Heft

by Liz Moore
4 out of 5 stars

Even though I have a few complaints about this book, overall, I really enjoyed it. It's a good story, and Moore's characters are a believable mixture of heroic and brave but also weak and flawed, which makes them seem complex and real, and all the more likable. In fact, one of my favorite characters is the peripheral Yolanda, a sassy but sweet teenage unwed mother who Aurthur hires to clean his house.

My complaints have more to do with structure (if that's the right word), because once again, we have an author who thinks it's OK to take liberties with basic grammar and call it poetic license. WTH? Giving your characters a voice is one thing. Distracting and annoying the hell out of your readers is quite another.

Aurthur, the 550-lb. shut in, is an intelligent, sensitive former college professor whose voice comes off a little child-like due in part, I think, to the fact that he (college professor, remember) uses ampersands instead of "and" throughout his entire account. Do you have any idea how annoying that is to read? I'll tell you: Very.

Kel, the other first-person narrator, recounts his entire story without the use of quotation marks. This is not only annoying, it's confusing. Is this a trend among authors? If it is, it needs to stop. Also, possible spoiler alert, but the publisher's summary gives you the impression that these two have stories that will intertwine, but they really don't. Not 'til the very end do they even make contact, so that too left me feeling a little disappointed -- like you would be if someone offered you a nice piece of cake, but then ate the frosting off it first. What's the point of cake without the frosting? It's the vehicle for the payoff...creamy frosting goodness. Ah well, maybe I'm just hungry. And I digress. Really, this is a very good book, and I still recommend it despite my annoyance and craving for cake.

Prince Lestat

by Anne Rice
1 out of 5 stars

OMG. What the hell? So apparently once you've had a couple best sellers, you no longer need an editor? I couldn't even finish this rambling tomb of moping, pathetic, navel-gazing vamps. Also, there's practically no plot. How do you write such a massive-ass book and forgot to include a plot? I can't even waste any more time thinking about this book.

The Heart Goes Last

by Margaret Atwood
3 out of 5 stars

Another creative and suspenseful take on a dystopian future by Margaret Atwood. I found this to be...I dunno, a little less sophisticated than Atwood's usual work what with the somewhat caricature-ish players, stereotypical villain, and even Elvis impersonator hi-jinx (in Vegas even), but overall, this is a good read and definitely something different.

Set after a global economic meltdown, Stan and Charmaine are living in their car and struggling to survive, though Stan hasn't yet resorted to teaming up with his seemingly criminal brother, and Charmaine isn't yet turning tricks at the bar where she works. Then they see an ad about the Positron Project, where you're given pretty much everything you need from employment to housing with high thread-count sheets in a seemingly self-sustaining community as long as you "serve time" every other month in the town's prison. As a prisoner. Doing time for no actual crime, but it's the notion of the for-profit prison that fuels the local economy. During your prison months, another family/couple/person lives in your home. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, lots, of course, and that's the adventure/horror/humor of the story. In fact, sometimes it's hard to tell if this is a satire, a comedy, or a horror story. It kind of jumps back and forth a bit on the strings of your emotions, and much of what fuels the inevitable downfall is of course greed and a kind of sick sexual force that makes you feel a little ashamed to be of the same race as these bizarro characters. 

In fact, I kind of wished I hadn't looked at Atwood's jacket photo before reading, because the juxtaposition of what looks kind of like a grandma's glamour shot gone wrong and the raunchy sex scenes (albeit non gratuitous -- they're an important part of the plot and include chicken rape, robot sex slaves, and brain "adjustments" that can make the object of your desire desire you right back) that she wrote was...unsettling. And now I feel like a jerk, because that was kind of mean but also ironic, I guess, given Atwood's ulterior feminist theme that runs through her books. So go me for irony. It just reminded me of the witch from Princess Bride who maybe got a makeover at Macy's and then had her picture taken. But I digress. The Heart Goes Last is really unique and, of course, as Atwood fans might expect, wonderfully written.

