily should do this summer. They range from simple (apple picking at night) to ballsy (go skinny dipping) and Emily, who normally would be scared to do any of these things, gets up the courage to do them in an attempt to find Sloane, and she ends up finding herself and some new friends along the way.

This was a really fun read. I think it accomplished what it was set out to do…be a fun book about growing up, friendship, learning about yourself, and finding courage. It’s also a great summer book. When I first started, I was worried that it would bore me (the chapters were longer than I expected, and I just wasn’t falling in right away), but I couldn’t stop reading once the actions on the list got juicier and her friendships continued to develop.

Morgan Matson has two other books with great Goodreads ratings…I look forward to reading them soon!

P.S. I love the addition of photography inside of the dust jacket…what a fun touch!

Recent Reads, Double Feature: Books 24 & 25

Usually, I like to do separate posts about my books, but I finished two books before sitting down to write.
Why not do a little combo post?

Book 24 was The Girls from Corona del Mar by Rufi Thorpe (it’s also the most recent book that Katie and I have read together). I had heard about it (it’s Thorpe’s debut novel) from a good review in Entertainment Weekly (surprise).

The book tells the story of two friends, Mia and Lorrie Ann, from Mia’s perspective. We learn about their friendship as teenagers, as Mia tells Lorrie Ann that she has scheduled an appointment for an abortion. The basic idea is that Mia is the bad seed in the relationship, which she welcomes with open arms, as she admires the beauty and perfection of Lorrie Ann and her family life. Throughout the novel, as time goes on, Mia is transfixed by the fact that, despite how wonderful a person Lorrie Ann is and how terrible and selfish Mia believes she is, Lorrie Ann’s life has been completely encompassed in bad luck.

The story is ultimately about what it means to be a woman, a mother, and how relationships change as we age.
I found this book to be a fairly quick read, and a lot of the conversations had between the two friends bring up a lot of interesting arguments. I’m not shouting from the rooftops about this novel, but I am glad I read it.
Can’t wait to talk about it with Katie!

 

Book 25 is Panic by Lauren Oliver. Not only is this the second Lauren Oliver book I’ve read, it’s also the second Lauren Oliver book I’ve read this year. You may recall that I had many great things to say about Before I Fall.
She has a trilogy of books, and now Panic is her most recent novel, a stand-alone book.

Panic is the story of Heather, Dodge, and a game called Panic that occurs every summer in a small, boring town called Carp. There’s nothing else to do, so the seniors give money that ends up accumulating until the summer after their graduation, and then the winner takes the pot. The thing about Panic is that the stakes are always high. People have died in the past completing the challenges. Heather joins Panic on an impulse…she feels as though there is nothing left to lose.
Dodge, meanwhile, has been plotting revenge via entering the games for years. The story switches between Heather’s life and Dodge’s life, both third-person narrative.

I think this book had a lot of potential. The high-stakes game provided the occasional thrill, but it definitely could’ve been more exciting. And the end, which I don’t want to ruin, was so anti-climactic. It felt abrupt and so happily-ever-after. I think it was guaranteed to have a good ending, everything falling into place but…it felt forced and random.

A challenge update: I’m 63% done (1 book behind)!
My only problem is narrowing down the books I want to read. Over 50 unread books on the Kindle, so many unread books (old and new) that I’ve bought. And, of course, the library…sigh….

Recent Reads, 23/40: Grasshopper Jungle

I’ve been wanting to write my review for book 23, Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith, all week, but I didn’t have the dust jacket to take a good photo. I’ve been at Brad’s all week, and the cover has been at home and I just couldn’t wait any longer. So this photo will have to do…maybe I’ll update it, but it’s not really that important.
(Although I like the cover!)

Grasshopper Jungle is the story of 16 year old Austin Szerba, who is documenting the history of the end of the world.
Austin and his best friend, Robby Brees, spend their afternoons and weekends skateboarding in an alleyway they dubbed “grasshopper jungle” in the small town of Ealing, Iowa, where nothing exciting happens and everything basically sucks. One day, Austin and Robby are beaten up and their shoes are thrown on the roof of a secondhand store. When the boys go to retrieve it, they sneak into the shop and into the locked backroom, where many a weird thing is stored. It leads to a globe of phosphorescent mold being stolen by the same jerks who beat the kids up…and that mold holds a plague that will bring about the end of the world as we know it, creating 6-foot tall preying mantises out of anyone who comes in contact with the strain. As all of this is happening, Austin is dealing with the common problems of a 16 year old boy. He’s horny, he’s bored, and he’s in love with his best friend and his girlfriend, Shann Collins, adding sexually confused to his hormonal mix.

