Between Two Ends: David Ward

Some books are so good that you want to get lost in them. You want to wander the streets of Revolution's France, smell the salty Sea Wolf's air, and wish upon Pinocchio's stars. What story would you choose to wake up in?

Yeats is a smart kid. He knows that his dad, William, has been depressed for a very long time and that his parents are on the verge of divorce. He also knows that for some reason, this trip to his grandmothers house is a last ditch effort to save his father's sanity and marriage. Gran's house is old and kind of creepy, filled with strange and timeless wonders. Gran has one house guest, Mr. Sutcliff, who is the grandfather of a girl that William knew when he was a kid. As children, Shari and William played together and read through the books in the magical library. When Shari disappeared, William was devastated. He couldn't remember anything about her disappearance, leading him to believe he had gone insane. Shortly after arriving at Gran's house, while the adults talk about magic and history, Yeats wanders into the garden where he finds a bronze pirate bookend. When he replaces the bronze pirate in the library, he unknowingly reunites a pair of magical bookends that make him an offer. The pirates, known as Skin and Bones, have the ability to take Yeats into any story he wants. Having heard that William and Shari once got lost in the story of 1001 Arabian Nights, Yeats decides to go into the story where he believes Shari has been living for the last twenty years. What seems like a simple plan to find Shari and bring her home turns into a wild adventure that threatens to cost Yeats his life.

Yeats is kind of an average kid. There's nothing spectacular about him, which might be his appeal. However, he does seem incredibly courageous, which is kind of a necessary quality for a young hero. I really enjoyed the characters of Skin and Bones but I had a hard time finding the differences between them--I guess pirates are all one and the same. I was okay with that, though, because after all, they're only bookends so they don't have to be multi-dimensional characters. Shari was the weakest character in my opinion. Her transition from the role of Shaharazad back to her Shari self was a little too tidy for me. She strikes me as a somewhat typical ingénue, showing sparks of bravery and gumption, but never really filling out her character. Also, I would have liked to see more of Gran. She seems like a spunky old lady who could have so much more to say. The way the book left off, I can't help but think that there's another one (or two) in the works, so maybe we'll see the characters evolve a bit in the future.

It seems like magic is a common theme in young adult books these days. I suppose that's because magic offers so many limitless possibilities. I admit that I enjoy a good magical story, but I especially love the combination of magic and books. The magic that I see in real life can always be explained in some way, but in a story magic doesn't have to have logic. No science required. David Ward has created a delightfully magical story in which characters boat through the sea of words to get to the living lands of a book, and fight for their life to return to reality.

ARC received courtesy of Abrams Books

Rating: $$

Persuasion: Jane Austen

Persuasion is like a tween movie. Very little happens, and what little action the book does contain, is reserved to longing sideways glances and bated breath. Someone takes a bad fall. Some folks fall in love. In the typical Victorian ways, many people go calling on other people. One gentleman is exposed as a cad. In the end, they all live happily ever after. It's not a complicated plot, and it's certainly not unique. It is, however, like every Austen novel I've read, simply charming.

Anne Elliot is an old maid. She's 27 years old and unmarried. She may as well be dead (I can relate!). What makes her situation so much worse is that she had a suitor in her younger years, but was persuaded to forego the attachment because of Mister Frederick Wentworth's lower standing. The poor girl is now alone and heart-crushed, watching as her friends and sisters marry (I can relate!). Then things take an interesting turn when, down on his luck, Anne's father, Sir Walter, must rent out their estate at Kellynch because they have fallen so far in debt. And wonder of wonders, who should be the new renters, but The Crofts--sister and brother-in-law of the newly Captained Frederick Wentworth! Now that Wentworth is a Captain, he is welcomed into the neighborhood and the two sisters of Anne's brother-in-law, Louisa and Henrietta, begin vying for his attention, hoping to make a fortuitous match. A chain of events follows that ultimately shows Captain Wentworth that he never stopped loving Anne--who, of course, has never stopped loving Wentworth. There is a bit of manipulation in which William Elliot--Anne's cousin--makes a few overtures in her direction, but she sees through him, and has no trouble shutting him down. And they all live happily ever after.

Maybe I've been blind to it before, but I have never heard Austen write with such sexism before. I felt like throwing the book across the room on multiple occasions. While Anne is a lovely character, she is so stifled. She is surrounded by people, all telling her what to do, who to marry, what to think. And she does it! The insipid characters of Louisa and Henrietta are no better. Anne's elder sister, Elizabeth is a pushy broad, and the younger sister, Mary, is a hypochondriac. The only female character I can respect is Lady Russell, who also happens to be the woman who persuaded Anne not to marry Wentworth. Where are the Elizabeth Bennets? The Emmas? Austen, you have failed me with this one.

Aside from the characters, the plot was just too played out for me. There is so little romance in this romance novel, that I lost interest multiple times. Of course Miss Austen regales us with plenty of sweeping landscapes and rich tapestries of conversation, but there's very little to get excited about. The biggest event in Persuasion comes when a young lady takes a fall and gains a concussion.

