Spirituality meets skepticism.

On the recommendation of a very good friend I read The alchemist by Paulo Coelho several years ago and it has remained one of the most inspirational, thought provoking books I've ever read. It surprises me now to think that it took me years to read anything else by Coelho but I finally did with Aleph and I almost wished I hadn't.

There is something to be said for building up expectations, which is why I generally tend to expect less; that way it lessens the blow and if it turns out to be better than expected then it is a nice surprise. With Aleph I was bringing in all the emotion and high hopes from The Alchemist and that was a big mistake.

Aleph, although classified as fiction is more biographical in nature and tells the story of Coelho's train journey across Russia for a book signing. I hate to drag this book entirely through the mud because there are some absolute gems of thought and wisdom that only writers seem to be able to portray. Several times through out reading this book I had to take a moment to let some of the words truly sink in. But for the majority of the story I was not engaged. There is a young woman who appears to me as a type of stalker but is said to be a reincarnation of someone Coelho has known previously. Their interactions seem strange to me and I didn't find myself liking either of them as people. The entire story changed my perspective of Coelho and his work. He is obviously a very spiritual man and has an affinity for philosophical thought but he claims to have re visited several of his past lives, being able to almost time travel among them through the 'aleph' which he describes as a moment of complete spiritual awakening and transcendence.

I like to think of myself as an open minded individual who doesn't shut out others beliefs because who am I to say I know anything is a certainty? But multiple times I felt myself rolling my eyes and being put off by the expressed spirituality's of this story. The thought provoking nature of his writing is interesting but I found myself on the side of severe skepticism so much so that I had to force myself to finish this book.

It's hard for me to decide how to rate this one seeing as I had such a personal aversion to it. I think Coelho's work is phenomenal in his other writings and has much more validity to them so I would suggest starting elsewhere from Aleph. The Alchemist will always be very high on my literary list and I would strongly suggest introducing yourself by that avenue. Aleph is a tough stretch for me because it isn't intended to be fantasy but real experiences. I personally was not a fan, who's to say how others will feel, but I stick to my previous sentiments of enjoying his work from a different avenue.

Shanties all around!

I had been knees deep in work projects and paperwork so I decided I need a good old fashioned 'beach read' to give me a little escape. I needed a book that was all fluff, purely for entertainment purposes and that wouldn't make me think too much while I was reading it. Luckily for me there is an author who is as obsessed with the show Downton Abbey as I am and she wrote the perfect book for the occasion called 'While we were watching Downton Abbey.'

For those you who don't know (I feel sorry for you) Downton Abbey is a PBS show that starts out in 1914 England at the Grantham Estate. It is a magnificent old English estate that has butlers,  footmen, maids and all the wonderful pomp and circumstance that one associates with early 1900's upper class British life. Lord and Lady Grantham, along with their three daughters and houseful of servants provide a most gloriously intellectual soap opera that I am not ashamed to admit to watching.

 
The book by Wendy Wax tells the story of a ritzy Atlanta apartment building that has an English concierge who decides to screen the seasons of Downton Abbey once a week as a way to develop the social community in the building. Claire, a recent empty nester and full time writer, Brooke, divorced mother of two young girls whose life is in a state of frantic transition, and Samantha, the woman who lives on the entire top full of the building, married to a most desirable man who comes from old Atlanta money whom by others has been deemed 'rich bitch', all attend these weekly screenings.

Through out the course of two seasons of shows, the three women learn that your circumstances in life do not separate us as much as we think and they form a unexpected but very strong bond. Where one woman lacks, the other two step in until they all comes to terms with changes in their lives. Through the stories of these three women we are reminded that life is more complicated than the show that we put on in front of each other. Sometimes the production is more stressful than the truth of things.
 
This story is, like I said, complete fluff and predictable but that doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable. There are just enough Downton references to keep a junky like me satisfied but not too many that someone not familiar with the show will feel excluded. Potential spoiler alerts however. If you are the kind of person who reads solely for light hearted entertainment and tend to enjoy things like Sex in the city, Gilmore Girls, or even the Golden Girls, then you will enjoy this read.

My Old Friends

Loved this! Had to share.

I'd have taken out your heart of flesh and put in one of stone.

When Paul Iverson got a call at his office at the University that his wife was found dead he was beside himself. Lexi had fallen from a tree and the death was ruled accidental. The only witness was the couples dog Lorelai.

Paul spent the months after her death climbing through the fog of grief and trying to make sense of the world. We believes there has to be some kind of explanation, something more than 'she had an accident'. A few key factors stuck out to him in those days of investigating; 1. the books of the bookshelf were rearranged 2. An entire cut of steak was cooked and eaten without any evidence of utensils and 3. a mysterious, very expensive phone call was made just days before the accident in the middle of the night.

Paul decides to rely on his academic background of linguistic studies to try and make sense of all of this. He decides to get the only witness to the accident to tell him what happened, he is going to teach Lorelai to talk.

The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst is a witty, interesting and encompassing look into life, marriage, dogs and honesty. This book is a page by page surprise with compelling narratives that keep the story and the pages moving swiftly. You find yourself discovery who Lexi is through Paul's eyes as he re evaluates and learns about her as if for the first time. You feel invested in Paul and interested in Lexi as you put all the pieces of this odd story together.

Another major player in this story is the Rhodesian Ridgeback Lorelai. She is our key witness and our bridge to the conclusion of this story. Through the looking glass of Paul's grief we discover how his life journey collided and eventually merged with the free spirit that was Lexi and how the love and silence of a dog kept them together.

Did Lexi have a hand in her death or was it truly an accident? Did Paul teach Lorelai enough 'speech' for her to shed light on what happened that day? Can any solace be found in not having all the answers? Find out by reading the unique and well crafted novel that is The Dogs of Babel.