This was unlike anything I read. It’s sci-fi mixed with teenage drama, but in a very mature sense. Austin never sounds too big for his britches, an important thing for me in young adult novels. In fact, there’s a very repetitive nature to the way he speaks, and I like that. Just a reminder of what has been happening, as if he really is documenting the history of this devastation in notebooks.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone look for something different.
If you need anymore egging on, read this great review from Entertainment Weekly.

Recent Reads, 22/40: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

After reading We Were Liars a couple of months ago, I decided to take a look at E. Lockhart’s other work.
Since this book was an honorable mention for the Printz award and has a good average on Goodreads, I decided to go with (the longest title ever) The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.

The Disreputable History is the story of a 15 year old girl attending Alabaster Prep School, a place where people are defined by the groups they spend time with. Frankie’s body changes over the summer before her sophomore year, and she ends up getting the attention of one of the popular boys in school, Matthew Livingston.
While she is excited to have the attention of one of the cutest boys in the school, she is also aware of the way he views her: helpless, adorable, young. He often blows her off in favor of hanging out with his friends, one in particular named Alpha, in a secret society (The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds). In order to prove herself worthy of both the society and equality with the guys, she starts to infiltrate the system with great results.

This was unlike any YA book I’ve ever read, in particular one about a teenage girl. Frankie is not your typical 15 year old female character. Yes, she is attracted to a boy and wants his attention, but she also finds it important that he see her on equal terms. She is acutely aware of the way the girls around her are seen, both by boys and the girls themselves.
She is a young feminist. I feel like strong female characters are usually in the form of Katniss or Tris. In those books (which I still love), there is some sort of powerful force that is harming the population and a strong girl steps up to change things. In the case of Frankie, she is a 15 year old girl looking for equality among the sexes within her own little universe of school. It’s life. She is smart, but still thinks like a 15 year old girl. There was no “Dawson’s Creek Syndrome” making her sound wise beyond her years. I tagged a lot of pages because there were some great points within.

I don’t know about E. Lockhart’s other books, but two have already pleased me greatly.
I’ll have to check out her others.

Recent Reads, 21/40: Roomies

Roomies by Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando was on my to-read list for a little while, and something finally pulled me to check the library to see if they had it. There’s a funny story surrounding that trip to the library,
but that can wait for another day.

This book is (probably very obviously, from the cover) a YA novel told from two different perspectives.
Elizabeth and Lauren are both attending UC Berkeley in the fall, and each receives their roommate assignments. Elizabeth, who is from New Jersey, immediately decides to email Lauren and establish a bond. Lauren, however, is less than thrilled to discover that her request for a single has been denied. (Elizabeth is an only child, while Lauren is surrounded in a house with younger siblings.) Still, they find themselves turning to each other’s emails as they face their changing relationships with friends and growing relationships with boys.

This is one of those YA books I probably really would’ve liked if I were 16 or 17, college still ahead of me.
The switch between characters from chapter to chapter kept it interesting, but ultimately, it was just a fluff read.

Recent Reads, 20/40: All the Summer Girls

I’ve made it to the halfway mark! I am super proud of myself.
Last year, I was beyond 20 books at this point, but it was around this time that I really started to slow down and get frustrated with work stuff, allowing myself little time to do anything but be moody.

Book 20 is the 5th book Katie and I decided to read in our book club (ya know, our two person book club).
This book is definitely not something that will give us tons to mull over and to talk about, but it’s nice to read something that isn’t cumbersome, like Life After Life, that month-sucking book.

All the Summer Girls, by Meg Donahue, is that your typical beach read fluff. It has the romantic drama and the friendship drama and all other kinds of drama. But Donahue added a mix a bit of intrigue and trauma as well. Our three characters, Kate, Vanessa, and Dani, haven’t been the same since the death of Colin, Kate’s twin brother, several summers earlier at Avalon beach in NJ. Suddenly, the place they spent long vacations at every year is tainted with the terrible memory. We learn that everyone has guilt towards the death, feeling responsible in their own ways, but we don’t know why or what they did until the characters slowly start to tell each other.