An interesting tidbit about this novel; Jane Austen once played the role of Lady Russell in the life of her own niece. It is commonly believed that Jane Austen later regretted having such an influence over her niece, wishing instead that the young lady had made her own decision. This, her last completed novel, examines the many ways in which we can be persuaded, and how we may be effected. It is with my dearest wishes that I choose believe that Jane Austen wrote a novel full of weakly women as an illustration of what kind of person can be so easily swayed. Surely it is a farce--an encouragement to women everywhere to avoid being an Anne by making their own decisions and choosing happiness before it's too late.

Rating: $$

S'Mother: Adam Chester

As a person with a slightly crazed mother, I was drawn to Adam Chester's book, S'Mother, which is basically just a collection of his mother's crazed letters. What's that? Humor? Crazy Mother? Count me in! Adam Chester is, like myself, the only child of a single parent. We are a special group of people who know the realities of overprotective mothers and the complete inability to shrug off some of mom's nuttiness onto someone else. We are often victims of complete and utter public humiliation. We are frequently leaned upon, forcing us into responsibilities beyond our age. We are undoubtedly loved in the very best ways that our cuckoo mothers are able. Chester just happens to have kept all of the panicked little notes and letters that his mother sent him, so that we now have them here in a lovely collection of neuroses.

S'Mother begins with an introduction to Adam's Mother in a seemingly harmless tale about the day she brought his sweater to him at school. Except Adam's Mother isn't like any normal mother. Adam's Mother marches herself into the boys locker room while Adam is in gym class and embarrasses him in front of the entire Junior High by handing over his sweater and loudly stating "You forgot to bring your sweater. It's going to rain today!" I mean really, Junior High? Into the locker room? The woman has no boundaries. And so begins the saga of an overprotective mother constantly intruding on her son's life--mostly with regards to her Will, should she suddenly pass away.

Here's my hesitation. The letters are sort of funny, in an oddball kind of way. Chester's narration is kind of funny. There are a few formatting things that distracted me (for example, not everything in parentheses needs to be italicized), but that was minor. So why didn't I laugh? I kind of expected to find some truly humiliating stories that would make me laugh out loud. Or at least chuckle a little. I was certainly captivated by the narrative, and I enjoyed the stories about Chester's life experiences (a bear hug from Barry White! Christmas cards from Elton John!), but the letters from his mother were just...letters from his mother. Sure she's a little wacky. Of course there's no need for an adult man to be reminded to wear a coat in the snow. But she's a little old lady with practically nothing else do, given she has no husband or children. Her uber-involvement in his life is to be expected. Then again, considering my own mother-daughter situation, I may be biased???

I'd like to know what "normal" people think of this book. Is it funny if it isn't quite so familiar?

Rating: $$

ARC provided courtesy of Abrams

A Kiss Goodbye: Audrey Penn & Barbara L. Gibson

Another volume in the Chester Raccoon series, A Kiss Goodbye illustrates the challenges of moving to a new home. Any kid who has had to leave their home, friends, and school, knows how hard it is to get comfortable with change.

Chester announces that he's not moving. He wants to stay in his tree with his friends, where he's always lived. When Chester's mother encourages him to think of it as an adventure, Chester recounts the many adventures he's had that did not go well. When Chester continues to resist, his mother points out that their home tree and many of the surrounding trees have been marked to be cut down for wood, and if Chester stays, he will be all alone because the other animals are leaving, too. When Chester begrudgingly agrees to move with his mother and Ronny, he spends some time saying goodbye to his home. At their new home, Chester meets someone new to befriend, proving that moving really can be an adventure.

I was so hopeful for this story. Penn dances around the issue of clear-cutting and the devastation that deforestation leaves behind. I know that this story is about the adventure of leaving home, and not a social criticism, but I felt like there was so much potential for this lovable forest animal to do a little more teaching.

I was also disappointed in Gibson's art this time. The illustrations felt a little more cartoonish than the other Chester books. They're still very bright and colorful, but I just wasn't in love with the art this time.

Rating: $$

ARC received courtesy of Tanglewood

Daisy Miller: Henry James

Ahhh, Henry James, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... I couldn't possibly name all the things I love about James' works. Each has its own place in my heart for all different reasons. It's so hard to find writing that good anymore. And yet, I had somehow missed Daisy Miller. The young American girl for whom the book is named is one of the most alluded-to characters in fiction. On a bit of a whim I decided to pick up the slim novella that I purchased at a book sale some months back.

Henry James is a master at saying things without saying things, if you know what I mean. In Daisy Miller, James tells the short story of a young American woman who makes the acquaintance of a fellow American traveler, while in Vevey, Switzerland. The gentleman is Winterbourne who is introduced to Daisy by her young brother, Randolph. Winterbourne seems to be immediately taken with the beautiful young lady, despite his aunt. Winterbourne's aunt is one of a staple type of character in these old social commentary stories; Old, stolid, and wealthy, believing that the caste system is alive and well and ought to remain so. Winterbourne's aunt calls Daisy and her family every impoverished name in the book, thereby discouraging Winterbourne from making any advancements. And if that were the entire story, it would be a dull and predictable one without any real moral ending. However, we learn that it's not just dear old Aunty who is influencing Winterbourne, but Daisy herself. The innocent American girl turns out to be quite a flirt, balking at all the societally accepted norms regarding courtships. Daisy's brash dating habits and overt flirtatiousness give Winterbourne pause. And now I have to tell you  ***SPOILER***  that Henry James rarely ends a short story with "...and they all lived happily ever after" and this one is no different. Ultimately, Daisy stays out one evening while in Rome with a charming Roman man, who makes Winterbourne a tad bit jealous. Daisy falls ill and dies before Winterbourne can make his move. She dies unmarried, and he never gets to tell her how much he loves her. Lose-lose.