Civilization has no need of nobility and herosim. These things are symptoms of political inefficiency.

The book club pick this last month was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Some of us had this as required reading in high school but I had never read it, nor had most of the people who had it assigned.

The story is your classic dystopian tale centered around the 'savage' John who was raised in what we would consider the traditional way of having a parent, free will, and social freedoms who is then brought back into a completely socially fabricated society.

Set in London, the Brave New World society is one where children are born in test tubes from only a handful of DNA combinations so they all look the same. From day one they are divided up and given status levels that dictate their socialization and indoctrination process. The children go through rigorous rounds of conditioning as prescribed by the doctors of society so that they grow up only knowing how to do one thing and being adverse to all others. Alpha's run society and are taught that beta's and everyone else in society are below them while the lowest of society are trained in a way that makes their meager status seem completely fulfilling. Every child is conditioned to fulfill whatever need the society has at that time.

If I went into all the detail that this book warrants here I am afraid this post would go on forever. Instead I will put this question to you to consider. If from the beginning of your life you were raised in a way that everyday, every action and every decision you made was inherently right and brought you nothing but contentment would you prefer that over a life of rampant free will that can lead to failure, heartache, disappointment but potentially love and happiness? I find in my life a lot of my anxieties come from discontentment as opposed to unhappiness. I have a hard time trying to decide whether I would sacrifice happiness for contentment...makes for interesting pondering.

Is the old adage of 'you cannot appreciate happiness unless you've known sadness' true?

Remember whichever you choose, you have known nothing different so you would not long for intimate relationships because you would not know what those were, you would not long for choices because you've never had them. Just something to think about.

I will confess at the start of the book I was one minded and felt as though I had made a firm conclusion but toward the end, I was questioning whether the other method would be so bad. This classic cautionary tale of what society can become is probably more poignant now than it ever has been before. If you are interested in this book I suggest you pick up George Orwell's 1984, both will hit home in a scary and very real way.

Nothing wrong in my world Today.

 

Morning Sunrise walk on the downtown waterfront in front of the soon to be demolished St. Pete Pier. Nothing but good vibes today. Spread the love, pay it forward. Connect with the universe today!

The Cahill Family starts their quest.

Seeing as I now work in the children's department of the library I decided I need to be up to date on some of the new children's literature so I can recommend and advise both parents and kids on some great reading choices. That mindset lead me into the '39 Clues' series.

The first book in the ten part series is called '39 Clues The Maze of Bones'. The cool thing about this series is that each book is written by a different popular author. This first book is written by Rick Riordan who wrote the popular Percy Jackson series. One of the others was written by names like Patterson and Baldacci. The big names lend some credibility to what is classified as a Juvenile fiction series.

Although it is Juv Fiction, it is not 'The dog ran. The dog ran fast.' These books are well written and just complicated enough to make the young readers feel like they are accomplishing something big without discouraging them by being too rigorous.

The series itself centers on 14 year old Amy Cahill and her 11 year old brother Dan. The two are orphans would spend most of their time with their beloved grandmother Grace. It turns out the Cahill clan is the most important family in human history with relatives all over the world past and present, Benjamin Franklin, Mozart, Abraham Lincoln, and Eleanor Roosevelt being among them When Grace passes away she leaves behind a mysterious will, all the members of the Cahill clan have a choice; they can either walk out of the room with a bankers check for $1 million or burn the slip and take the first clue that will ultimately lead to the discovery of something world changing and will make the finders the most powerful Cahill's in history.

7 groups take on the challenge, including Amy and Dan and the first clue takes them over seas to Paris in an attempt to hunt down the second of the 39 clues left by and based on Benjamin Franklin.

I would assume most of you who read this blog are adults and these books are specifically aimed for children but I'll tell you they are very entertaining. It's a day, day and a half read tops and it moves very quickly with action packed sequences and brain teasing puzzles.

If you have children who are skilled readers this is a great series to introduce them to because like I said not only is it fun, but their are ten books, plus other spin offs, that follow the same characters so they will get to know Dan and Amy so well they will feel like they are on the hunt with them. It is a special thing when readings can connect deeply to fictional characters and for children this is a great way to share that special time.

I'm actually really looking forward to book 2 and seeing how the writing styles will differ while telling the same story. Take away lesson for the adults here, Juvenile and Young Adult fiction has come a long way and may surprise you with how good it really is.

Self Improvement Day!

The world is a not a wish granting machine.

Where to begin about 'The Fault in our Stars" by John Green. Well, first off it had been in my list for quite some time and just kept getting lost in the black hole that is my 'To Be Read' shelf. I finally got down to it and wish I had sooner.

In recent memory I cannot remember coming across something so unabashedly honest, heart felt, and sincere without an ounce of cliche. This love story of two teenagers is more true and raw then any I have read in an adult contemporary novel in a long long time.

The story is about Hazel Grace, caner patient at the age of sixteen who will battle until she loses a type of cancer that has attacked her lungs forcing her to cart an oxygen tank around with her at all times. Her cancer is not in remission and in incurable but by a very slim chance some new experimental treatment has kept her going.

Enter Augustus Waters, fellow childhood cancer survivor who lost a limb in his fight but has been in remission since then.

Augustus an Hazel travel through what its like to be a person with cancer who is also trying to live a full life in the time they have. They find kindred spirits in one another and form a bond that even the adults in their lives can see is real and not some overly hormone charged 'young love'. They bond over a book called 'An Imperial Affliction' by a reclusive writer who moved to Amsterdam and hadn't been heard from since. Their joined thoughts and musings on this book they share creates the sub plot of the story that keeps their narrative flowing and engaging while constantly giving us insights into their relationship with one another.