One thing that bummed me out about the book is that, since every character is struggling through some sort of personal issue along with their issues towards Colin, the beach is like a backdrop that doesn’t shine. From the cover of the book to the title, it screams “READ ME WHILE YOU’RE SUNBATHING ON THE SHORE!” But the summer home they spent so much time in, the beach and boardwalk they lived on, don’t shine. I was definitely bummed, especially after being transported so well in We Were Liars. I want to mentally see that beach house, and it just wasn’t there.

I did like the fact that each chapter focused on a different character (The order is Kate, Vanessa, Dani). The book is written in a third-person POV, so it’s interesting to separate the chapters without them actually narrating the story.
I think it was smart to write the alternating chapters so that we could see just what these girls are going through.

To sum it up, it was a quick read that would definitely fly by if you have time on the beach.
Still, I feel like there are more summer-y summer reads.

Recent Reads, Book 19/40: Landline

So, at this point, Rainbow Rowell has a fan base that would willingly read a brochure on how to plunge toilets. Four books into her work, I think I can say I’m on that bandwagon. What I adore about her, really, is how Rainbow Rowell-y her writing is. It’s charming, it’s different, it’s real.

Landline was just released this past week and I read it in a little more than 48 hours…a new record for me lately, for sure. Instead of sleeping, I read and read, dying to know what would happen next. I was worried that, in a sleepy haze the next morning, I would forget what I had read. It didn’t happen.

Landline is the story of Georgie McCool, a TV writer who’s marriage to Neal has always been tough, despite their deep love for each other. When the career opportunity of a lifetime keeps Georgie from spending Christmas in Omaha with her husband and kids, their relationship is strained more than ever before. He won’t answer her calls or communicate with her in any way…until she goes to her mom’s house, plugs in the old landline, and calls his house, only to find 1998 Neal, just before he proposed, on the other line. Georgie is left to wonder if she is meant to prevent their marriage from happening or if it can be saved from the absolutely strange and impossible phone calls.

Each book of Rowell’s has this sort of strange magic to it, whether it’s intentional (in this case) or not.
It’s intoxicating and wonderful. Since the book takes place around Christmastime, I seriously thought I would see snow outside when I finally looked out the window after finishing. That’s how transported I got.
And I love the way she writes about love. It’s not the typical story. Some of the romantic moments are the strangest (a particular non-kiss scene in this book stands out), unlike anything you’d read in an Emily Giffin book.
That’s what’s so wonderful about her. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Recent Reads, 18/40: How to Love

I just keep chuggin’ along with the books.
I’m 3 books behind schedule, still, but this is the rate I typically read books at, about one per week.
Last year, I got so stressed because I made the goal so high (a book a week, not considering social life or work situations) and eventually gave up. I might not make the goal, exactly, but I’m not far behind and I’m allowing myself to enjoy the books. Either way, I’ll give myself a pat on the back. A couple of set-backs and I’m still doing okay.

How to Love by Katie Cotugno has been on my Amazon Wish List since it was released last fall, thanks to this good review from Entertainment Weekly. I pretty much trust my life with EW. My parents got me a couple of Amazon gift cards that I used for tons of Kindle books, but decided it was time to start buying some physical copies again.

How to Love is the story of Reena (Serena) Montero, a smart teenager who became pregnant at 16 and was abandoned by the father, and great love of her life, Sawyer LeGrande, who has suddenly come back into her life. Though he disappeared without knowing about the baby, the abandonment and the teen pregnancy caused tension in her life both towards him and with her family. The story is told in alternating chapters, BEFORE he left and AFTER he came back.
Reena has known Sawyer forever, and loved him about that long, but he isn’t all he’s cracked up to be when they finally come together. Their relationship is strained with secrets and fears. Can they overcome all of that?

I had high expectations for this book. I don’t want to say it let me down, but it didn’t become a favorite. Still, I consider a book good and read-worthy when it gives me something to think about and carry with me. I know this story won’t become a forgotten book in the library of my mind. While checking some spoiler-free reviews on Goodreads, I came across many people hating the character of Sawyer LeGrande. I, of course, ended up disliking him, too. I wondered if it was influenced by the reviews or if I would’ve felt that way regardless. He’s not particularly likeable, and Reena is a repressed and angry soul, so she’s hard to like sometimes,too. I think there’s something smart about that, though, especially in terms of a book geared towards Young Adults. It’s not the perfect love story. 

I think Cotugno handled Reena’s motherhood really well, too. It wasn’t the focus of the story. Reena’s a teen mom, and she’s dealing with it as best she can while living a normal life, but it’s not used to overdramatize the story in my opinion. It is the cause for family tension, but it’s not trying to send a message.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It’s more of a drama, unlike cutesy love stories you might find in YA romances,
but that doesn’t make it any harder to read or enjoy. It’s a refreshing change.