This novella is fully titled Daisy Miller: A Study which is an appropriate title, no matter how you look at it. It is a study of the outgoing nature of innocent American Daisy Miller who gets herself into all kinds of trouble. She is the epitome of innocence in every description, but Daisy's actions are those of a woman loosing her wiles on every man in the vicinity. She makes for a perfect study of the American girl, caught between the stuffy, wealth-centric European society and the poor, working class American culture. I imagine my favorite ol' college English professor would have asked the obvious question--is Daisy truly innocent?

Daisy Miller may also be a study of romance. Things would have ended so differently if Winterbourne had only been a man of action. He lusted after her, but since it wasn't "proper", he attempted to court her in the traditional way. Courting Daisy seems like a waste of time. She's a fun-time kind of gal who just wants all the attention one can possibly lavish upon her. Winterbourne was either a weak man for listening to his aunt's advice, or he was a smart man who saw a flirt and chose not to engage her. Henry James doesn't give Witnerbourne any tags like "innocent", so it's hard to know what exactly we're supposed to think about him. For my two cents, I wanted him to take Daisy in his arms, tell her to stop behaving foolishly, and make her his wife. That probably says more about me than the book...

Bottom line? I still love love love Henry James. I do not, however, love these characters. I didn't find myself giving a fig about what happened to Daisy, and Winterbourne was such a milquetoast that I couldn't care about his future, either. I could write about all the things Henry James did right, but in light of this singular novel, I will simply say that I enjoyed Daisy Miller, but don't feel compelled to read it again.

Rating: $$

No Place Like Holmes: Jason Lethcoe

What do you get when you introduce Encyclopedia Brown to Sherlock Holmes? You get Griffin Sharpe--a genius with a knack for observation.


Griffin Sharpe is a very observant boy. His keen eye and mathematical mind have caused him a bit of trouble in his short life, but Griffin knows that his skills will serve a purpose. In 1903 he is sent to his uncle's for the summer. On his journey to London, England, Griffin learns about the great detective, Sherlock Holmes. Inaccurately believing that the uncle he has never met is Mr. Holmes, Griffin is surprised to find that his uncle is actually Rupert Snodgrass: a lesser-known detective who happens to live in the same building as Sherlock Holmes--literally in his shadow. Griffin proves to be an invaluable asset to his grumpy uncle as they set out to unravel the mystery of a man believed to have been eaten by the Lochness Monster.


Jason Lethcoe has brought a classical fiction character to new light, as seen through the eyes of an intelligent young detective. What a wonderful way for a new generation to fall in love with Sherlock Holmes! All the old fellas are there, including Watson and Moriarty. The adventure and excitement of this novel may seem predictable to adult readers, but to the young audience, it is a maze of intrigue that every young sleuth will enjoy unraveling.


No Place Like Holmes wraps up in such a way that leads me to believe--to hope!--that we haven't seen the last of Griffin Sharpe and his eccentric uncle.


Rating: $$


ARC received courtesy of Tommy Nelson.

The Ingram Interview: KB Dixon

It is always a great honor when an author or publicist approaches me for a review, so when K.B. Dixon emailed me, asking if I would like to read and review his book The Ingram Interview, I was anxious to say yes. Further research into who K.B. Dixon is led me to his website where I found out that he is a local, published by a Portland press. I eagerly delved into his interrogative novel.

The Ingram Interview is not a novel so much as a recorded conversation. There is no distinct plot line in the usual sense (beginning, middle, end). Instead it is a series of questions and answers directed at Daniel Ingram, a retired English professor who, after having a heart attack, was placed at an assisted care facility where the interview begins. The interview follows Daniel through his leaving the facility and moving in with a former student, Michael, who is now a film-maker.

Dixon's adventure with storytelling reminded me of something my sophomore fiction professor told me, "A good writer never puts a gun on the table unless they're going to use it." There are moments when the interview meanders off in odd directions and I kept expecting those meanderings to lead somewhere. Finally, after finishing the book, I realized the purpose of all those seemingly side notes; The Ingram Interview is a character study. It's not a story so much as it is a close-up look of the character of Daniel Ingram, who is, as it turns out, fairly entertaining. Daniel reminded me of the beloved curmudgeons in my life, who never seem truly happy, and have opinions about nearly everything.

K.B. Dixon promised me "an unrepentantly quirkly novel" and he delivered. I didn't know what to expect, so I was open to the experimental story-telling at work in The Ingram Interview.


Rating: $$

Howl's Moving Castle: Diana Wynne Jones

An award-winning animé film called Howl's Moving Castle was released in 2004. Not being a fan of animé, I chose not to see the film, despite my piqued interest. It wasn't until last month when I found this copy of the middle readers novel that I realized the film was based on a book. Here was my chance to experience the story in a media I fully enjoy! Having absolutely no idea what the book was about, I toted it home and immediately cracked the cover.

