"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.

Rainy Day Saturday

Growing up just like any other kid if I had any money whatsoever there was something to buy with it and I needed it now! My grandfather always said "You should save that money for a rainy day." Well as I grew up I understood that listen and guess what? Today in St. Petersburg, Fl it is a cold, rainy day and I can think of nothing better to buy than a new book...and yes I have about sixty un read ones on a shelf behind me but that's not the point. If you need me leave a message or re-evaluate how important what you are needing me for is and wait until tomorrow. I am off to my lounge chair with a cup of coffee, a blanket, my puppy at my feet, and a good book. Here's to you pop, thanks for the lesson.

Fat weatherman no more.

Every morning just like a lot of people across the country I start getting ready with the Today show on in the background. Every once in a while a story will catch my attention and I will perk up when the local news cuts in so I can hear the weather but really it’s just background noise. However, with that daily ritual comes familiarity with the hosts and that includes weatherman Al Roker. I didn’t know much about him other than what I saw on the show but I did know about his weight struggles and seeing as I have an interesting journey in the health department as well, I picked up his new book “New Going Back…”

I found Roker to be very frank and honest about his weight which is refreshing for a public figure and especially to someone like me who is looking to know that someone else out there gets how I feel. His weight issues started at a very young age growing up with parents who cooked “hearty” meals as he described them. Food was his way of dealing with stress, emotions, and just flat out boredom. In high school the Cosby show debuted 'Fat Albert' which only added to his emotional and psychological pain. He makes no mistake that he loves food and loves to eat. Throughout his adult life he would yo-yo forty, sometimes sixty pounds on a somewhat regular basis. He tried every diet in the books and just could not break the mental and emotional battle of his health. At the side of his father’s deathbed he was made to swear by his father that he would lose the weight finally and be healthy to care for his family. He made the decision to get gastric bypass surgery and other than the forty pounds he gained when his mother passed, has has kept off over 100 pounds for over 15 years.

 
Roker tells of how he his weight affected his relationships and his marriage saying it was and is a point of contention and discord between husband and wife. He now lives a healthy lifestyle with a regimented diet that has worked for him. He fully admits to still hating exercising and working out but he realizes it is the only way to not go to the even more hateful morbidly obese past that is just in his life's rear view.

If you struggle with your weight this a relate able account to a kindred spirit in the battle of the bulge. If you are like my father, brother or youngest sister however and can fall asleep with bowls of ice cream on your chest the size of a child's basketball and not gain a pound then this will probably not resonate with you. I found Al Roker to be an incredibly likable and honest figure who probably won't tell you what you don't already know about healthful living (eat less, move more) but you will see glimpses of your struggles in his and be encouraged to re assess and evaluate your own standing.