Recent Reads, 17/40: Where Things Come Back

This past weekend, I finished Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley. This book came out in 2012 and was honored with the Michael L. Printz award, but I never felt particularly compelled to read it. A while back, it was a Kindle Daily Deal, and for $2 bucks, I couldn’t say no.

Usually, I have an idea of what book I’d like to read before I finish the current book. Not this time. I finished The Leftovers on a Friday night before bed, so I figured I’d just work it out the next day. I brought my Kindle to work with me, knowing I had an hour break to eat and read (which is what I always do when I have an hour. Panera and a book.).
The Kindle was the easiest thing to do because I currently have 64 unread books on it.
I might have a problem?

When I buy a new book, it automatically downloads on Wi-Fi and shows up on my Carousel. To keep it looking neat, I keep only a few books on that page at a time. Though I bought Where Things Come Back a while ago, it was on the carousel and I thought, why not? And then I fell right in.

I’m not sure how to explain the book. This is what I could say, but I don’t know if it’ll do it justice.
Cullen Witter is a 17 year old stuck in the small town of Lily, Arkansas. It’s one of those towns people dream about leaving but either never do or always end up coming back. The summer before his senior year of high school, Cullen is sent to a morgue to identify the body of his cousin Oslo, who died of a drug overdose. From that moment on, everything starts to crumble around him. Lily becomes obsessed with the idea that a woodpecker once thought to be extinct is somewhere in their town. They cling to the idea that this Lazarus Woodpecker will bring business to the area.
Meanwhile, Cullen’s younger brother Gabriel disappears and the family’s search for him is strained and fearful.

There’s like SO MUCH MORE to this book. There are multiple narratives that sort of flow together throughout. Honestly, I had no idea how to describe the book to Brad as I was reading it or even to myself. And yet, every time I sat down to read it, I would clear large portions at a time without realizing it.

I can see why it won the Printz award. Though it is a book you would find in the Young Adult section, it’s very mature (but it’s stupid to say that Young Adult novels are only for teens, and maybe one day I’ll share my argument.).
A lot of different themes, from religion to death to depression, are covered.
It’s an easy read, but the material is shrouded in a dark cloud.
However, I enjoyed it and am curious to read Whaley’s new book, Noggin, which has yet another strange premise.

Recent Reads, 16/40: The Leftovers

I’m a little behind on Recent Reads post. I’ve actually just started book 18, so I have a couple of books to update about.
Book 16 was also the fourth pick for book club (Katie and I). She looked through my To-Read list on Goodreads and picked this one, because she didn’t know that the HBO show of the same name was inspired by it. I was more than happy to read it, since it’s been on that list for quite some time.

This is the second book I have read by Tom Perrotta, the first being Little Children. I read that back in my college days (probably 2007?), so I don’t recall every detail. I just remembered everything being very dramatic yet quiet.
My fear was that The Leftovers would be a lot like our attempt at reading Life After Life and that it would sound better than it was executed. I can say that that’s not true. I was engaged very quickly and enjoyed reading this book.

The Leftovers is about what happens when millions of people in the world suddenly disappear in what they eventually call the Sudden Departure (though the religious call it the rapture). Many things happen as people try to go on living life after the loss of loved ones and the unknown reason behind it all. In the book, we are shown the perspective of 5 different people, 4 of which are the members of the Garvey family. Kevin, the father, has become the mayor of Mapleton 3 years after the event. He is trying to maintain hope in the community while dealing with the loss of Laurie, his wife, who joined a group called the Guilty Remnant. The GR is filled with people who dress only in white, take a vow of silence, and smoke cigarettes (though I still don’t fully understand the reasoning behind that). They believe they were left behind because they weren’t worthy in God’s eyes, so they must make up for it in their own way. Laurie left her whole family behind to join this group. Their daughter Jill is a teenager, so frustrated with the loss of her mother and those troubling teen years that she shaves her head and gets in with the wrong girl, getting high, drinking, and ditching school. And their son, Tom, has become a volunteer of a man called “Holy Wayne” who started the Healing Hug Movement, telling the world that he can remove their pain through hugs.

I loved reading about the various groups of people in the world who are dealing with the departure in their own ways, religious or otherwise. I think Perrotta just knows how to tell a story about suburbia, something we always like to think of as calm and innocent but is always holding secrets underneath.