A Spool of Blue Thread

by Anne Tyler
1 out of 5 stars

Anne Tyler doesn't write suspenseful page turners, and the conflict in her books is usually more subtle, allowing the reader to linger over the minutia and enjoy the laser-focused attention to detail that Tyler is so good at. But this...it makes me sad to say I was more than half way through the book when I realized how much I didn't look forward to picking it up again. I returned it just yesterday, but if you were to ask me what it's about, I'd have to say, "Um, I'm not sure...I really don't remember. Mostly a really unlikable family I think."

Sixkill

by Robert B. Parker
3 out of 5 stars

I believe this was Parker's last contribution to the Spencer series before he died, and, while it's not as good as his earlier books in the series, it was a decent read. The "client," as it were, is a despicable pig, so it's hard to care if Spencer clears him of charges, but it's kind of fun to meet a new character, Zebulon Sixkill, a Cree Indian who, when the book opens, is serving as the client's bodyguard. Spencer, naturally, kicks Sixkill's ass in an altercation and then ends up taking him on as a protégé of sorts. So Sixkill ends up filling the Hawk hole in Parker's formula, which I don't mean in a bad way, because generally, it's a pretty entertaining formula. This story's a little lacking in action and conflict, but it was still a nice escape for a rainy weekend. 

Go Set a Watchman

by Harper Lee
2 out of 5 stars

Dang, I so wanted to like this book more. While far from a page turner (kind of plotless, really), it held my interest enough to keep listening -- though at times, I persisted only because I was stuck in traffic and had nothing else to do.

That said, it feels wrong to be overly critical, since this was apparently a rough draft of To Kill a Mockingbird vs. a true sequel. From what I've gathered, it was written about two years prior to Lee's best-selling novel was published. From that perspective, it's kind of fascinating to read and then compare to TKAM. 

Taken on its own, however, I would have enjoyed learning more about Scout's life between childhood and where this story picks up, when she's 27. It might have helped buffer the fact that she's not all that likeable any more. In fact, this precocious child of wise old Atticus Finch is kind of a self-absorbed pain in the ass to everyone around her, which doesn't play so well when you're an adult. I did enjoy the flashbacks (though they were kind of random) and some of the perspectives on civil rights, even though they got rather preachy at times. While it's easy to understand Jean Louis's outrage while you're sitting here in 2015, you can also see Atticus' perspective too, which seems to be that sometimes you have to take baby steps when you're trying to change minds and make it stick.

I missed Dill and really missed Jem, and, from a character perspective, I'm not sure why he had to be replaced by Hank. Ah well...another foray into the truth that it's hard to go home and sometimes is sucks to grow up. I should add that narrator Reese Witherspoon bumps this up to 2.5 stars on my scale.

Life After Life

by Kate Atkinson
5 out of 5 stars

Life After Life reads like vintage literature, but it's also darn right fantastical with a bit of a time-travel angle thrown in. If Atkinson's approach doesn't click with you right away, you might hate  it. It clicked with me, and I loved it. I also loved the time frame, the setting in England, France and Germany during WWI and II, and Atkinson's amazing story crafting.

Every time Ursula dies, it's like a reset button is pressed, and she starts over. As readers, we see these restarts from a variety of perspectives and from different moments in time, so it never gets tedious. Our heroic Ursula relives her whole life, from her birth in 1910 through and beyond WWII. It's a fascinating study of destiny vs. free will -- though Ursula has no idea she's being reincarnated as herself life after life. She does have premonitions and is haunted by feelings of déjà vu. Eventually, I think this starts to drive her a little mad.

At any rate, each life, the butterfly effect of her actions and decisions affect outcomes that range from tiny to absolutely life altering -- or ending. Atkinson's execution of this effect is fantastic, and her descriptions, in particular, of Germany's raids on England and the aftermath of Hitler's Blitzkrieg are both brilliant and horrifying.

But you really have to pay attention to the dates at the top of each chapter, because as readers, we're jumping around in time a lot. As for Ursula, she's plucky and hilarious, and she drops some bon motts that made me laugh out loud. Like our singular lives, the trajectory that the different versions of her lives take all contain happiness, sadness, triumph and tragedy -- in different amounts, but she never comes out unscathed -- it's definitely not a perfect system! You have to wonder if being re set is a gift or a curse. I think it's probably both.