To read Howl's Moving Castle you must suspend your adult need for disbelief and acknowledge that there might be places, times, planes of existence where magic exists and is a part of daily life. Sophie is the eldest of three sisters, and she is quite aware of what that means for her--doom. Every fairy tale ever told has made it perfectly clear that if the eldest of three sisters goes out to seek her fortune, she will be doomed. It is with this knowledge that Sophie resigns herself to a quiet life. Upon her father's death, Sophie and her sisters are sent to three different locations where they will be able to learn a trade and earn their keep. As expected, Sophie is kept on as an apprentice in the family hat shop. As she creates artful hats for the customers, Sophie entertains herself by talking to the hats (if you read the book you'll realize why this is an important note). After not so long, Sophie goes to visit her sisters and finds that they have swapped places (also important to the overall story). On the same day, she encounters the Witch of the Waste who casts a spell on Sophie, turning her into an old crone. Deciding not to return to the hat shop, Sophie wanders until she finds a great looming castle that moves about the countryside. Sophie soon meets the Wizard Howl and his apprentice, Michael, as well as the fire demon Calcifer, who all inhabit the moving castle. In no time at all, Sophie is embraced into the heart of their home and made a member of their quirky family. The adventures they have together and the characters they meet toss Howl and Sophie together until she finds that she loves the pompous wizard, in spite of his conceit. After a great battle with the Witch of the Waste, Sophie is finally able to make a choice for herself, regardless of her role as the eldest of three sisters.

Diana Wynne Jones has an extraordinary imagination. In every minute detail there is a hint of magic, bringing her story to life. While a castle that moves about the countryside at a leisurely pace seems entirely impossible, it takes no more than a chapter or two for the reader to completely accept that the door will never open to the same place twice. And while Howl is a conceited snot, Jones has also given him touches of sincerity and made him a likable character.

However, the most lovable character is the ever-present Calcifer. He has entered a contract with Howl and is now obligated to stay in the moving castle's fireplace. He essentially keeps the place running. For only being a flame, Calcifer has a wonderful personality. He is called a fire demon, so it seems like we're not supposed to like him, but he's actually the most enjoyable character in the book!

This was a delightful read that offered an escape similar to The Mysterious Benedict Society (a borrowed review since I read it before The Reader's Book Blog was a thing). Howl's Moving Castle is wondrous and exciting, at times surreal, but not entirely foreign. It was very exciting, but also very safe for readers of all ages.

Rating: $$

City of Bones: Cassandra Clare

A friend of mine recommended "The Mortal Instruments" series to me, claiming that it was her new favorite series of books. As an avid reader of anything that makes my friends squeal, I got a copy of book one, City of Bones, and delved in.

If you're anything like me, you enjoyed Harry Potter, you maybe even mildly enjoyed Twilight, but you haven't been able to get into any of the bazillion ensuing series about wizards or vampires or other "underworld" type creatures. City of Bones is the answer. Clary is a pretty chill girl who has this geeky friend Simon. They go to a punk/goth club one night and Clary meets some very interesting people. Alec, Isabelle, and Jace are not like anyone Clary has ever met. There are some unnerving events and Clary discovers that she's not the normal girl she always hoped she was. Her life is turned upside down when Clary learns that she is the child of a Shadowhunter and that she has it within her power to fight demons. While she's crushing on Jace, Clary is also learning how to master her skills as a Shadowhunter. This story has everything--magic, romance, battles, drama, family, and a queer character or two. City of Bones takes place in current times, on the perceived plane of perception (for the most part). There's no time warp or separate universe to contend with, which I think is part of the reason I was able to get so involved so quickly. I wasn't forced to wrap my brain around a whole new world as well as a whole new cast of characters.

Cassandra Clare has garnered much success from her mold-breaking series, but I'm not convinced she's the best writer. Her talent is good and her storytelling ability is phenomenal, but her writing technique is just good. She gives a solid performance, and I'm hooked by her story. Her characters are engaging, though they're not all fully developed. The most important character is Clary and she is a believable young woman with all of her quirks and total misunderstanding of teenage boys.

I enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. City of Bones is addictive and the new ideas it presents are exciting and enticing. I've heard that Clare will be adding more to this series, and I've no doubt she will be met with continued success.

Rating: $$

The Sharper Your Knife The Less You Cry: Kathleen Flinn

Maybe it was the thumbnail picture of  the Tower d'Eiffel  on the cover. Maybe it was the enthusiastic quote by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat Pray Love). Maybe it was the mysteriously dangerous title. Whatever the reason, I picked up The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn at the library book sale. The back cover said something about a woman on an adventure to pursue her passion at Le Cordon Bleu. I am only vaguely interested in cooking, but I am over-the-moon-in-love with all things French, so I hoped this read would immerse me in all things Parisian.

