Category Archives: Books

The Fault in our Stars

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Can you remember the last time you read a book so perfect that while reading you’d pull yourself away just so the experience lasts a little longer?  That’s exactly how this book made me feel.  It’s one of those books where all I wanted to do was read it despite whatever else was going on in my life that day.  I managed to stretch it out over two days, but that is with significant effort to walk away.

The novel would technically be classified as teen literature, but don’t let that scare you.  This book is for anyone.  It focuses on the story of two teenagers who have been diagnosed with cancer.  The narrator, Hazel, has cancer that is terminal, and the other character, Augustus Waters, is in remission.  I know that it sounds depressing, but it really isn’t a “cancer” book.  It’s so much more.  The story is pretty much about the friendship between the two, but that is only skimming the surface of this book.

I recommend this to you.  I know I might not even know you, but I still recommend it highly.  It made me laugh out loud constantly, and also made me cry.  More than once.  Don’t let that scare you either.  When I finished the book I was sad, but felt like the experience of the book made any sadness worth it.

I’m not doing the best job of explaining this.  It’s kind of hard to explain without scaring potential readers.  Just go get a copy today.

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Mer rating: 10/10

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Rules of Civility

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Of all the fluff books my book club has picked this year, this one is by far my favorite.  When I heard the premise: young girl, New York City, 1930′s, chance meeting with a man changes everything!  I cringed.  With time spent reading 50 Shades, Gone Girl and a book called Blackberry Winter which I didn’t even bother to write about because it was THAT bad, I couldn’t imagine wasting more of my time.  Life is too short for bad books.

To my surprise, it dispelled my preconceptions and held my attention throughout.  I’m not saying run out and buy it, this is the best book of the year, but I am saying it’s pretty good.  It follows a woman named Katey as she navigates jazz-era NYC.  It seems to be an attempt at a retelling of The Great Gatsby from Daisy’s perspective if Daisy actually had a brain in her head.

Tinker is the Gatsby-esque character as he is a man of mysterious wealth.  In every chapter is seems like there is a different party and everyone is skipping through life with a flask in his or her pocket.  There’s even a car wreck that doesn’t kill our Myrtle character, Eve, but does injure her severely.  While it doesn’t follow the classic Fitzgerald piece precisely, it does seem sometimes like all that’s missing is a green light at the end of a dock.

The main twist the author seems to want to pass on is that instead of Nick Caraway narrating the chain of events, we have a female lead in Katey, and she has an independent streak.  The reader knows that she isn’t going to sit away and pine after any man, except for maybe Tinker.  This might be a stretch for some people, but it was kind of like if F. Scott Fitzgerald had been hanging out with Carrie Bradshaw instead of Zelda during the jazz age.

So— the ultimately determination is that this book isn’t that bad.  When I went to my book club meeting several of the girls gave it a 10 out of 10, enjoying it even more than The Night Circus and Tell the Wolves I’m Home.  It’s not something I’m going to run and recommend to everyone I know, but if you’re wanting a chick lit novel, this is definitely the way to go.

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Mer Rating: 6.5/10

 

White Oleander

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Where do I even begin with this perfect, magical book?  It’s one of those rare finds that make you want to keep reading forever.  I was hooked from the opening page, with its beautiful similes and metaphors, and continued to be throughout the entirety of the novel.

Sure, this book came out in 1998, but I just discovered it.

A brief synopsis doesn’t begin to cover the depth of the novel, but essentially a girl, Astrid Masgussan, is sent through the foster care system after her poet mother kills her own ex-boyfriend.  At each foster home something terrible happens, and Astrid is moved to another home.  I won’t go into too many more details because I don’t want any spoilers, but that is the gist.

The book has received many criticisms because it was chosen as an Oprah Book Club pick, which brings any book under a microscope.  I don’t want to give the impression that I think this book compares to the classic cannon, but it is a worthwhile and entertaining read.  One of the major criticisms is the fact that our narrator, Astrid, is too vague and her decision making process is hard to understand.  To that I say she is growing up throughout the course of the novel.  It starts when she’s 12 and ends when she’s 18.  Hardly any of what happens to her is really her fault because she is at the will of her foster families.

The other major criticism is the fact that the most intriguing character, Astrid’s mother Ingrid, is only seen through Astrid’s eyes so we never fully understand her.  Ummmm isn’t that the point?  When we have a specific narrator we are forced to look at the world through their eyes.  Honestly, Ingrid was probably the most evil female character I have encountered in modern literature, so I really don’t want to understand her thought process any better.  By evil I mean modern-day Lady MacBeth combined with Sleeping Beauty’s Malifiscent.  Something wicked this way comes=Ingrid.