John Green manages to explain what it means to live life through the voice of people who are losing theres. At one point there is an especially emotional scene when Hazel gets very emotional saying that she is a 'grenade' and feels that she should minimize the causalities as much as possible by staying away from everyone and being the reason for their sadness. We see her, as an only child, struggle to live with knowing her parents will be forever changed by the end of her life and she can do nothing to ease their pain; for them she is an open wound that with each day becomes more infected.

I cannot praise the portrayal of human relationships and emotions enough in this story. I think a part of me is always going to be biased to modern fiction because I look for any reason to see through it and deem it unrealistic, but even with every once of my scrutiny, this one held water all the way through.

Even though it is deemed YA, this book has made numerous must read lists and I completely understand why. If you want an excellent story, told in the most achingly raw way then please do yourself a favor and read "The Fault in our Stars." This one will stay with you for a long time, I promise.

4.5 out of 5.



P.s. Keep an eye and an ear open for news about this books upcoming adaptation to the big school coming soon! If you don't want the plot to be spoiled for you, I suggest you find time to read it soon!

“Life is ridiculous. It's not our fault.”

Maddie, a sixteen year old high school student, is off to rehab. She has a serious substance abuse problem and was left with no other alternatives in her young life than to go into a treatment facility before she even comes close to walking in a cap and gown.
 
In the Spring Meadow rehab center she meets fellow teenager Trish and slowly builds a friendship based on their common struggle. Trish becomes a confidant and sounding board as well as a source of entertainment. Maddie also meets Stewart, devilishly handsome, punk rocker type who checked into the center several weeks before Maddie's checkout date. The two become very close, fall in love and have to navigate sober living with graduating high school and living hours apart.
 
Upon Maddie's release from treatment, she leaves Stewart and goes back to high school in an attempt to graduate and move on to college. She finds that her friends before can no longer be her friends after if she wants to stay sober, which she does. The social adjustment comes with ups, downs, temptations and triumphs. She struggles with the changes but finds herself making it one day at a time with the help of some unlikely individuals.
 
A series of tragic and violent events test her resolve and commitment to sobriety while she is trying to completely turn her life around, mend broken relationships, and become the person she thinks she can be.
 
This book is classified YA and reads like one but it deals with difficult subject matter. The most difficult part about this is that these issues are not over exaggerated and do happen to kids this young. In a world where 12 looks like 25, pre teens and teenagers come face to face with the harshness of reality at an increasingly early age. All it takes is one time for an experience to morph into a habit which morphs into an addiction.
 
I have a bit of an issue with the story because it seems like Maddie's transition is too easy. For anyone who has ever swore to themselves they would stop a behavior knows the roller coaster of successes and failures. The first several days you are completely determined and think you are in complete control but then just as suddenly things go off the rails; multiple that times ten for someone who is addicted and not just wanting to change aspects of their lives. 
 
This book does however deal honestly and truthfully with the social changes that happen when a person gets sober. Free times change, associates change, ideas of a good time change, everything about that life changes. It takes time to adjust and find what a new normal is. Substance abuse is a lifestyle and non abusive is another lifestyle. These days it seems like everyone knows someone who has an addiction whether it be drugs, alcohol, food, gambling...everyone is fighting a battle and everyone can benefit from taking a step back from judgement and look to make a positive impact in that persons life.
 
This book is a good poolside/beach read. It has short chapters, moves incredibly quickly and will keep you interested. Does Maddie stay sober? Does she end up with Stewart? Does she graduate high school and make it to college? To find out, pick up Recovery Road today.
 
2.5 out of 5 

Your past is never far behind.

Schroder by Amity Gaige is a fascinating novel that probes what it mean to have a name, a past and how things can go so wrong so fast, even with the best of intentions.

Our main character here is Eric Kennedy, formerly Eric Schroder, a naturalized American who escaped from East Germany. There was no scandal following him from Germany, but somehow on arriving in Boston he decided he didn't belong and would assume the Kennedy name. As with any lie, once you've started that ball rolling it's hard to stop. So, overtime, Eric Schroder essentially was Eric Kennedy, even in his own mind.

Years later he meets the woman of his dreams, Laura, and they have an incredibly gifted daughter, Meadow. Things progress in the true fashion of the early stages of the American dream until the Kennedy's begin divorce proceedings. Somewhere along the line Eric became the lesser of the two parents and was allowed only supervised visits with Meadow. This doesn't sit well with him and the two of them go on a road trip to reconnect and escape the truths he will inevitably have to tell.

Eric was/is not a bad father and in his attempts to be present for his daughter he broke the laws of the custody agreement and the story takes off from there.

The narrative is written as a letter from Eric to his estranged wife Laura. During his telling we as readers are challenged with so many conflicting emotions it leaves us exhausted but enthralled all at the same time. Gaige's use of language is so masterful it flows seamlessly from the page into your brain and makes the words almost seem like you wrote them yourself. Schroder is such an honest account of life and emotion without the over exaggerations that tend to weigh other novels down. It explores what it means to be a father, a person with a past, a person who cannot come to terms with their present. 

Encompassing the full range of human emotion, Schroder by Amity Gaige is a fulfilling, entertaining, and worthwhile beginning of Summer read.

4 out of 5.

Final Grade: D-

I gave up on this one long before I quit reading it. The Writing Class  by Jincy Willett is a story about a single, middle aged woman names Amy who was a hot shot young writer getting published right out of the gate at the age of 22. After he initial burst of success she had hit a block and jus as fast as she became a successful writer, she became an out of work, single, middle aged, unattractive woman who lives alone with her dog.

To make a living she began teaching a fiction writing course at a local college. Normally the classes were filled with a mix of old women and their romance novels, young hot shot guys with their love of James Patterson and the occasionally aspiring children's book author who never had kids. The only thing that all her classes had in common over the years was that very very few people in them had any actual talent and she spent her semesters faking enthusiasm and counting down the weeks.