Katie and I still haven’t met to discuss the book, but I’m so glad that we read this one. I really believe that we will have plenty to talk about. If you’ve seen the show, I don’t believe it will be super similar to the book, other than the character names and groupings. I’m curious to see it one day, but for now I am pleased with the story the book told.

Recent Reads, 15/40: Jellicoe Road

Fun fact: I stayed up until 4 am Tuesday finishing this book. I was exhausted, but I knew I could do it.
Do I regret it? A little, because I hate staying up late/sleeping in late and missing time I could spend on my day off not sleeping…but, whatever. Worth itttttt.

Okay, so Jellicoe Road (which also goes by On the Jellicoe Road, according to Goodreads) was book 15 of this year.
I had never heard of it, but a friend of a friend (or a friend of mine who I’ve only met a couple of times but feel comfortable talking to because that’s what social media does…crazy world today, eh?) had suggested it on a book group page on Facebook. It was on sale and the description was intriguing enough that I went for it.

Jellicoe Road is the story of Taylor Markham, a seventeen-year-old girl who was abandoned by her mother and brought to the Jellicoe School by a woman named Hannah, who provides the only adult interaction she has. When Hannah suddenly disappears, Taylor finds herself faced with piecing together her past, trying to find where Hannah could’ve gone, and dealing with the territory wars between the Jellicoe students, the Townies, and the Cadets who train nearby.

There’s a lot that goes on in the story, and I feel like the more I say, the more I’ll give away. When I first started, I was super confused and felt it was a bit slow. I looked through some spoiler-free reviews on Goodreads and was relieved to see someone say that pushing through is totally worth it. I completely agree. It is an intense and emotional book…I was close to tears around the end but I was also exhausted. Pretty sure I would’ve really shed some tears had I not been up so late. Taylor Markham’s life has been…rough. But one of the great things about life is that, sometimes when all is lost, you finally find what you’re looking for.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend pushing through to read it.
It should be mentioned that it won the Michael L. Printz award, in good company with some awesome past and future winners and nominees.

P.S. I’m really glad I had the Kindle edition. The book is Australian, and I needed the dictionary quite frequently for some of their slang terms. I always seem to luck out with the books I read on Kindle.

Recent Reads, 13&14/40: Thinkin’ Outside the Box

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts about my 2014 Book Challenge, I’ve been behind ever since I “read” this book for about a month. I am still behind, but I definitely wanted to make up for lost time. I don’t want to make the challenge feel like a chore instead of something that I love to do, so there’s no pressure to finish. Still, I found a couple of shortcuts that helped add some books to my list!

Book 13, Just One Night, was actually a short story, the completion of two novels I read before (Just One Day and Just One Year) which both ended the same way…frustratingly! I’m glad that Gayle Forman put together this little ending. It was sweet.

Book 14 was One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories, by B.J. Novak. I’ve wanted to read it for a little while and seized the opportunity to snag the audio book for free as a way to not go crazy on my 6+ hour drive (alone) to Virginia last week! It was the best idea. First of all, look at how many people read with BJ Novak! Lots of people I like. Also, the fact that there are lots of short stories means I was constantly entertained and didn’t have to listen super hard so that I wouldn’t miss something important in a full-length novel (especially during a drive I’ve never done before). I laughed out loud at a lot of these (and I really wanna snag the hardcover copy for my personal library), but they were also very sweet, sad, and poignant at times. I highly recommend this book!

Recent Reads, 11/40: We Were Liars

Surprisingly, I finished book 11 in about 4 days. I can’t remember the last time I read a book this fast. It doesn’t hurt that it was about 230 pages. I’m still behind schedule, but whatever. I’m finally reading books that I’m enjoying and aren’t cumbersome.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is a YA novel that was just released. Brad got it for me as one of my birthday presents (I love getting books as presents! He also got me The Goldfinch but at 700 pages…I’m not sure when I should start that beast.), and it was a fast read, perfect for a quick trip to the beach.

Cadence Sinclair is a 17 year old girl who has been raised in a wealthy family, spending her summers on her grandfather’s private island surrounded by her aunts and cousins, specifically Mirren, Johnny, and Johnny’s friend Gat, who’s father is dating Johnny’s mother. They call themselves the Liars, four kids all close in age spending their idyllic summer days together. The summer she was 15, there was an accident that caused Cadence to lose her memory of the events surrounding it and give her migraines that leave her in bed for days at a time. She misses a whole summer with her Liars. But year 17, she finally convinces her mother to let her go, and is frustrated when no one, not even her best friends, will tell her what happened. She spends her time trying to piece together the events of that summer.