I'll Give You the Sun

by Jandy Nelson
5 out of 5 stars

Yes, 5 stars. This is YA/teen fiction, so of course it's a little Vampire Diary* schmaltzy at times. But if we're honest, I think even us jaded grownups can still be and enjoy being a little schmaltzy, if just in our own heads (never out loud of course). That said, I LOVED these kids, I loved their relationship, I loved their artistic expression (especially Noah's), and I really, really enjoyed Nelson's descriptions of her characters' feelings, their art, their conflict, the surroundings, and even the supernatural-ish twin stuff. If you can listen to this book, do it; I think it helps the dual perspectives, and the readers are excellent. Like a lot of teen fiction, the grownup characters have less dimension, but it didn't bother me. I think that's pretty much how teens view adults and their parents anyway. I may listen to this again, just so I can re appreciate some of Nelson's prose and the many moments when a sentence passed through my brain and I thought, "RIGHT?!" and "Oh that's brilliant -- so perfect..." and, "Wow...am I a dork for thinking that's really beautiful?" The answer is probably yes, but I don't care -- it gives me hope that maybe I'm not as jaded as I thought.

*If you're a fan of Vampire Diaries, then you know what I mean...but no, this book has nothing to do with vampires.

The Blondes

by Emily Schultz

4 out of 5 stars

This is a pretty in-your-face satire about how women, beauty, femininity, and motherhood are not only viewed, but how easy it might be to twist these views in a heartbeat. What happens when all the pretty blonde ladies start going stark raving mad? How will society react? Read this and find out just one of the very likely possibilities. Really funny and also really creepy and even haunting in a Handmaid's Tale kind of way. The main character is somewhat pathetic, but you can't help but root for her. 

A Man Called Ove

by Fredrick Backman
4 out of 5 stars

The Goodreads blurb does a pretty good job of painting a summary of this book's plot. But don't think this is a Walter Matheau kind of romp about a crabby old man and the various hilarious hijinks that ensue, because there's way more to this book than that. Read some of the quotes for a glimpse into the depth of emotion that this book will take you. E.g.,

"She just smiled, said that she loved books more than anything, and started telling him excitedly what each of the ones in her lap was about. And Ove realized that he wanted to hear her talking about the things she loved for the rest of his life.”

"Death is a strange thing. People live their whole lives as if it does not exist, and yet it's often one of the great motivations for the living. Some of us, in time, become so conscious of it that we live harder, more obstinately, with more fury. Some need its constant presence to even be aware of its antithesis. Others become so preoccupied with it that they go into the waiting room long before it has announced its arrival."

A Man Called Ove has definitely got humor  (and some hijinks), but also a hefty dose of sadness (not the deterring kind, the kind that makes you nod and sigh), and the writing, which is at times poetic, goes much deeper than a made-for-tv movie. I thought it was a wonderful character study that's also an epic love story  -- one whose ending is both unexpected and expected. 

Surrender Dorothy

by Meg Wolitzer
4 out of 5 stars

Kind of on a Meg Wolitzer binge...love her writing. The stories themselves don't move all that fast, but the observational prose -- it's really, really good.

The Martian

by Andy Weir
4 out of 5 stars

This is a survival story on steroids. And it's funny.

The Gap of Time

by Jeanette Winterson
4 out of 5 stars

Since this is a modern-day take on Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, I feel justified in using adjectives like awesome, really cool, and amazing (even though I've grown to dislike the overuse of that word...) to express my enjoyment of this book. It's also beautifully written, and Winterson weaves a lot of atmosphere and mood into her prose. It was a perfect pick for a rainy weekend. As with Shakespeare's characters, you find yourself wondering at times what exactly is making these characters tick -- we're not taken very deeply into any of their hearts or minds. Sometimes this annoys me, because if someone is a villain, a hero or a hot mess, I want the back story, or at least a few clues. But since this is told as a "tale" vs. a navel-gazing novel, I felt it still worked. And there's still plenty of raw emotion and underbelly to keep you riveted. At least I thought so. If you're looking for a synopsis, don't rely on the book jacket -- that little blurb is stupid and useless, and it doesn't do the story justice AT ALL. Goggle the plot of The Winter's Tale, because that's really what this is all about with a lot of really cool imagery, awesome (yet subtle) humor, and amazing observation about the human condition. One of my favorite truths toward the end of the book (not a spoiler):