Until a different kind of class came along. Amy found that this time she actually had a mix of people who kept her interested and had some talent. Things were shaping up nicely through the first couple of weeks until one among them started to play some pranks that bordered on inappropriate and dangerous. Dubbed 'The Sniper', Amy and the class begin to try to figure out which among them was playing these pranks and causing a disturbance.

This is when I quit. First of all I was really bored with the characters and didn't feel invested in them or their stories. Secondly, I think the term 'sniper' is so glib and annoying it pissed me off every time I read it. I don't know, maybe it's because I have never been a fan of the mystery genre or if I don't care for the 'Who done it' type story line but  I was not into this one at all. Digging through the last twenty pages that I decided to read was like pulling out eyelashes one by one.

I can't remember a time when I stopped reading a book this far into it but my 'to be read' stack is so deep that I realized I didn't have to waste time on books I didn't like so I stopped. I pulled my bookmark and went into my office to grab my next book.

There was nothing inherently wrong with the story other than I was really bored. If you like mystery stories I think the hunt for the dreaded 'Sniper' may keep you into it. Although I will say that there are so many books out there to we cannot possibly hope to read them all so I would bypass this one. They can't all be winners.

In this writing class, everyone got an F.

•"An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them."

I have been waiting a long time for a book like this to come across my desk and all I needed to do was go back to my roots and shoot for the classics. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde came to me through our book club pick and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

 

Wilde brings us the story of devilishly handsome, suave, pure, Dorian Gray. He is the talk of the town for his unbelievably striking good looks. The young man is a sitter for famous English painter Basil Hallworth who has an unhealthy fascination with Gray, and says that all his inspiration for art comes from him. He worships his beauty and youth with such a deep fascination in a way that only an artist can.

 

Hallworth’s finished portrait of Dorian is his masterpiece. It captures everything about him so well that the subject himself despises it. He thinks it so unfair that this painting get to live on frozen in time while every second he looks at it, he becomes a second older and a second less attractive. In a fit of youthful rage and pestilence Dorian wishes that the painting could age and he remain forever as he is today. Little did he know, his wish would come true. Upon next seeing the portrait the face had grown older somehow. It turns out that every decision and weight of life that normally shows on a face shows up on his portrait instead. Dorian's portrait reflects his inner soul and personality while his physical self shows nothing but perfect. Grays life goes on a strange downward spiral with his vanity and self indulgences turning him mad and bringing about his miserable demise all under the mocking vulgarity of his portrait.
 
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a fascinating look at what it means to be youthful, honest, moral, and alive. Oscar Wilde uses very dense language and if you absent mindedly read this one you will miss so much. This is the type of book that requires careful attention and a keen reader’s eye; however, I promise you it is worth it. 
Our group had mixed reactions about it. I loved it through and through, while several others liked the sentiment and overall message but had a hard time getting through it page by page. The language was a bit of a hang up for a couple of others as well. 
If you are looking for a thought provoking and deeply philosophical read than I highly recommend "The Picture of Dorian Gray." Plus, like one of our club members noted 'Reading this book makes you feel smarter.'

"Well then, if my identity lies in books, let's go read me a life."

 

 

I just finished another light read in between some heavy research and non-fiction stuff. This is a novel written about Sherlock Holmes and his arch nemesis Professor Moriarty. This book is not written by Holmes’ creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, but it was one of the many modern day narratives written in an attempt to keep the spirit and story of the genius detective alive.

John King did a pretty good job of staying true to the original version of Holmes but it helps if you have read the originals extensively because then you can project the real essence of Holmes into the story to keep it as true as can be. Reading this book is sort of like watching the modern movie adaptations. The director and in this case the writer can put their own spin onto the character and portray him is they see the vision. Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch have done phenomenal versions of Holmes within the last 5 years but it is not necessarily the exact version that Conan Doyle created in the late 1880’s.

The narrative for this new adventure is an interesting one continuing on from the final dual of Sherlock Holmes and his equally brilliant rival James Moriarty. In the original series the two meet at the top of Reichenbach Falls for their final duel, with both being plunged over the side of the cliff, seemingly to their death. Holmes’ truest companion John Watson even thinks he is dead and is a deep state of grief. However, both men survive and continue their chess match of wits. This story tells us the story of Moriarty’s wife Susanna and daughter Anna while trying to explain how we went from revered master scholar to ruthless crime boss.

 

As a fan of all things Sherlock Holmes (I did name my dog Watson after all) this was a fun extension of the sleuth’s adventures. The collection of original Holmes stories is obviously a classic but it is nice to step outside of it a bit and read it with a modern flare. It is helping filling the gaping hole in my soul that keeps growing waiting for season 3 of PBS’ series Sherlock to come back.

How do Sherlock and Moriarty survive the fall? Can equations and science predict the activities of London’s criminal underground? Do Holmes and his companions bring an end to the terror of Moriarty? Find out in The Shadow of Reichenbach Falls by John R. Smith

If one choice can change your life, one choice can destroy it.

Insurgent continues the reader on our journey with Beatrice 'Tris' Prior in her struggles to define herself and the world she is living in. Book two, in this as yet incomplete trilogy, picks up exactly where Divergent leaves off with so many questions unanswered. Having survived the intentionally deadly simulation brought on by Jeanine Matthews, Beatrice and her boyfriend/protector/partner Tobias Eaton try to unravel the mysteries of faction life and to do so they need to rely on every aptitude of there personality and dig through some very painful memories to put the pieces of this far reaching plan of destruction together.

Insurgent brings a lot of the same action as Divergent which makes them flow seamlessly as if they were all one book. The pace is swift which correlates with what is happening to the characters so at times you feel yourself on a frantic pace of energy and curiosity which makes for entertaining reading.

