The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing

by Melissa Bank
4 out of 5 stars

There are three ways to start this review, and I’ll share them all, because I can’t decide.

1.     This book has nothing to do with hunting or fishing, and there’s actually only one tiny metaphorical reference to it in the whole book.

2.     Don’t read the publisher’s book jacket, because it makes this book sound like shallow chick lit, and it’s very much not.

3.     Reading this book is like meeting the kind of person that you just fall into an easy friendship with—at first you don’t even give it much thought; you just start hanging out, making plans, sharing meals and inside jokes. You might even take the relationship for granted a little bit. Then one day you suddenly realize, OMG, I’m in love! That’s what protagonist Jane Rosenal and her quirky friends and lovers do for this book, and that’s kind of what the book is about too.

 OK, so #3 is probably the most insightful, but you really need to know #1 and #2 going into it.

From the books’ start when Jane is 14 on through her adult years, she’s just kind of going along, living her life and wondering about what love and happiness are, what they look like, and how she’ll know when she finds them. She’s got her fair share of insecurities, but she’s also smart and plucky, she’s kind of a smart ass, and her humor is both her defense and lure (there’s a fishing reference for you). It’s also a delight for us as readers.*

As she faces the challenges of career climbing, dating an odd spectrum of men (she’s at her best with Archie, who’s 20+ years older and seems to “get” her the best but doesn’t make her happy), messy and non-messy breakups, family drama and family illness, and her own mortality, Jane becomes someone you root for and end up missing when the book is done.

The writing is mostly first person except for one chapter that’s not (?). I’m not even sure what it’s called, but you’ll know it when you see it. I can’t say any more, or it would be a spoiler. And there’s also one chapter, also first person, but from a neighbor’s perspective, and it’s very odd and random and has nothing to do with Jane, like maybe it was from another book and got stuck into this one by mistake. Seriously, I can’t figure that one out, but it’s short, so I just shook my head and moved on. (But if anyone figures that out, let me know!)

*After a date with Archie:

The only movie he wanted to see was Key Largo at the revival house on Eighth Street. Afterward, walking out, he told me that while Bogart was dying, Lauren Bacall slept with Frank Sinatra. “Don’t ever do that to me, okay, honey?”

I said, “I don’t even like Frank Sinatra.”

See what I mean? That’s so funny!

 

The Year of Endless Sorrows

by Adam Rapp
2 out of 5 stars

Having read a couple other of Rapp's books with happy results, I was looking forward to this one, though I was probably a little biased by the gnome on the cover. That gnome led me astray.

I'm not going to go too deep with a review, because I wasn't able to finish the book. Though a foray into Rapp's writing is generally a fun way to tickle your brain, I spent the first half of this book waiting for something to happen, and nothing really did, so I gave up. The chapters are rather disjointed, so there's no real story flowing here, and the guy in this book (we never learn his actual name) is such a dufus; the situations he gets in and the BS he puts up with from his disgusting roommates...seriously, who really lives like that? You graduated from college, but you can't figure out how to not dress like a schlub? Or make friends? Or buy normal groceries? And it's really OK that your non-rent-paying pants-eschewing roommate just shit in front of you WHILE you were trying to get the toilet to work? No, it's not. Wash your damn laundry, kick the manky freeloading dirtbag off your couch, and spend some time outside of your own head so you can actually get to know people.  That's my advice to the people in this book. Who I realize aren't real. But still. It had to be said.

33 Snowfish

by Adam Rapp
4 out of 5 stars

This is a  pretty quick read about three really damaged homeless kids and a baby on the lam.

On the surface, that's fairly interesting in its own right, but under Rapp's pen, it's a stream-of-consciousness story that's both fascinating and horrifying.

Most of the story is from the perspective of Custis, an essentially feral little boy of about 10 or 11. For him, the very raw  life he's experienced on the streets both before and after he was taken in by an abusive pedophile is his normal. The "patriarch," if you will, is 17-year-old Boobie, a mentally unstable arsonist who probably just killed his parents. He narrates only through disturbing doodles, though he is not silent in the book. The baby is his little brother. And then there's Curl, a 14-year-old drug-addicted prostitute who Boobie seems to love and who nurtures, if you use the term loosely, all of them.

Enter horror. And dismay, because this world of lost and exploited children is sickening. However, the book is not without humor; there are funny, feel-good moments that are LOL worthy; and the little boy's tender, protective instincts with Curl and the baby, though a little clumsy, somehow inspire hope. 

So, in summary, this is an amazing read, but not for the faint of heart.