This book was mysterious and dreamy.
I truly think it’s a great read for the beach - it has that summer vibe but it keeps you hooked with the building suspense.

Recent Reads, 7/40: Before I Fall

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver is the story of Samantha Kingston’s last day, February 12th. After attending a party with her friends, they get into a car accident and Sam is killed instantly. However, she wakes up the following day only to find out that it is once again February 12 and only she has the knowledge of the “previous” night. She is then unsure of whether or not she truly is dead or why she is reliving the day repeatedly, and she tries to learn how to make it stop.

At first, I was annoyed with Sam. She and her friends are the popular bitches of her high school. They relentlessly tease people they think are below them and, especially in Sam’s case, date people for the social leverage. I felt so frustrated with the characters, so shallow and cruel….and then I remembered that high school (and most of your life, if you let it be that way) is like that. Everything seems like the end of the world. You can’t have a crush on the nerdy guy because that will make you look bad. You can’t be into certain activities or you will get pegged with a stereotype.
Being yourself is one of the hardest things in life, let alone in high school, where you have no idea what you’re doing and everything is changing at such a rapid pace.

By the end of the book, I was a sobbing mess. I thought it was a great story, so beautiful. Some can say it’s predictable, but I still was left wondering what would happen, what could happen, trying to stretch out that hope.

Without a doubt, this is the best book I’ve read as a part of my 2014 challenge so far.

Recent Reads, 6/40: The Radleys

 
Book 6 of 2014 is also the second book Katie and I decided to read for our book club. I told her I was in the mood for something a little supernatural (particularly vampires, my favorite) and she was down for it. I didn’t want anything that would lead to a series…I’m not opposed to that, it’s just that I think book club books should be a one and done.
I also have so many other books I want to read that starting a series would totally derail me.
After searching for the right book (most vampire books have various sequels), I landed on The Radleys.
(Sidebar: I love that cover in the link…and I love that it comes with a reading group guide. HOWEVER, after reading it, I don’t think the cover is that accurate…and the library is free!)

The Radleys tells the story of the Radley family. They live in a suburban England, a town called Bishopthorpe. Most people can’t pinpoint why they find the Radleys strange, because by all outside appearances they are normal. In reality, they are anything but. Helen and Peter, the parents, are abstaining vampires who settled down to stop their violent behavior and raise their son and daughter. Following an Abstainer’s Handbook (which may be very similar to an Al-Anon book), the Radleys practice normal eating habits and impulse control. Their children, Rowan and Clara, have no idea who they truly are and accept a life of being outcast. That is until something brings out the beast in Clara.
After that, their world is turned upside down with the truth of their nature, the arrival of Peter’s brother, and the attempt to keep everything at bay while maintaining their normal appearances.

When I was describing the book to my sister, she was excited and wanted it to be a movie (the rights were purchased back in 2010, but the fact that they haven’t made it yet doesn’t bode too well…rights get purchased all the time without any resulting movies). The story does have an exciting premise and it was an easy and engaging read.
Did it blow me away? No. In fact, I do feel like it could’ve gotten a bit deeper. The story only takes place over a long weekend, so I guess that’s why it never ventures too far into the past. While reading, I started to realize that vampire books might be a lot like what they say about sex and pizza: when it’s good, it’s good and when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good. I will always be entertained by vampire movies and books because I enjoy the topic very much,
but it just wasn’t my favorite flavor.

Recent Reads, 5/40: Real Happy Family

Before my trip to Mexico, I knew I wanted something fluffy and light to read on the beach. Of course, when you’re actually searching for a type of book to read, it can be hard. I knew I wanted something on my Kindle, to keep packing light. I also wasn’t sure whether or not I’d finish a book and need back up (I didn’t, but it was good to have backups without the excess baggage). Enter Kindle Firsts.

A while back, I joined a mailing list, as part of a Kindle Prime membership, that would allow me to choose one of four books for free before they are released the next month, every month. I haven’t downloaded one until
Real Happy Family by Caeli Wolfson Widger. The palm trees on the cover and quick description (plus the price tag) were enough to prove to me that it would be the best book for my vacation.