Also in Insurgent we start to see more of Tris and Tobias' personalities and start to understand a bit more of their intentions and motivations. I think in a very small way this book falls into the trap of middle series in that it not only has to keep the narrative going from the first book but it also has to set up the last book which is a very difficult thing for a writer to accomplish. There are points where I feel my interests waining for the smallest of margins and I think I lose the characters a little. That may also be because I read book 1 and 2 back to back so maybe I was on overload. I think I would still have these moments if I had read a buffer book but not as badly.

Overall Insurgent takes us deeper into our characters and their struggle. It leaves you before you're ready for it to and the wait until book three seems like an eternity now that I'm ready for it. I am looking forward to the conclusion of the Divergent story in the currently unnamed third book which is slated to release October 22, 2013.

At least by the time the movie releases in Spring 2014, I will have the full story and have had time to anticipate seeing it on the big screen.

3.5 out of 5.

One choice can change your life.

I think I may have stumbled upon something good with this one. No, I'm not the first to realize it seeing as this series is coming to the big screen at the end of the year and is already well known in the Young Adult community, but better late than never.

Divergent by Veroinca Roth is the first book in a trilogy centering on our young hero Beatrice. The story tells of a society broken up into factions that are designated based on personality traits. You have Candor who are truthful, Erudite who are intelligent, Dauntless who value courage above all, Abnegation who are selfless to no end and Amity who are friendly and peaceful. Upon a person's 16th birthday they take an aptitude test that classifies them into one of these categories but ultimately they get to choose where they want to go and make their new lives. The underlying message to this book is that one choice can change everything.

Once a faction has been chosen, the child becomes an initiate and must go through trials and training to learn the way of life of their new home. If they do not make the cut, they become factionless and are slated to a life of poverty on the streets with no identity. Each faction runs a portion of society based on their values and supposedly this keeps things under control and peaceful.

Beatrice struggles with her choice after she's made it and is constantly wondering if she made the right one or if her true intentions will give her away as a fake. When a manufactured revolution breaks out among two factions, Beatrice will rely on all aspects of her personality regardless of what category she is boxed into in order to save the citizens of all factions. In her quest for self discovery she finds love, friendship and a courage she never knew she had.

You may be reading this and thinking it sounds a lot like the Hunger Games Trilogy and I'm not going to lie to you there are a lot of overlapping  similarities. They are both post modern societies with governmental unrest, with a young girl as the main character who is proving to everyone and most importantly herself that she is strong enough to handle anything. I loved the Hunger Games trilogy so I really enjoyed the first book in this one. I think if you can mentally separate the two and not compare you will enjoy it as well.

Also with reading this book you will be ahead of the trend when it comes back into popular culture with force when the movie is released. Reading it now will put you ahead of the curve and you will be able to delve into book two, Insurgent, to kill time waiting for the movie to come out.

The third and final book in the series is still unnamed and does not release until October of 2013 so you can build a little suspense and make the conclusion that much sweeter by reading them now.

Gospel re-imagined.

 

 

 

I have had a string of less than stellar fiction reads lately so it was time to switch it up. I went for a compilation of short stories by Jonathan Goldsteing entitled "Ladies and Gentleman, The Bible." I find religion to be a fascinating, yet enraging concept so it is rather interesting that I read so much about it. I have no religious affiliations, in fact if asked I would say I'm an atheist. I read about religion and religious materials in an attempt to understand the fervor people hold and also to have the knowledge to sustain and intelligent and non emotional conversation if ever they do arise, which they often do.

What Goldstein does in this book is take some of the more famous stories of the Bible and re writes them in a satirical way. He does not rail against them in a way that makes a mokery out of them so much as he just modernizes and re imagines them. He says that David fought Goliath because he was an aspiring comedian and thought that killing a giant with a stone would be the most hilarious thing the people had ever seen. He enlightens us on Jonah's time in the whale, Samson and Delilahs relationship and the true happenings in the saga that is Jacob and Esau.

This book is nothing to go yelling at the moon about but it was funny and made for some enjoyable light reading. I finished it in about a day and a half and it served as a great bridge into my next book. It's one of those that you find on the discount shelf at your local bookstore and hang onto because it's interesting enough and it's cheap. If you happen to come across it on sale go for it.

Lord Cromwell's man at your service

I wavered back and forth on deciding to read this book and unfortunately came out on the losing end. It is a murder/mystery which I hate but was set in Tudor era England with Thomas Cromwell as a key player in the story so I thought my love for historical fiction and the Tudor era would make a murder mystery enjoyable...I was wrong.
 
Dissolution  by C.J. Sansom tells the story of hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake who, under Thomas Cromwell's commission, is sent to Scarnsea to investigate the murder of a fellow commissioner who went there to investigate forgery and corruption within the monastery. When word got back to Cromwell that his man had been murdered, he wanted it investigated quickly and quietly with the intention that not only would the murderer be found, but that enough evidence would be uncovered to shut down this major Benedictine house of prayer as falls in line with King Henry's latest whims in the way of reformist religion. The idea that a man of the cloth would be the murder brought all the more intensity to the search as Cromwell saw it as corruption and use it as further evidence to support closing all the houses of prayer across the English countryside. As a week came and went with nothing significant in the way of progress made, Cromwell reminds Shardlake that he has the power not only to create reputations and rankings, but the absolute power to destroy them as well. Shardlake returns with a startling revelation as to who the killer is an has to bid his time wisely in order to make an arrest of this dangerous and unlikely killer.
 
There is nothing inherently wrong with this story other than changing the time period and mixing in some new names and you have any other mass market murder mystery story. The investigator runs into blocks in the investigation, his life becomes endangered as he comes closer to the truth, and in the end he puts the pieces together and like magic the mystery is solved and the investigator reminisces on the danger and conflict of the situation hoping to never repeat it again. Predictable. 
 