"And the world goes on regardless of joy or despair or one woman's fortune or one man's loss. And we can't know the lives of others. And we can't know our own lives beyond the details we can manage. And the things that change us forever happen without us knowing they would happen. And the moment that looks like the rest is the one where hearts are broken or healed. And time that runs so steady and sure runs wild outside of the clocks. It takes so little time to change a lifetime and it takes a lifetime to understand the change."

Chinese Cooking for Diamond Thieves

by Dave Lowry
4 out of 5 stars

At times it felt like the author was trying a little too hard to make his characters clever, and I agree with others who felt there was a distinct lack of character development overall, but this was still a fun read with likeable peeps and really mouthwatering descriptions of food, behind-the-scenes views of Chinese cooking and, as an added bonus, a little martial arts to boot. OK, the martial arts bits were not mouth watering, they were just entertaining. The fact that our hero is Caucasian is also a pleasant twist, especially when he artfully navigates his way through (or against) Chinese culture and tradition both in and out of the kitchen.  Lowry is a journalist and food critic, and this shows in his writing; his knowledge of the Chinese language(s), the restaurant scene, and nuances of food prep and technique are really interesting. What I missed were mental and emotional details that drew the two main characters together as well as any real depth to the personalities of the supporting cast. Also, the diamond thief part of the plot seemed a little far fetched and not very fleshed out, but what do I know. I usually order sesame chicken at Chinese restaurants too.

Bellzhar

By Meg Wolitzer
4 out of 5 stars

The meat of the story and the small circle of friends Jam finds at her new school for emotionally fragile teens is a bit Breakfast Clubby, but I enjoyed it. (I also enjoyed the The Breakfast Club in its time.) Also, any book that can make me wish I had more time to ride a recumbent exercise bike? Bonus points.

Jam is a somewhat typical teenager experiencing her first love and loss, and Wolitzer really nails that all-consuming, obsessive feeling, followed by the numbing despair of losing it. I really felt Jam’s sadness and sighed for her out of both sympathy and empathy. Was Jam melodramatic and sometimes a little self-absorbed? Of course. But this is to be expected. She’s a nice kid with a good family and strong bonds to her parents and little brother. All that takes a back seat to her broken heart, which is also what happens in real life, so this is quite believable. I should add that it’s actually a little disturbing that reading about a nice, smart, normal girl with friends and a healthy home life is refreshing for a change. What’s not expected is Jam’s big reveal, which I felt was a total cop out; it so pisses me off when authors string you along SO FAR into the story as to be on the last few pages and then suddenly drop some new angle, character facet or revelation onto your skull. That is not clever or a plot twist, that is just a cheap, lazy ploy to shock the reader and, in this case, lose quite a bit of respect and caring for our troubled protagonist.

It’s difficult to explain without a spoiler, but suffice it to say, I felt Jam’s breakdown and subsequent "fragileness" that landed her at this verdant, rustic boarding school went from believable to ridiculous, and her conflict was absolutely petty compared to those of her classmates’. I don’t doubt that some teens in Jam’s (not uncommon) situation might experience the downward spiral of despair that Jam did – we know they do. But Jam’s social development up to that point gave no indication that she was that much of a mental hot mess to make her so vulnerable. I.e., there was, in literary terms, no foreshadowing to make the last chapters of this book even remotely believable.