Real Happy Family tells the story of the Branch family and some of it’s extended members.
Since Lorelei Branch, the 22 year old daughter of Colleen and Carl, ran away, the family has been falling apart.
Carl can’t seem to keep a hold of his steadfast parenting ways as Colleen spins out of control without her daughter, her best friend. Lorelei ran to escape the embarrassing live TV antics of her mother, and it lands her in Reno with an addiction to meth. Meanwhile, Carl’s son Darren is facing small marital problems as his wife Robin (a talent agent who represented Lorelei before she disappeared) struggles to get pregnant. Once a solution to their fertility woes is found, Darren is offered the chance of a lifetime to be the director of photography for a prominent indie director. As it coincides with Robin’s most fertile moments, it causes a strain as each tries to achieve their dreams.
As the story goes on, the reader sees the immense downfalls and webs the characters get involved in.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this book, but I wasn’t pleasantly surprised. It was an easy read and it kept me interested. Each chapter tells the unfolding story of a different character (focusing heavily on Colleen, a stage mother unaware of her selfishness, and Lorelei, spiraling into oblivion with her addiction), and it all comes together very nicely. While the topics of addiction and infertility are dark, there is still an ease to the way the story is told.
It’s a train wreck, but you keep hoping for the light at the end of the tunnel. 

The Book That Wasn’t: A Challenge Setback

As part of my 2014 list, I wanted to start a book club. Luckily enough, my friend Katie was interested in doing the same thing! It’s a small start, just the two of us, but exciting all the same. We’ve been sharing ideas for books to read and how we can mix things up. We started with Gillian Flynn’s second novel Dark Places. The idea came from a list of books hitting the big screen this year. Since I’ve read (and greatly enjoyed) Flynn’s other two books, I was all about jumping in.
However…

The book fits the title, as it is extremely dark.
The premise can be told without ruining it because we basically know what happened going in.
Libby Day is a 30-something woman who has lived solely off the money she received as “Baby Day”, the survivor of the gruesome murders of her two sisters and mother. Her brother, Ben, was put in jail for the crime.
She is miserable, angry, hateful, greedy, and has absolutely no people skills. Can you blame her?
As money runs low in her fund, she realizes she might have to get a job. Since she has no desire to ever work, she agrees to meet with people in a “Kill Club”, a group who obsess over and sometimes try to solve different murders that have happened over the years. Several people obsess over the Day murders and some believe Ben to be innocent. If Libby shows up, possibly sells some items of her deceased family, and talks to members, she’ll earn money. By doing that, though, she has to face her demons and wonder whether or not her brother truly is innocent.

I didn’t finish this book. It was truly upsetting for me. That being said, I think Gillian Flynn did an amazing job and the book served it’s purpose. She writes stories of true crime and mystery, and they are not fluffy or happy pieces. While I was able to push aside my fears in the past (I loved both Sharp Objects and Gone Girl), it just didn’t happen for me with this one. The tension was building and the murders are so gruesome that it was too much.

I was able to talk about the book with Katie because I flipped through the rest of the pages (I had 100 left, chump change really, but I wussed out) and did some web searching to fill in gaps. In general, because of the strong emotional impact, I can say that it was well-written. Much like Gone Girl, the book is told in two parts, with alternating chapters. Libby narrates her parts, and every other chapter tells the story of what Ben and his mother Patty went through the day before the murders. I’ve heard some people say they preferred the Libby parts best, but the Patty and Ben parts were more enjoyable, and the tension was built perfectly, even though you know the general gritty end.
Still, a mystery is being pieced together and solved, and it’s intriguing.

I really wonder how Gillian Flynn does it. I could barely read the book and it came from her mind.
Now that I’ve (mostly) read all of her books, I can say she truly is a great author who deserves the hype.
Since I didn’t finish the book, I didn’t include it in my challenge.
It’s just not fair, even if I read most of it and know what happens.

As for the book club, I think Katie and I have found book number 2! Can’t wait for our next meet up.

Recent Reads, 4/40: Why Can’t I Be You?

Book #4 wasn’t originally the novel above. There was a bit of a slip up, and I plan on sharing more about that in a later post. But because of the slip up, and the nature of the faulty read, I compensated with this book I got a while ago that I knew would be the perfect fluffy read to cleanse my brain.