I do have to give Sansom major credit though for tackling a period piece. When you write about another era the writer essentially has to become a historian. They need to know the details of it all down to the minute details of costume in order for the story to be as accurate as fiction is meant to be. In this case Sansom blended historical knowledge with crime drama seamlessly. For that I do applaud his work. The story held my interest on the historical side because it portrays the turmoil of the time period alongside the drama of a fictional murder. It takes place right after the execution of Anne Boleyn and sheds light on the details of the execution while also delving into the conflict of Henry's reformation of England and disbandment of the Catholic Monasteries which is one of the most far reaching, world changing acts in recent human history.
 
 
For this book I would say if you enjoy the Patterson, Child, Flynn type of fiction then this one will fall right in line with that bringing along the history of the early 1500's. If you're like me and hate them, then will you'll probably not like this one either. This review comes completely down to a matter of personal taste and for me I just did not enjoy it.

Land of oppurtunity?

 

 

 

 

Round three of book club and I Love Yous are for White People was brought to us courtesy of Ms. DeHaven. The memoir by Lac Su is the story of his escape from Communist Vietnam when he was 3 to the seedy and gang ridden streets of Hollywood. Lac had a severe man for a father who brought the old world traditions of beatings and humiliation as a form of child rearing with him to this new world.

Lac grew up seeking the approval of his father so severely that when he didn't get it, it caused him to rebel in an equally severe way. He got in with the wrong crowd at a very early age and starting participating in the lively gang culture of the area. He escaped Vietnam under gunfire at 3, saw a man stabbed on this doorstep at 5, and his uncle molest him at 7. He stole from his parents, beat a fellow classmate close to death, got himself beat close to death and really made just about every wrong decision he could when the opportunities presented themselves.

His upbringing didn't give him much to lean on but I am a firm believer that at some point you make your own decisions and cannot blame everything on the mistakes or shortcomings of others. He may have had no hands up in early life but he also didn't have anyone making the decision but himself.

As far as book club went I think we all had mixed feelings. We thought the story was lacking in continuity with large chunks of time missing where Lac would mention something about a younger sibling and you couldn't recall ever hearing about one being born. We all agreed the writing quality was not superb but it made for a more conversational type read which made it quick and easy. Several of us felt that the whole point of this story was lost because there was no explanation of Lac's redemption in life. He is currently a respected professional in a large company with a wife and children which is commendable because of how successfully he turned his life around but we didn't get to hear that part of the story. There was no explanation of how he broke free from the violence and gangs and no talk of his relationship with his father now that he is an adult and that ruined the story for us. The build up of the negative created a ripe environment for the positive that is his current life and yet we got to experience none of the triumph and it really turned us off. Overall it was a good pick because there is never a negative to learning about other people's ways of life and where they come from. I don't know what LA gang culture is like first hand but I have no knowledge about them now from reading this book. Anytime we as people can be exposed to new things is always an opportunity for learning and people who love to read get that experience daily.

This was an interesting story of an interesting life. I'm generally not a huge fan of memoirs so it's hard to enthusiastically recommend this one but there is nothing glaringly negative about it. There are better written, just as interesting stories out there though to enjoy.

Fun fact; we did learn what the difference between an auto-biography and a memoir is. An auto-biography tends to be about the person's whole life whereas a memoir deals with a certain period of time of section of their life.

"Guys and girls, burger and fries, all get ruined with a coupla lies."

The Love Song of Jonny Valentine by Teddy Wayne is a fictional account of an 11 year old pop superstar in the very mist of his exploding career. Just picture and relate the entire story back to Justin Bieber and you've got the idea. The young kid from a small town with a single mom who struggles to make ends meet has this power house voice, uploads videos on YouTube, gets discovered and becomes the hottest tween heart throb since Donny Osmond.
 
The story almost directly reflects the rise of Bieber but it takes it to a personal level. It is hard for me to remember clearly what I was like as an 11 year old but I can tell you I thank the universe that there are minimal pictures, recordings or any other evidence left that I even was a 'tween'. That is a very hard confusing time for all people but I cannot imagine doing that whole process in front of billions of people and having your face stare back at your from lunch boxes, pencil cases, bed sheets, and toothbrushes.
 
The book is narrated by the adorable superstar himself Jonny Valentine. His hits include such lyrical mastery as 'U R Kewt' 'Summa Fling' and 'RSVP to my heart'. For as seemingly inane as the topic of this story is, there is a more serious undertone involving the pressure and downsides of fame. There are points in the story that are sad; Jonny's mother/manager starts to make decisions for him in a cold hearted business manner and becomes hospitalized for "exhaustion", where she makes him do extra cardio workouts because he ate carbs and is starting to get 'stomach chub' and his struggle on deciding whether or not to got to school like a more normal 11 year old. He's allowed no where without his bodyguard, he cannot have the Internet or access to a telephone and has no real friends. There is so little of his life pre fame that it is hard for him to socialize and know what a 'normal' 11 year old life should feel like.
 
This story is just an interesting take on the life of young celebrity. I know in my pre teen years I was obsessed with Nsync and Backstreet Boys but at the time they were older, not that I think age can make you prepared for super stardom but the likes of Justin Bieber, the Jonas Brothers, Mylie Cyrus and others is a lifestyle that few understand and we only watch from the TV screen waiting for them to screw up. It provides some sympathy and insight for what they may be going through and above all it reminds us that they are people just like us who have all the normal hang ups in life following them around. The 'us and them' aspect of celebrity gets blurred by this narrative and I think it is a good reminder for the next time you flip through that People Magazine at the grocery store check out.
 
If your looking for an easy read about something culturally relevant than pick this one up. 
 
3 out of 5 

"Everything can change but only with abandon."