So, there is a not-that-short list of things that I didn’t like about this book. However, I still enjoyed it and looked forward to escaping into Jam's world. And four stars for Wolitzer’s clever writing and her believable dialogue with not a hint of affectation. Love that. I didn’t love the "psychological magic" that came with this story (and normally I love that kind of stuff.) There was no explanation for its existence, where it came from, or why it touched Jam and her classmates whenever they wrote in their identical red diaries. Was the teacher a witch? Were the diaries enchanted? If so, by whom, and why? I also didn’t feel like any of the characters were adequately fleshed out, and some of Jam’s closest relationships just sort of happened without much depth to them. What happened to make Sierra Jam’s BFF? Where did that come from? By the same token, it’s understandable why Jam grabbed and kissed Griffin when she did, but where did the subsequent feelings come from that made her miss him? They never talked or even knew each other outside of class…when did this bond form? Chemistry is one thing, but jeeze. Toss the reader a bone here, cuz otherwise it’s just frustrating and makes our eyes roll.

I should repeat here that I still enjoyed this book. It’s easy to nitpick about the stuff you didn’t get or like without noting the thought and deliberateness that went into the storycrafting. And though I was wishing for more depth to the cast, I also wonder if Wolitzer’s depiction wasn’t intentional. The main character isn’t really a person, but that dark cloud of indifference and numbness that comes with deep depression. Even when the sun is shining, you can feel it, and even when you’re laughing, it’s hanging on your legs, waiting under your bed, or standing right behind you. All of the friends Jam makes in her Special Topics in English class are haunted by it -- experiencing life from under a bell jar, and Wolitzer captures that pretty well. There’s probably some kind of clever allegory within in allegory here that my tiny, distracted brain is missing, and there are undoubtedly additional nuances to the parallels of Plath’s work and this book that I’m not appreciating…but I still enjoyed the experience. Kind of like how you enjoy Bugs Bunny cartoons as a kid despite the fact that adults are getting a whole ‘nother level of humor and satire out of them. That would probably not be too gratifying for an author to hear, but there it is.

My list of gripes is just my opinions -- I still recommend the book, and I think anyone who enjoys this genre of fiction will enjoy it.

Written in My Own Heart's Blood

by Diana Gabaldon
3 out of 5 stars

I waffled between 3 and 4 stars on this one. Really, it was good -- I always love the detail Gabaldon puts into the history, medicine, botany, and, in this case, what it's like to be shot in the gut and then have someone fish around in your liver to get the bullet out without the benefit of antibiotics or anesthesia (not pleasant, it turns out).

I didn't really enjoy all the militia and army encampment stuff; I found it frustrating that they were so mired in all the tedious politics of that time. I know, I know...it's our country's history, blah blah blah. It's just not my favorite topic, and this volume is very heavy on the details of battle and army-camp life.

The minutia of Gabaldon's research in general, though, doesn't really bother me like it seems to bother some readers, and it's great fun to be back in Claire and Jaimie's (and Lord John's) lives again; they feel like old friends. But this is one long-ass book -- like I had trouble holding it up in bed or on the exercise bike. (On the plus side, my arms are buff now...). And, as with some of the more recent books in the series, #8 seems to be lacking in editing as well. There are several story lines running amok, and, as with #7, it was like reading several unrelated books at once. So that's kind of annoying. Even though each story line was interesting, they tended to wander way off course on rambling tangents, so then it was just kind of jarring to get thrust back to a prior story line from several chapters ago, all the while trying to keep track of the growing cast of characters. Which was another issue, at least for me: who the hell are some of these people? It had been so long since #7, I kind of forgot where we left of and who was who -- and be ready, because #8 jumps right in where #7 left off as if no time had passed at all. ALL that said, I still enjoyed the adventure, the colorful characters and Claire's humor, spunk and wonderful voice as part-time narrator.

If you're a fan of the series, you really can't stop now, can you?! Warm up those biceps and give this a go. You might not be wowed, but I don't think you'll be sorry.

The Book of Lies

by Mary Horlock
3 out of 5 stars

Overall, this book was OK. I'm giving it three stars, because the footnotes and the main character's observations are so clever and witty, and the writing is really good. Plus, I think a lot of people will love it; it just wasn't something I got caught up in.