Why Can’t I Be You? by Allie Larkin is the epitome, to me, of a fluffy girl book.
Our narrator and protagonist is Jenny Shaw, a woman who’s seemingly got it all together, but it crumbles quickly and all at once. When she heads out of town for a conference, fresh off a break up and a series of unfortunate events, she thinks she hears someone call her name at the hotel. It turns out the woman calling after her in the elevator was actually calling for Jessie, but Jenny plays along, thinking she’ll temporarily appease this woman (close to her age) for the duration of the ride and too distraught to keep it together. Of course, it doesn’t end there. Myra, the woman who called to her, and her friends all believe she is Jessie Morgan, their best friend who disappeared immediately after graduation.
Jenny, sick of not knowing who she is and working to please other people, goes with it, full-force.

The book was an easy read, a mindless escape. I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell Jenny was thinking…I mean, really? How can you pretend to be someone else for so long, to string along these friends who are basically family? In a way, I know they are searching for someone they lost, just as she is searching for someone she never knew (herself). Still, I don’t think her tough upbringing and introverted ways should be justification for the con.

Still, it’s nice to read a book that’s fun yet holds a bit of intrigue. Who is Jessie Morgan? Why did she leave in the first place? Will her friends ever find out about the real Jenny Shaw? Etc.

Nose in a Book Pt. 2

Back in November, I wrote a post about my need to always have a book on hand. My obsession with books leads to scoping out Kindle daily deals, checking out which to-reads are at the library, and scoping out the best prices on used books. This has allowed me to accumulate quite a few books to add to my library…and the best part is…I STILL HAVEN’T READ ANY OF THEM. I looked at the picture of the books in the last post, and I read 0 of those books.
They are still waiting for me, with the addition of the above.

I pride myself in the fact that I often score my books for great prices. The above books were purchased used (both online and at flea markets), on clearance, or at a discount store. While one book (specifically hardcover) can run you close to thirty bucks, I got all of these for around that same price.

And, of course, the Kindle.
After Christmas, I got a couple of Amazon gift cards and went a little crazy buying books at 2-4 dollars a piece.
That changes the number of unread books from 9 to 19.

Last night, I tweeted that there are three things that I’ll never feel guilty about buying.
1. Nail polish
2. Mugs
3. Books

My growing collection of all of these things is proof.

Recent Reads, 3/40: Actors Anonymous

Oy.

I have to preface what I’m about to say with the honest statement that I have a love/hate relationship with James Franco. Mostly that I love to hate him. I never had much of an opinion of him until recently. He’s just sooooo weird.
I love Freaks and Geeks, but he’s definitely not my favorite character. I’ve seen the Spider-Man movies, and I forgot he was even in those. He failed epically at hosting the Oscars. He’s in movies with Seth Rogen. He was in a soap opera.
He (famously) went to college. He directs movies. He’s an “artist”. He played Alien in one of my favorite movies (pretty much the only role I like him in), and all the actresses say he didn’t leave character. And now he writes.

A while ago, I saw the “trailer” for this book, Actors Anonymous: A Novel. It is one of the douchiest things I’ve ever seen. Is that how you spell that? It’s true. If you watch that, that’s all stuff from the book. If you think it’s awful…it is.

I was never interested in reading it, especially after that, but the eBook has been on sale for the Kindle for 1.99 for a while. I decided to use the last bit of a gift card for it. So, yay to not spending money on this garbage. But then I found out that I could’ve used the Kindle Lending Library and not paid a cent. Grrrr.

I don’t think this should even be considered a novel. Each chapter tells a different story, if it even tells a story.
Some are just lists of things that actors do or names or whatever bullcrap.
The stories are supposed to intertwine, but there are too many people and too many name changes to actually remember who was from which story.
But my FAVORITE part?
James Franco writes himself it. Both first person and, even better, third person.
That’s right. One of the stories in the “novel” (again, this shouldn’t be a novel, because this story doesn’t get referenced later on, unless I completely missed the link) is about a girl who lost her virginity to James Franco. Yes. James Franco wrote a story about a girl telling a story of losing her virginity to the actor with the “squinty eyed smile”, James Franco. WHO DOES THAT? WHO WRITES THAT WAY? NO. When he talks in the first person about himself, I don’t know if it’s supposed to be fictional when he does, he references movies he’s been in, his NYU classes, his family.
Why not just write a memoir?

Unlike my DNF issue, this book was so absurd that I actually couldn’t stop reading. I hated it.
Surely, the only reason it got published was because he is famous.
The worst thing about James Franco is that he KNOWS people are going to pay attention to him. I guess because he’s an actor. BLAH. I can say, right now, that I largely dislike him. But then he’ll probably do something to make me like him again, temporarily at least.

Here’s a clip of Colbert SERVING HIS ASS.