 

 

 

You Deserve Nothing by Alexander Maksik is one of those books I can’t really put my finger on. Just when I thought I was really enjoying the story and character, a plot twist occurs that makes me question both. I read the story very quickly because I desperately wanted to see how it would continue to evolve and whether I would change my mind again or not. When it was all said and done I really can’t decide whether I like the character, hate the character or whatever the middle ground of those two things would be defined as.

 

The story is told from the perspective of Will Silver, a 38 year old American who teaches at a high school in Paris for American citizens; military brats, ambassador’s children and the like. He is the teacher in the style of Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. He challenges the status of life, makes the students really truly feel the readings and allows for a respectful but rebellious atmosphere in his classroom. He teaches them to question life, think things through and make reasoned arguments when they want to rebel. He is the ‘cool’ teacher on campus who all the guys seek approval from and all the girls seek attention from. Just when I find myself attracted to this character, his style and intelligence, he makes a choice that we have seen on the news a hundred times that makes me cringe.

 

To round out the narrative it is told from two other points of view but not in that jumbled back and forth, ‘who is speaking now?’ kind of way. It makes for an interesting and quick paced read. Gilad is our second point of view. He is a loner, deep thinking student who is stuck deciding what is worth fighting for and what is worth taking action on. He is an interesting character and fills the part of hero worshipper to Mr. Silver.

 

The third point of view is Marie; junior aged student who is always in the shadow of her beautiful and outgoing best friend Ariel, whom she doesn’t even particularly care for. Marie gives rise to our plot twist and is the catalyst for the complicated emotional undertones of this book.

Overall, I found it an enjoyable read. It was much more complex than the dust jacket ever gave it credit for and it left me going back and forth on my decisions and presumptions of these characters. This book is not for everyone, if you do not enjoy literature and philosophy than skip it. If you like the mix of intellectual discussion with real life human emotions and drama than maybe go ahead and add this one to your list. For me it is middle but I don’t regret giving it my time.

2.5 out of 5

Long live the King.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is an amazing work of fiction taking place in Tudor era England during the reign of Henry VIII. The story sheds light on all the inter workings and interpersonal relationships of the Tudor court. Cardinal Wolsey is the King's chief advisor, Thomas Cromwell is his 'apprentice' of sorts, and Thomas Moore is the King's spiritual guidepost and guilt source. The narrative tells of Henry's struggle and absolute obsession with getting a divorce from his wife and queen, Katherine of Aragon, in order to wed the lustful and enchanting Anne Boleyn. It is against Papal law to divorce and Henry charges Wolsey with the task of being his liaison to Rome to make the divorce happen. We know now in the modern era that the Pope does not grant Henry's divorce which leads Henry to break from Rome, creating the Church of England and making himself head of the church. This single act in 1520 changed the course of Religious, political, and societal history forever. 
 
Wolf Hall is an amazing narrative look at this very tumultuous time in history. It is better than any soap opera on TV with more drama, infidelity, secret pregnancies, murder, conniving, and lies than any modern daytime sitcoms combined. It will leave you knowing more Tudor history while being entertained with the flowing and cohesive narrative of the story.  
 
 

Bring up the Bodies is the sequel to Mantel's Man Booker Prize winning Wolf Hall. Bring up the Bodies tells the lesser known story of Thomas Cromwell, the King's chief minister. Cromwell was under the wing and patronage of Cardinal Wolsey and all thought he would go down with the fall of the Cardinal but somehow he rose even higher. As Henry's right hand man Cromwell is called upon to do anything the king desires and make the impossible possible. 
 
When Henry grows tired of his second wife Anne Boleyn and wants to seek a divorce after all he put the Church, England and his people through when divorcing his first wife Katherine of Aragon to marry Anne in the first place, the inner court is stunned. He calls upon who else but Cromwell to make it happen. If your knowledge encompasses Tudor history then you know Cromwell does in fact get Henry his divorce and ultimately sends Anne to the tower, then to death. Their child Princess Elizabeth will go on to be one of England's most famous and successful Monarchs. 
 
Bring up the Bodies centers little on Henry as it tells the entire story from Cromwell's perspective. It is nice to hear his fictionalized voice and thoughts because Henry has tended to cast a rather large shadow over the Tudor era and gets most of the attention for himself. Cromwell came from nothing to rise up and become arguably the most powerful man in Henry's court holding even more power than the King himself, it is about time he got his due as the center of the story.
 
If you are like me and love all things Tudor England then Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies are great reads. If the history and time period holds no interest than obviously don't bother as you will be bored and uninterested from the get go. 
 

If you do enjoy Tudor England I also recommend watching the Showtime series
The Tudors and checking out The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George which is a fictional diary written in the voice of Henry during his time as King. It is a really interesting portrayal of his life and how he might have felt during all the ups and down of his reign. It brings him back to the level of a human being after over 500 years of sensationalized and exaggerated accounts of his life.

“Freedom is not the same as lack of accountability.”

 

 

The Yellow Birds is a great novel about a soldier returned from the Iraq war and trying to re-adjust to civilian life. There are plenty of stories about soldiers coming home but this one being written in novel form by a veteran gives it an easy readability to makes for the compelling story line and hardly any tedious specific military type lingo and strategy.

The story is not about the war itself in military context it is about the brotherhood and companionship that comes from looking another soldier in the eye, having the silent understanding pass between you two that you will both die for one another if the opportunity should arise.

The Yellow Birds centers on private Murph, 18 and Private Bartel, 21. Through the course of their tour in Iraq they become unwavering partners and points of clarity for one another. Under moments of battle, stress, calm, and quiet they are there for one another in an almost sibling like relationship. One day mortars start to fall and confusion ensues. After the fight is, both are still alive, but something has died. An irreversible mental shift has happened for Murph and Bartel doesn’t know how to break back into Murph’s confidence. Their fellow soldiers start to notice Murph acting strange and then one day he is nowhere to be found. With the unit out on patrol for him, Bartel and Lt. Sterling comes across a discovery and subsequently make a decision that will forever change several lives.