Cat starts off as an articulate and admirable protagonist, but for someone so smart and observant, she had zero ability to eschew the petty bullshit of her peer group. I get that she had some insecurities, but I was just too impatient to enjoy her spiral into a manipulative, albeit clever, twit who drinks too much and is so starved for attention, she'll take whatever she can get. I wanted her to rise above the typical teenage angst and not succumb to the stereotypical bullying and "mean girl" crap her (so-called) friends were dishing out, because as a narrator, she had insight that gave me hope. As a person, not so much.

Though, in her defense, she had a lot on her plate, what with her father's recent death, her mom's lack of mothering, a murder she may or may not have committed, and something completely reprehensible (and also unoriginal) that she did that made me lose all sympathy for her altogether.

This story is told through two first-person narratives: one is Cat's in 1985, the other is her uncle's during the Nazi occupation of Guernsey (the island where Cat’s story also takes place) in the Second World War. Though there were clever parallels of conflict and character development, I didn't enjoy them, because the WWII narrative was such an annoyance. I found myself skipping over it to get back to Cat. Also, the typeface was an old timey typewriter font that was also annoying to plod through.

I think Horlock did an amazing job of capturing the voice of a conflicted teenager, but the conflicts (OK, not counting the alleged murder) and the supporting cast seemed really canned.

All that said, this is another book that, while not tops on my list, I would still recommend, because the writing, from a technical standpoint, is great; it was interesting; and it has a lot going for it that others might enjoy quite a lot. Get if from the library, try a chapter and see for yourself.

Last Night at the Lobster

by Stewart O'Nan
4 out of 5 stars

This is a quick little read with nicely drawn characters and atmosphere. It takes place over one shift of a soon-to-close Red Lobster during a blizzard. You can feel the sticky tables and picture the worn carpet and tired nautical/holiday decorations as the crew navigates that special brand of micro-soap opera drama that only occurs in the workplace. Besides the human element, there's a great attention to detail in terms of what goes on behind the scenes and all the chain restaurant minutia that Manny, the oddly dedicated manager/hero, deals with on a daily basis, which I also enjoyed quite a lot.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

by Robin Sloan
5 out of 5 stars

I don’t give many 5-star reviews, but this is another book I really enjoyed and hated to finish. It reminded me a lot of Ready Player One, another top read on my list of faves, though the story, while still a quest, is quite different. If you love books (and bookstores), quirky cultural references, great characters and nerdy, lovable heroes, you’ll probably get a huge kick out of this story. Also, just as an added bonus, the book cover (at least the hardcover edition) GLOWS IN THE DARK. Something I discovered by accident one dark and stormy night. It kind of scared the bejesus out of me, truth be told.

So the usually handy synopsis on the jacket doesn’t do this book justice, other than it really is a literary adventure story for the 21st century. Kind of. Because there are also lots of fun historical references – some obvious, others not so much – throughout, and the role that the seemingly quaint art of typefaces (as well as typeface creators) plays is also wonderful. It’s also kind of an ode to literacy and books, so while it may be tempting to read this on a Kindle or listen to the audio version, I recommend the old-fashioned page-turning way, so you can actually enjoy the tactile thrill of turning the pages...because it is indeed a page turner. Sorry, I couldn’t resist working that in.

Lastly, I’ll just say, without any kind of clever transition, that author Robin Sloan obviously had a lot of fun writing this book, and his prose, while masterfully spun, humorous and tight, is also quite deliberate. From little details, like the name of our hero Clay’s nemesis’ front company, to Clay and his best friend's loyalty to the literary idol they bonded over in sixth grade (think Dragonlance Chronicles), plus fringe characters’ seemingly mundane areas of expertise, Sloan seemed to effortlessly weave all of the elements together, so everything and everyone matters and, at some point, they all come into play. And who doesn’t love a description like: “Her home is the burrow of a bibliophile hobbit.” or

This girl has the spark of life. This is my primary filter for new friends (girl- and otherwise) and the highest compliment I can pay. I’ve tried many times to figure out exactly what ignites it – what cocktail of characteristics comes together in the cold, dark cosmos to form a star. I know it’s mostly in the face – not just the eyes but the brow, the cheeks, the mouth, and the micromuscles that connect them all.