The third major criticism is that it is so depressing.  Just when you think Astrid’s life is going in the right direction, something else happens.  If you read Wally Lamb’s She’s Come Undone, you have an idea of what it feels like for the main character to be in constant battle with the forces around her.  I loved Lamb’s book as well as Fitch’s, which according to some book reviews I’ve read means I love chick lit.  Both of those novels surpass what I think of when I think of chick lit, mainly in the lack of a Christian Gray type of character placed to save the ladies from danger.

The one thing I did not like about the book was the ending.  Don’t read any further if you want to read the book.  I was expecting something much better after the excruciating detail Fitch went to describing the rest of the novel.  It seemed like she wanted to wrap everything up in a happy ending bow and call it a day when the book had barely a scrap of happiness in it.  I particularly didn’t like how nonchalant Astrid seemed about her mother getting out of jail.  If the book had gone on, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Ingrid found a way to kill her own daughter.  Yes, that evil.

At the end of the novel, I expected to burst into tears because the novel was over.  There are very few books that have made me feel that way, so in my mind this is a rare book.  I’m not even starting a new book today because I need one day to digest all that I just read.

Mer Rating: 9/10

One Thousand White Women

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This book was recommended to me by four separate people before I took the time to pick it up.  There were many reasons for my skepticism- the title is awful, I don’t like Westerns, I don’t like historical fiction, and the plot-line sounded absurd… you get my drift.  This novel debunked all of my preconceived notions and I ended up loving it.

The subtitle of the novel is “The Journals of May Dodd.”  The basic premise is that a young woman joins a government program called “Brides for Indians” which matched white women with Native Americans in an attempt to assimilate the cultures through a new race.  The journals tell the first-hand account of her experiences.  I know what you’re thinking because I thought the same thing- that sounds like a horrible idea for a book.

The book was based on a proposal put forth in the 1800′s that was never acted upon.  Yes, the “Brides for Indians” program was a real thing- it just never actually happened.  It’s a “what if” imagining of that scenario.

The main criticism the book receives is how many of the characters are complete stereotypes.  There’s the racist southern belle, the evangelical crazy lady, the caricature “savages” among many others, but if you are able to overlook that glaring flaw, it is a great story.  In a way, it fit what I think of when I think of a western.  Without the stereotypes I can’t say that the story would have been the same, even though at times it was insensitive.

On reading this over, I feel like I’m definitely not convincing you to read this book- but I can tell you that you won’t regret it.

Mer Rating: 7/10

 

Tender at the Bone

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About a month ago, my aunt gave me this book saying she thought I would like it.  She was right!  Ruth Reichl’s memoir Tender at the Bone was both interesting to read and entertaining.

At first I was a little skeptical.  Last spring I read Gabrielle Hamilton’s Blood, Bones and Butter and was less than impressed.  This book was completely different than that, and I think the key factor is the fact that Reichl is both a cook and a food critic (and editor or Gourmet magazine) so she is clearly a talented writer.

It was really interesting to see how she evolved into a food critic.  She certainly didn’t grow up wanting to be one.  I think if she’d had her way she would still be living in a self-made commune on $1500 a year.  She starts with her childhood and each chapter explains a different person or factor that contributed to her love of food.  She says in the beginning that some characters have been combined, and stories have been stretched to make them a little more interesting.  She argues that is a key to a good story is a little exaggeration.  I’m OK with that- as long as it’s not complete fiction under the guise of a memoir (James Frey, anyone?)

My favorite part of the book is that every chapter comes with a recipe that Reichl acquired at that point in her life.  I read a lot about food, and often people will talk about how great a meal was, but give no clues on how to recreate it.  Reichl does the opposite and shares all her best recipes.  I made her Deviled Eggs and they tasted just like candy!  Recipe will be coming soon!

Mer Rating: 7/10

Wild

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At my last book club meeting, one of the members came in with a giant Amazon box and handed out a copy of Wild by Cheryl Strayed to all of us.  She told us that we weren’t going to read it as a club, but that we all needed to read it if we were up for it.  I’d been wanting to read it already because it was the choice for Oprah’s inaugural book club 2.0 book, so I was excited to get a brand new copy and take my name off the waiting list at the library.