This book is relatively short and reads quickly. It is emotional in the raw sense that is it is not forced nor does it necessarily ask you to feel emotional. It is a soldier’s story told in the very framework that he lives it. Not being a huge fan of military fiction or non-fiction I found this to be a very readable, relate able, and emotional account of one minuscule subset of the Afghan wars. It doesn’t get lost in obscure military lingo or war strategy, it’s about two men, who become brothers, who ultimately in the 10 months they serve in Iraq together change the course of each other’s lives forever.

3.5 out of 5.

Put it on the high end of your list.

“There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold.”

Stunning. Captivating. Sick. Deceptive. Engrossing.

          I had committed to reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn well before I struck my ban on popular best selling fiction and let me just tell you...wow. This may just be one of the most engrossing, dramatic, emotional roller coasters of a book I have ever read in a long while. Let me reiterate a couple of points to set the scene. A. I do not like crime stories B. I do not like popular fiction. C. I do not like ‘mysteries’ in the modern sense. Gone Girl is all three of these things and I am still beside myself with how much I liked it.

          The story centers on ‘amazing’ Amy Elliot, yes the girl who the insanely popular book series is based off of, and her ken doll perfection of a husband Nick Dunne. We learn about their lives and how perfect they seem to everyone else and to each other at the onset of the narrative. The marriage had started to hit some rough patches, but all relationships do; nothing out of the ordinary. Nick comes home on the afternoon of their fifth wedding anniversary to find the remains of what looks to be a struggle and his wife missing. Within 24 hours Nick becomes suspect number one with all evidence and signs pointing to the cliche of ‘the husband did it’. Nick swears his innocence but his personal emotional short comings and less than respectful behavior are doing him no favors with the press, Amy’s parents, or the police. When all signs lead to only one conclusion, the author throws us some serious groundbreaking curve balls that send your emotions and mind reeling. The injustice of the surprises will make you angry and then make you question your entire thought process from the beginning. The story is told through Nick’s first person, real life entries and retrospectives from Amy’s diary which gives the unique ability to be able to hear from the suspect and the missing victim at the same time. I don’t want to even foreshadow anymore because the shock value needs to remain pure and I will call bullshit on anyone who reads this book and then tells me ‘I saw it coming the whole time’ because if you do you’re a rat bastard liar.

         This murder mystery story will leave you wondering how people are capable of some things, how someone thinks of this narrative, and how it is possible to become so invested in people you know don’t exist. There were moments when I wanted to get a plane to save these people and scream the truth that only I, as the reader, knew. There are moments when you want to reach through the page and slap someone so hard and make them wake up! This book works on such a deep psychological level for the readers it’s a bit scary. You just lean back sometimes throughout and wonder if in fact you’re the crazy one and not the characters in the story.

         This book has gained its popularity and reputation for the right reasons. There are entirely valid reasons for why this book has been on the New York Times bestsellers list for 39 consecutive week and still holds the #4 spot. It is a phenomenal story. Will it go down as a classic of all time, probably not, but for me it had all the elements that I look for in novels and do not usually find in modern print. When everything is so massed produce and just re-branded this is a new story that will leave you with all the feelings and questions that good stories do. Well done Mrs. Flynn, I look forward to us meeting again sometime soon.

4.5 out of 5 stars. Seriously, read this one.

I'm going back to my roots from now on.

Yet again I have fallen to the media hype of disappointing books. I am going back to what I know best from now on and that is obscure titles and classics. So the newest fail was a book by Barbara Kingsolver entitled "Flight Behavior". This book is very popular and I read about it on many different sites and thought I'd try it. I'm pissed I wasted my time. There was nothing inherently wrong about it other than it was so boring I thought my eyes were going to fall out onto the pages while I was reading it. I am really not sure if it is because I cannot relate to this book at all or if it's because I found no deeper purpose in it. If a book does not necessarily shadow my lifestyle I can still appreciate it and try to learn from it but this one left me really hanging.
 
The story is about Dellarobia, wife of Cub, daughter in law of Bear and Hester. They are sheep farmers from Tennessee who live a down home, simple, poor existence. They have two children, Preston and Cordelia who in all respects are great kids. The story opens on Dellarobia running away into the woods to take actions that would ruin her marriage and disrupt everything about the life she has. What she stumbles upon is an ecological phenomena, a migration of monarch butterflies that is so overwhelming and massive that it makes it seem as though the forest is on fire. She tells her family and friends about it and it becomes a small town news story hailed as an act of God that brought this majesty to their little section of the world. With all the attention comes an exotic scientist, Ovid Byron and his research team who are looking to understand why the butterflies have come here and how they came to be.
 
Dellarobia, we learn married Cub during high school out of need to avoid small town embarrassment over being pregnant. We see this type of thing on MTV all the time now it seems. The story centers on her feelings of entrapment and a life unfilled, one in which she did not choose. I think a lot of people in their own way have these feelings at one time or another and for any number of reasons but in this case it is the domestic partnership with a man she doesn't respect and only chooses to love out of obligation. The story continues down both plot points of the marriage and interpersonal struggle and the interesting ecological plight of the monarch butterflies. If you have no basic interest in nature than the story will fall completely flat for you.
 
I just did not like this book. I didn't connect with the characters or her plight, I found her hard to like and I don't care particularly much for the environmental side of it. The social dynamics were okay, the characters were entertaining enough but it just did not work for me. I think I need to re commit to staying away from press releases and 'recommendations', they are just not my thing. This book may be the hit for middle aged women in loveless marriages but not for a young 20 something who see the world ahead.
 
2 out of 5.