Kat’s micromuscles are very attractive.

Final thoughts (takeaways): Festina lente – make haste slowly – and remember, "There is no immortality that is not built on friendships and work done with care." --Clay Jannon, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

Awesome.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

by Rachel Joyce
4 out of 5 stars

This story is kind of Anne Tyler-ish, which is a good thing. I actually enjoyed the characters more than I have some of Tyler's characters lately, which is an even better thing. It's not terribly fast paced or action packed, but it's an entertaining study of fragility and strength, and how sometimes these two things go together. The only problem I have with books (or movies) like these is the expectation that I, as a reader (or viewer) will willingly accept that people are this simple minded and so lacking in introspection. Is it really true, or is this just a literary technique I'm not aware of? At any rate, the gentle, unlikely hero, Harold, makes a literal and metaphorical journey while his emotionally dead wife, Maureen, who is a hero in her own right, does the same. How their paths eventually (re)converge and rekindle a 40-some-year marriage is sweet and, thankfully, not neatly tied up with a bow.

Someone

by Alice McDermott
3 out of 5 stars

This is a fairly slow-moving, unremarkable story about an unremarkable woman. It's actually marketed as the story of an "unremarkable woman's unforgettable life," which you would think would be kind of an advertising blunder, but if you're a 3x Pulitzer-prize nominee, maybe you can get away with it. At any rate, Someone is indeed captivating and quite interesting in a quiet NPR kind of way.

The time frame is between WWI and WWII, and it's set in Brooklyn, so that's kind of charming and becomes a bit of a character unto itself, and our heroine Marie is both milktoast and plucky at the same time. 

While the plot is kind of vanilla (but who doesn't like vanilla?), the writing is really great. I was very much drawn into this character's world -- which spans pretty much her whole life from age seven until she's dying "in her own efficient, getting-on-with-it way" in an assisted living home. The minutia and seemingly forgettable moments in between those two bookends in time are indeed poignant and memorable. 

The Dog Stars

by Peter Heller
4 our of 5 stars

I did really love this book, but dang, it was at times SO ANNOYING to read. I see other reviewers commented on this, so I don’t think I’m being unreasonable in expecting authors to please STOP with the “artistic” lack of grammar and, hey, let’s just not even bother with quotation marks. I mean, WTF. Is this a trend now? No punctuation? Never letting your readers know when someone is actually talking vs. thinking to themselves? I think you can still be true to your character and impart mood and angst and whatever other emotional setting that’s needed without driving your readers completely bat-shit crazy. If you want to be all creative and exercise your poetic license, write a fucking poem. Preferably a short one, because shit like this? Really, really annoying:

For the dog he said. Angry. Because I didn't do my job. To him.
But.

Honestly. WTH.

That said, there were other sentences, paragraphs, and whole chapters that were absolutely beautiful. Which is a nice juxtaposition to what was happening in the story: namely, a super flu has wiped out most of the population, so it’s every person for him/herself. That would be bleak if it weren’t for the fact that Hig and his ex-military-NRA-freak-on-overdrive neighbor are living in Colorado on what you have to admit is a pretty sweet homestead, all things considered. So again, great contrast and character study, not to mention gorgeous scenery in an ominous setting. It’s like there’s a veeeerrrry subtle undertone in a minor key running through this whole story, so you really feel the underpinnings of loss and despair even while you’re also thinking, “Honestly now, this doesn’t sound half bad!”

One thing that bothered me is the assumption that the majority of humans left have turned into marauding sociopaths, and society has gone all Lord of the Flies. Yes, people can suck, and we see evidence of soulless asshats acting on their base instincts every day, but I dunno; I’d like to think that even in the face of such adversity, the instinct of most people might be to come together. Form alliances. Or at least not kill and eat each other immediately without, you know, a little conversation first.

So despite my criticisms, I still highly recommend this book. It’s a great escape, contains some beautiful imagery and survivalist adventure while still being a thought-provoking study of love, loss, hopelessness and hope, and also flying. The flying parts are great!