The story is somewhat familiar. Kathleen Flinn is unhappy with climbing the corporate ladder. She's a journalist who has been swept away into a career she doesn't even like. Fortune smiles on her and she is fired from her job. It turns out to be the best possible thing because it allows Flinn to finally pursue a lifelong dream--to earn a diploma from THE Le Cordon Bleu, in the beautiful City of Lights, Paris, France. She writes about her experiences, which vary from the mundane to the comically absurd. She meets an array of people from all walks of life, and is challenged in every way possible.

As a memoir, The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry isn't eventful. There are no real life lessons to be learned from this book, except maybe that we should always follow our bliss (which I'm hoping we've all learned by now, after the avalanche of uplifting memoirs about how great life can be when you do what you love). There is drama, there is comedy, there is love, there are shed tears and peals of laughter. There are eccentric chefs, and bizarre house guests, and friendly shop owners. There are also pages and pages of mouth-watering French recipes.

In short, unless you are passionate about France, food, or French food, this book doesn't have much to offer the average reader. However, if you get excited by a good cheese and wine pairing, or if you lose yourself in daydreams about walking the Seine by moonlight, this is a book to get lost in.

Rating: $$

Alice Hoffman:Fortune's Daughter

Fortune's Daughter is not an uplifting, fast-paced, feel-good novel. It's actually the exact opposite. It is slow, internal, and melancholy. And yet...

Alice Hoffman has written many noteworthy novels, and this is one of her quieter publications. Fortune's Daughter is a novel about motherhood, loss, empathy, relationships, story-telling, and ultimately, about human connection. Lila is a young woman who learns how to read tea leaves from an old fortune teller named Hannie. When Lila becomes pregnant, she aches for Hannie's companionship, but Hannie can see that Lila's future will be a struggle. Lila flees her home and does indeed struggle, only to find herself faced with Rae, who is a young pregnant woman in nearly the same position Lila once experienced. The lives of these two women intertwine and weave a beautiful, though heartbreaking story of love and loss, all for the sake of revealing just how important true connections are in each life.

Now the footnote. Do not read this novel if you have ever experienced a stillbirth or had to give a child up for adoption. The platform for this novel is the loss of a child through adoption or stillbirth. It is a difficult read, but I found it rewarding. There is also an underlying theme in this novel that illustrates how we sometimes perceive other's to be more like ourselves than they are. Lila relates to Rae so strongly that she fears for the life of Rae's child for no reason other than their similar circumstances.

Hoffman is a great writer, obviously well educated in the ways of breaking the hearts of her readers. She first pulls you in and makes you empathize with the characters until you care about them so much that your heart breaks as they discover the dark truths they had hidden from themselves.

Rating: $$

Tell Me Lies: Patrick Cooper

I'm not gonna lie, I sometimes pick out books based on their covers. Tell Me Lies was one such find. I'm a hippie at heart, so I was intrigued by this book cover and the flap that describes a story about 1969 and an enlightenment driven commune.

So this is usually the paragraph I dedicate to explaining the story. Except I have no idea where to start! Because this book is about so much more than a guy named Stephen who has some Interesting Experiences. It is about Truth and Love and Community. It is about personal truth and a little bit about personal enlightenment. It is about knowing who you are and what you want and where you belong. All of this is expressed through the story of Stephen, a young English man in 1969. He's the son of conservatives, and has a brother, Rob, who has wrapped himself in anti-war activism. At first, Stephen has a Plan. He is going to work at the pub and live at home until he does whatever he's going to do. All well and good (and dull), until he visits Rob in London. It's kind of like Stephen suddenly realizes there's more to life than living at home. And so begins a Journey. He falls in love and gets his heart broken, he meets a lot of hippies, he does a fair amount of drugs, he seeks enlightenment, he joins a commune, and he falls in Love For Real. Actually, a Lot happens. Too much to recap.

I liked this book. It was a lot to take in, but that's how life goes. Underneath all the things that happen, there is an underlying theme of Stephens search for purpose, which is such a universal experience. Aren't we all searching for a place to belong and feel important? And the way Patrick Cooper writes, I had no problem identifying with Stephen. He's just an ordinary bloke, totally accessible.

My chief complaint about this Young Adult novel is that for a book about Truth and Lies, it takes awhile to get around to how important the truth can be. It's not until the very end of the book that Stephen is forced to question who has given him Truth and who has given him Lies. In fact, until the last two or three chapters, I didn't have any idea what the title referred to. Also, I'm not sure how "young" is appropriate. There is a lot of content in this book that would not be appropriate for middle readers, and maybe even some of the more immature high schoolers. However, I think that most adults would appreciate this novel, if only because Stephen is so accessible.

Rating: $$

Last Dance at The Frosty Queen: Richard Uhlig

Another book sale buy, Last Dance At The Frosty Queen was a surprise. I had no idea what it was about, but the cover was catchy and the title was quirky. I figured that for 50 cents, it could be a total dud and I wouldn't have lost anything.