Know Your Beholder

by Adam Rapp
4 out of 5 stars

I never thought a story about a guy who never leaves his house could be so interesting. Poor agoraphobic Francis needs professional help, and he's got some weird boundary issues with his friends and the odd mix of tenants in his boyhood home-turned-apartment-building, not to mention a bit of a recreational self-medication problem, but underneath the disgusting neck beard (seriously, fucking shave that mess already...all of you facial-hair-run-amok hipsters, just...ick), long johns and manky bathrobe beats a wounded heart with the potential for art and empathy, if only he could get out of his own head long enough to realize it. (Wow, that was a long sentence, but I think it works.)

Normally such self-absorbed characters annoy me too much to pursue, but Francis actually does care, he just lacks...consistency and those aforementioned boundaries. His depression and anxiety keep getting in the way, and you can't really blame him for that. He's doing the best he can.

Meanwhile, author Rapp's writing tickled my fancy with its humor and depth, so even though there's not a whole lot of action, his book was still a page turner for me. And certainly there's plenty of conflict. Each of Francis' tenants has "issues," and Rapp/Francis paints vivid portraits of each of them, not so much with direct descriptions, but observations relating to the nuances of their being. Even seemingly direct descriptions are hilarious: "For some reason I can't quite imagine her with pubic hair. I see a small series of pyramid-shaped gemstones instead. She is attractive in the same way that certain kinds of high-end candy dishes can be." Or, "In short, Bob Blubaugh looks more like a reference librarian who might also collect vintage eyewear than a former Olympic athlete. And he might be as ageless as a cardboard cylinder of Quaker Oats."

While I agree with some reviewers about what seems at times to be an overuse of metaphors and corduroy (there is a LOT of corduroy in this book--corduroy and smells), much of what Rapp writes is very unique, so I chalk that up to voice. Some readers didn't like all the descriptions and colorful language, but that's Francis. I'm definitely going to check out some of Rapp's other books.

The Price of Salt

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The Vampire Files: Bloodlist

By P.N. Elrod
2 out of 5 stars

Man...this is the worst vampire book ever. And it had such promise. Newly minted vamp, 1930s setting in Chicago, charming gangsters, potential for romance... I gave it two stars because Elrod did do a good job of capturing the atmosphere of the time, and I found that kind of interesting. But the rest? Meh. The writing is pretty flat and we're given copious amounts of tedious detail on everything but the things we're interested in. Like what kind of entertaining mischief could you get into if you were a vampire in Chicago in the 1930s?! No idea.

Journalist Jack Flemming wakes up dead (or, undead) and doesn't remember who killed him or why. He has a hunch, though, why he's a vampire. But that story line goes nowhere. As does the story line about why he's even in Chicago. Ditto for the plot potential for his new vamp powers, which could be cool, but he hardly ever uses with much effect. Case in point: The same gangster tries to kill or beat him to death at least TWO MORE TIMES (spoiler alert), and Jack doesn't do ANYTHING. Seriously?! Not even mind control to, you know, convince the gangster to quit kicking the shit out of him? No, because he feels too CONFLICTED about using mind control. Against a guy who killed him. And then tries to kill him again. By beating him to death.

And Flemming never eats anyone. Not even muggers or creeps. Where's the fun in that? Instead he goes to the stockyards to suck on cows. It's like if Woody Allan became a vampire, but with less personality.

The Exile -- An Outlander Graphic Novel

by Diana Gabaldon and rendered by artist Hoang Nguyen
1 out of 5 stars

Soooo, I guess graphic novels are not for me. I found this really hard to follow, mostly because the majority of the men all looked the same, and none of them are really identified that well. Also, the whole buxomness and sexualization of women in this genre is...well, annoying. Overall, it seems to follow the book pretty well, but it's such a small snippet of the story, it's hardly worth the time. Also, just a detail, but the first image of Jamie's back is missing the scars. And his godfather looks way too young.

Little Bee

by Chris Cleave
4 out of 5 stars

The connection(s) these two woman have is almost too much to believe for a relatively sheltered middle-class white reader, but it's definitely a reminder of the horrific events and human rights abuses that are still going on in this world that, despite our instant access to information, goes widely unacknowledged. That said, I did enjoy the story, which is both dark and funny in spots -- thanks in large part to the comic relief of a little boy who thinks he's Batman, right down to the caped costume he wears pretty much 24-7. There is a fair amount of foreshadowing and suspense in the story, but it's not the good kind of suspense, it's the kind that makes you peek through your fingers. I don't really like feeling that way, but I think it was probably necessary, and it made for a better unfolding than plopping it all in front of you to be horrified at all at once. This is the kind of book that book clubs will want to read and then discuss over lunch and lots of wine. Which I support.

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.