The Age of Miracles

by Karen Thompson Walker
4 out of 5 stars

I never wanted to write up a review that said “this book really affected me,” but this book did, so I guess I’ll have to suck it up and admit that I found (and find) myself thinking about it at odd times. Like when I notice it’s still daylight when I leave work, or gas jumps up $.20 in a day, or I hear about whales getting lost. I’m reminded of this story. 

Actually, what this book reminds me of, more than anything, is “…it’s never the disasters you see coming that finally come to pass; it’s the ones you don’t expect at all.” 

Amen, sister. And by sister, I mean the pint-sized protagonist, Julia, who at 11 is trying to make sense of a world that’s slowing down. Literally. In this Age of Miracles, the earth has suddenly started spinning more slowly, resulting in the gradual (well, actually rapid) increase in time as we know it. More specifically, 60+-hour days and a whole bunch of consequences nobody really thought about ‘til now. Like gravity increasing, all kinds of climate change and environmental disarray, solar storms, a fissured atmosphere that leaks radiation, and the loss of all sorts of things we take for granted: lawns, birds, bananas, electricity and physics. 

The chaos we might expect – panic, hoarding, and general freaking out – takes a back seat to Julia’s own issues and observations (the boy she has a crush on, mean girls, her father’s seeming infidelity with her piano teacher, and going to school in the dark), which in turn makes the potential for a dystopian downer much more palatable. 

The foreshadowing in this book is a little heavy and, I felt, never really delivered. But I still enjoyed the storytelling and the thought provoking study (in which you do your own studying) on human nature and how something like this might really play out. Also kind of fascinating (to me) is how society almost immediately becomes divided into those who continue to live by a 24-hour clock and those who don’t, and how fragile the economy probably is…though I hope we never find out.

This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection

by Carol Burnett
4 out of 5 stars

I really wanted to love this book, and, happily, I did. But it helps that I love Carol Burnett too, so I'd probably love her rendition of just about anything. Listening to her tell the story is great, because she's a fun narrator (complete with Tarzan yells!), though the book (which I also checked out) has photos in it (which is why I checked it out along with the CDs. I'm clever that way). I usually don't like memoirs, but this was so well told and hilarious -- I laughed out loud several times while driving, and the era she's reminiscing about, her early years in New York, and the romance of it all is wonderfully captured. And really, how can you not enjoy a story about her doing a Tarzan yell in a fancy department store to prove she was Carol Burnett so she could write a check? You just can't. I grew up watching her variety show, so I also enjoyed learning more about her earlier years and how her career got started. And her book also reminded me of what a pioneer she really was. Highly recommend!

Why We Broke Up

by Daniel Handler

3 out of 5 stars

This was a quirky, entertaining read, and, after I got used to the narrative style (is that the right term?), I did enjoy and even looked forward to listening during my drive to and from work. 

It is YA, so you can expect the usual angst and drama of the genre, as well as the humor. The story is told as Min is writing a farewell letter (i.e., through a letter...a very long, detailed letter with exhaustive detail and conversations past) to her ex boyfriend while she's in the present tense riding to his house to dump her box of relationship memorabilia (did I mention the drama?). So...yeah, it was a little hard to follow at first, and while it sounds clever (and at times was), mostly I found this technique annoying. But...I got used to it. 

Her boyfriend, Ed, actually seems like a decent guy, albeit the stereotypical somewhat shallow, vain, unsophisticated high school jock. He sees something different in Min, and the way he expresses his appreciation is sweet. I actually found myself wondering if it was really Min who was at fault here, because she *is* kind of needy and neurotic. But really, when you sift through it all, it wasn't anybody's fault. I think the lesson here is the heart wants what the heart wants, and sometimes this happens, unfortunately, before we humans are mature enough to express ourselves or possess the empathy to deal with it. And, sometimes two people can love each other but still not be a good fit. Still, it sucks to have your heart broken, and who hasn't questioned the wisdom of Shakespeare when your own personal heart is the one that's all achy breaky? ('Tis better to have loved and lost, blah blah blah). I give this 3.5 stars, though it's not an option in the little button choices.