Uhlig makes his debut with this teen novel about Arthur Flood (aka, Arty), an eighteen-year-old high school senior living in tiny Harker City, Kansas. Arty has big dreams about moving away from Harker and living a bigger life, surrounded by people he's never met. Arty turns out to be a very complex character. He's sleeping with his Drama teacher, Mrs. Kaye, while also dating Geraldine Bottoms from the Ichthus club (it's a bible study group). Arty works for the Stileses who own Stiles' Styles--a design shop in town that was intended to put Harker City on the map. Arty's best friend is a theater buff named Barry, a closeted gay boy who works at the Frosty Queen--the first fast food shop in town. Arty's life seems pretty dull until he meets Vanessa from California. She's dark and mysterious and irresistibly beautiful. And of course, she's a little bit crazy, which is probably what Arty likes about her. This is all background noise to the real Arty Flood story though, which is the death of his drunk mother some years previous, which he's never fully dealt with.

I think I'm still processing this book. For being marketed for teens, it's got a lot of intense emotions and some very graphic sex. The language is also a little rough at times. This book is just like an eighteen-year-old boy in many ways. It's funny and a little bit painful. It's awkward and self-conscious. It's also tender-hearted when you start to learn some of it's secrets.

Rating: $$

The Swimming Pool: Holly LeCraw

I finished reading The Swimming Pool by Holly LeCraw about two weeks ago. At first, I had no idea where to begin in my review. What a complicated story! And then, just as I was really picking up some steam on my review, my computer crashed. And I mean it CRASHED. I tried to do a system restore, but alas, the only treatment was to re-start the system from scratch. So. Obviously I lost the beautiful, poetic, righteous review I was working on. And of course, now that it's gone into the silicon Neverland and no one can read it, I can tell you that it was my best work ever! Okay, it wasn't really, but you'll never know, will you?

So. This book. It's confusing. That's all there is to it. Because it starts out as a story about one thing, but it ends up being a story about something totally different. Which, really, is just like life. We start out our day thinking it will just be about work, and it ends up being about the kids and the dog and the co-workers mother-in-law who doesn't approve. In that sense, LeCraw is a fabulous writer. She easily captures a slice of life. The life she has captured, though, is chaotic at best.

So there are all these people who have intersecting lives. Marcella was married to Anthony and they have a daughter named Toni. Marcella had an affair with a man named Cecil who was married to a woman named Betsy. Cecil and Betsy have two kids; Jed and Callie. Betsey ends up getting murdered, Marcella and Anthony get divorced, and Cecil eventually dies. That's not what this story is actually about though. Because some years later, it's summer on the Cape and Toni is hired to nanny for Callie, who now has two kids of her own. And brother Jed is spending the summer at the Cape with his sister. I know, right? Marcella's kid is nannying for the daughter of Marcella's former lover? Crazy. But wait, it gets worse. What could be worse, you ask? Oh, I don't know, maybe if Marcella and Jed become lovers! That's right, first she's lovin on the papa, then she's lovin on the son. Sick, ya'all, sick! It appears this woman has no boundaries. And to complicate things further, back at the Cape house, Toni keeps coming on to Jed, and he's trying desperately to deny that he finds her attractive. Because after all, she's the daughter of his lover!

So, if you've swallowed all of that information, now I can tell you that this book isn't really about those wicked relationships. It's about Callie and how postpartum depression is nasty. Because she's got this beautiful baby girl, right, but she's so totally unattached. And she's too scared to talk about it, because she's kind of WASPy and doesn't want anyone to know that she's not perfect. So what happens? Nothing, actually. She does not drown her baby in a bathtub. She does not shake her baby to death. Nothing like that. She just locks her baby in the nursery, where she is safe from crazy mamma, which is the best thing she could have done. But none of this happens until the last part of the book! There are all of these subtle little paragraphs about Callie's unhappiness, but reader is so tied up with Jed and Marcella that we don't realize it's all about Callie!

Now, I'm not gonna lie and say I loved this book. Because I was kind of into it until I figured out that I had been misled. But I can't lie and say I hated it, either. Because the characters are fascinating people! And I am a sucker for stories that take place on The Cape. New England is super foreign to this NW girlie, so I'm always interested to read about those folks. I guess I'm just not keen on the plot devices LeCraw utilizes. However, this is her debut novel, and I am mildly curious to see what she does next. Will she continue to be a tale-twister, or will she change it up next time?

Rating: $$

Ten Things Your Minister Wants To Tell You: Rev Oliver Buzz Thomas

Ten Things Your Minister Wants To Tell You was reviewed by my friend over at This Week At The Library some time ago, but I must admit, I didn’t pay much attention. He’s always reading theological books and those don’t generally interest me. However, this little volume found itself in my hands after an interesting conversation with a devout believer friend of mine who said that Rev Buzz had really got her thinking about some things. I zoomed through it in about an hour and a half, which illustrates just how conversational the writing is.

Rev Oliver “Buzz” Thomas is a Southern Baptist minister who faces ten big fundamental questions people have about Christianity and the bible including topics like other religions and homosexuality. Rev Thomas is able to knowledgably cite scripture to support his arguments. He essentially brings the bible into the present by pointing out that the books of the bible are not meant to be read literally. I think my favorite reference was to the many laws in Leviticus that would now be ridiculous—selling one’s daughter, for example.

My feeling about this slim read is that fundamentalists will detest it and liberals will love it. Being a spiritualist myself, I found it interesting and engaging. I have read many reviews that state Rev Thomas is a blasphemer and that his word is not gospel. Well, it certainly isn’t, and I don’t think he ever intended it to be so. Thomas is simply a man educated in the bible who has made a valiant attempt at communicating Christian principles to folks who are on the fence about their beliefs.

Rating: $$

A Series of Unfortunate Events-The Bad Beginning: Lemony Snicket

I have wanted to read the Lemony Snicket series since I first saw them on the shelf. I finally found volume one at a book sale last weekend for the measly cost of a whopping fifty cents. The Bad Beginning introduces us to the Beaudelaire children and the devious Count Olaf.

The Beaudelaire children consist of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. To start the book, the children become orphans when their parents both perish in a house fire. The very sad children are shuffled off the Mr. Poe, who is the executor of the Beaudelair estate. Mr. Poe’s house isn’t as comfortable as their own home, but the children are about to learn the true meaning of uncomfortable. As directed by the Beaudelaire will, the children must be awarded to a relative. Mr. Poe chooses Count Olaf as the closest—geographically—living relative. It doesn’t take long to realize that Count Olaf is a heartless, greedy nut-job who only takes in the orphans to get his hands on their sizeable fortune. What ensues is a terribly sad story about the misery of three orphaned children, Olaf’s disgusting plot including a marriage, and the triumph of a very smart trio of children.

It’s obvious that I am a fan of young adult fiction. I love the vivid characters, the simple plots, and the creativity of youth authors. Lemony Snicket is no different. He has created larger than life characters and put them into unbelievable scenarios. He writes as an adult telling a story, using an adult vocabulary, rather than talking down to his young readers. Snicket writes as though he assumes his readers are intelligent which I find incredibly refreshing.

I’ve had a really difficult time reviewing this book, and I think it’s because I was neither thrilled nor disgusted. It was a quick read, the characters were enjoyable, but I already knew the story from having seen the movie. I imagine young folks would dive into the story with vigor. I imagine most adults would slip over the pages with some interest.


Rating: $$

Lamb: Christopher Moore

Anyone remotely familiar with the bible will recall the familiar names of the gospels: Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. What those gospels don’t cover is Jesus’ childhood, and there’s only man who can write that story—Biff. It has been two thousand years since the death of Jesus (known as Joshua) Christ. The angel Raziel has reanimated the corpse of Levi (known as Biff), to tell the story of Joshua’s youth. Thus begins Moore’s novel about how Joshua became the Christ.


First of all, I have to say that if you are a devout believer in Christ, you will almost surely be offended by Lamb. The language is crude, the events are blasphemous, and the characters are typically flawed teenage boys. This is not an uplifting story of how wonderful Jesus was as a young man. Instead, it is the story of Joshua’s best friend, Biff, who had the sometimes unfortunate position of best friend to the Messiah. There is nothing special about Biff. He doesn’t have any special talents or trades, and he’s not particularly smart. He is, however, very lovable as an average, mischievous, lusty boy. Considering that Biff is the narrator, you can imagine the many reasons why his gospel was never incorporated into the bible.


So here’s the gist of the story; Joshua, the son of God, receives a message that he must go and find his destiny. As any loyal best friend would do, Biff goes with him. Joshua sets out on the road to find the three magi who came to witness his birth—Balthazar, Gaspar, and Melchior. Each magus is living a fairly austere life and has a lesson to teach the young Messiah. Biff learns beside Joshua, but he’s far more interested in getting laid than learning how to find the Holy Spirit in himself. So Joshua learns about enlightenment from the Buddhists, and Biff learns the physical art of Judo. Joshua learns how to overcome his physical form, and Biff learns the Kama Sutra from a prostitute. When it comes time for Joshua to become the Messiah and bring the Kingdom to the people, Biff is by his side, constantly trying to protect his friend’s life. And the rest, as they say, is history.


This book is thoroughly entertaining. Not being a student of the bible, I was inspired to research a lot of things to test their truth, which made for an enriching read. Mary of Magdala and Joshua bar Jehovah are both written extremely well, so as to make them dimensional characters in a novel, opposed to unknown figures in a holy text. I was enthusiastically impressed by the way Jesus is presented as a very Human person who had a good laugh from time to time, who enjoyed irony, who had occasional lusts, and who wasn’t magically gifted with enlightenment, but instead had to learn it, just like his followers.


I didn’t feel like I had to have any specific previous understanding of the bible to read this book. I loved all of the elements that come together so well here—romance, adventure, action, terror, and of course death. I would only recommend this to folks with open minds and a good sense of humor.


$$

Schooled: Gordon Korman

I picked up Schooled at my friend’s house while babysitting because it had a bright and interesting cover. A short, young reader novel, Schooled is a modern story of Tarzan for middle schoolers. Capricorn Anderson grew up on a hippie commune with his grandmother, Rain. When Rain takes a fall and is put in the hospital for six weeks, Cap is forced to lived in a suburban home and attend public school as an eighth grader.
The Tarzan parallels are pretty obvious; like Tarzan, Capricorn is taken out of his home habitat and thrust into a totally foreign culture and treated like a freak. In the name of tradition, Capricorn is nominated the eighth grade class president because his peers assume he will make a fool of himself since he is such a total loser. He wears tie dye and has a long mop of blond hair. He practices Tai Chi on the school’s front lawn before class starts. And he’s a total hippie with no contemporary references. Cap doesn’t even realize how different he is. Nor does he understand that being different is the kiss of death in eighth grade.
Of course it wouldn’t be a young reader novel if there wasn’t a really obvious moral. The moral here is that being different can be good. Cap takes on the responsibility of being class president and unites the entire middle school. His reign is not without mistakes, but ultimately, everyone learns an important lesson and they all live happily ever after.
I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. Yes, it’s trite, but it’s a sweet kind of trite. And the characters are really enjoyable. Everyone, at some point in their life, has felt as alien as Capricorn in a public school, but we survive. We make our own way and create our own niche, which is a crucial piece of information for middle school readers.

Rating: $$

The Lovely Bones: Alice Sebold

When The Lovely Bones first hit bookstores a few years ago, I was curious about it, but ultimately decided to skip it. As a general rule I don’t go in for a lot of gore, so reading about the rape and murder of a teenage girl wasn’t the least bit appealing. However, in my spare time I’m also a movie buff. So when I saw that The Lovely Bones was going to be made into a movie (with Stanley Tucci!), I bit the bullet and ordered myself a copy. My overall opinion is that I wasn’t missing much by not reading it.



The Lovely Bones is disturbing and gory. Which are actually testaments to the great writing of Alice Sebold. I’m just not sure it’s a great book. The story was sometimes uncomfortable to read. And rather than be about the search for Susie Salmon’s killer, it’s about what happens to a family and community after the death of a young girl, which was only interesting for about a hundred pages. The family reaction was fairly cliché—the parents grow distanced when one of them becomes obsessed with finding Susie’s killer. Her siblings fall into the shadows as the sad survivors of a family torn apart by the loss of a child. And Susie’s friends from school react by finding solace in each other, which feels a little uncomfortable in itself.

I think that what makes this story silver-screen-worthy is that it’s believable. We have become all-too-familiar with the reality of the neighborhood sociopath who preys on our children. What Sebold has managed is to make Susie’s killer dimensional. He is cold and calculating, but she gives him thought processes and determined decisions that effectively bring him to life. If it weren’t for Sebold’s writing skill, I don’t think this book would have made it beyond the thrillers section into the best-selling shelves it stands on today.

Rating: $$

Best Friends Forever: Jennifer Weiner

There’s a saying that goes, “A friend helps you move, a best friend helps you move a body.” That is the kind of friendship that Jennifer Weiner writes about in Best Friends Forever. Despite the distance of years, best friends Addie and Valerie are reunited under suspicious circumstances and are willing to revisit their friendship and save each other.

Addie Downs is a fat little girl with a strong inclination to stay at home with her family. She’s not much interested in doing the things that other little girls like to do, and she thinks her family is the best. She’s an outcast at school, but she doesn’t mind, or even really seem to notice. When Valerie Addler moves in next door, Addie’s mother forces her to make friends with the new girl. Val is everything that Addie is not--namely, social. They become best friends, inseparable. Val’s mother is a little flaky, but she is adventurous and exciting in ways that Addie’s mother could never be. While Addie is  envious of Val’s eccentric, boozy mom, Val is hateful jealous of Addie’s four person family, with a dad  who comes home every day, a mom  who loves with her whole heart, and a brother who seems just about perfect in every way. However, things change over time, as they are apt to do, and Valerie grows out of her awkwardness and blossoms into a beautiful blond bombshell, joining the cheerleading team, and partying with the popular high school kids. Addie misses her friend more than anything, but isn’t willing to endure the social pressures of her peers. As Addie becomes ridiculed by the very people Valerie now hangs out with, their friendship becomes strained. Then one night at a party, Valerie is raped by one of the school’s most popular jocks, and confiding in Addie, begs her not to tell. When Addie does expose the truth, Valerie denies it and the entire school turns again Fat Addie. The rest of her high school years are spent in misery.

Fast forward fifteen years, and Valerie has become a weather girl, still a blond bombshell. Addie has become an artist, and has lost all of her extra weight. She’s not exactly successful by societal standards, but she’s happy in her life. The night of the fifteen year high school reunion comes around and Addie chooses to go on a date rather than face the kids who hated her in high school. After the terrible date finally ends, Addie heads home and soon finds Val on her doorstep, claiming she has run over and possibly killed the boy who raped her in high school. Addie, ever desperate to have her best friend back, goes along with Val’s plan to find the body and cover up the mess. When no body shows up, the only logical thing to do is run.

Weiner is a very likable author. She creates characters who are very relatable and puts them in situations that are like a more Technicolor real life—aka, more exaggerated. I enjoyed the characters of Addie and Val, maybe because they remind me so much of me and my best friend in high school. Except that I was never that shy; I was far more social than Addie Downs was. However, it’s not hard to believe that best friends could be ripped apart by the social pressures of high school. It’s also not hard to believe that once you’ve been best friends with a person and shared with them the deepest secrets of yourself, you’re linked forever.

Despite having some fairly heavy elements, this book was a really fun read. It was playful and funny, and a trademark chick lit volume from Jennifer Weiner.

Overall Rating: $$