It definitely did not disappoint.  I’ve read several books about long hikes (most notably, Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods) but I’d never read one from the perspective of a female.  I also haven’t read a memoir this honest since The Glass Castle, so that was refreshing.  Strayed has true insight into her past mistakes and gave herself time to heal from past hardships.

Strayed’s decision to hike the Pacific Coast Trail was fueled by the death of her mother and the disintegration of her marriage (by her own doing.)  It was a brutally honest book, to the point where I’d set it down for a minute because I felt like I was prying into her personal life too much.

My favorite part of the novel was how effortlessly the writing seemed.  She would move from a story on the trail to a story in her life without the reader even noticing.  I learned that she was an advice columnist, so I feel like that is where she must have honed her writing talent and her ability to look at her life and articulate lessons learned.

It’s also worth noting that this is the first book that actually made me consider going on a long hike.  When I was in college, I decided to take a coarse on hiking for my P.E. credit, and ended up hiking Blood Mountain on the Appalachian Trail.  When I got finished, I could barely move, so I can relate to her aches and pains on a certain level, but cannot imagine walking from Southern California to Washington State.  I think the reason the book is so motivating is because all the other books I’ve read on the topic have been by men, and they make the hike sound treacherous.  Strayed does not make it seem easy by any means, (she lost six of her toenails in the process!) but she does make it seem doable.

Mer’s Rating: 8/10

 

The Last Lecture

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This book is a compilation of all of the advice Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch has to offer during his last months of life.  Going into it I was nervous that it would be depressing, but he was both uplifting and motivational.  He said repetitively that he was grateful to have the opportunity to know when he was going to die so he could plan properly.  His continued optimism shaped how I have been trying to live since finishing the book, and it is a change I hope stays with me.

I listened to the book in my car because I felt like it was appropriate to listen to a lecture instead of reading, but I already know that I’m going to end up buying a hard copy of this book.  I want to give it to everyone I know because there is no one that can’t use a little pick-me-up motivation once in a while.

A last lecture is traditionally this last speech a professor gives before retirement.  This one is different in that Pausch was fairly young, and it was literally his last lecture because he was diagnosed with terminal cancer with only six months to live at most.  The chapters deal with what he said in the lecture, but also expounds on other experiences that he did not have time to discuss during a one hour lecture.  The general theme is follow your dreams while you can and to believe that you can achieve whatever you want, regardless of how long your life ends up being.  Live each day as if you’re dying type stuff.

I recommend this book to absolutely everyone.  If you have not read it yet, stop reading this blog post and go get The Last Lecture instead.  I promise that no matter who you are, you will learn from this novella.  It’s short, and each chapter relates a life experience to his words of advice.  He never comes across sounding pretentious, even though he has plenty of reasons to be, and his love for his family will make you think about how you treat your own.

I can’t promise that you won’t cry just a little, especially at the end, but it is a magical book that I already know I’ll be reading again.

Mer Rating: 9/10

Before I Go to Sleep

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This novel by first-time author S.J. Watson was a nice surprise in my summer reading slump.  After what felt like an eternity finishing The Cat’s Table, I knew I needed something fast paced to get me back into a reading routine.  This book, while not necessarily believable, did just that.

The basic plot line is that a woman has lost her memory, and does not remember things on a day-to-day basis.  When she wakes up she is shocked to learn that she is not in her early 20′s.  The majority of the book is told through journal entries that she writes each day to remind herself about who she is and what her life is about.  The book’s tagline is something along the lines of “things are not always what they seem” and “trust no one,” so the entire novel I was trying to figure out who could and couldn’t be trusted.

OK, at this point I know what you’re thinking.  You’ve probably seen Momento and 50 First Dates.  Haven’t I already heard this amnesia story before?  The answer is- well, yes, but Watson puts a different spin on it that kept me interested despite constant repetition. (She does have to wake up and experience the same anxiety of not knowing where she is, after all.)

The book is far from perfect; the journal entires aren’t believable because they are supposedly written hastily, but take time to describe the weather outside.  The only other major criticism would be the conclusion.  My favorite English teacher in high school said that if what is going on in the story is forced and too coincidental, then it is bad writing.  What is going on should feel natural and be unforced.  This book does not even come close to accomplishing this.  Everything that happens seemed to hinge entirely on coincidence, especially the ending.

Ultimately, I did enjoy it though.  I even had trouble going to sleep last night because I was so anxious and creeped-out by what was happening in the story.  This really is the perfect beach read for this summer.

All-Time Favorite Books

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In honor of my twenty-something birthday today, I have created this list of my top ten favorite books.  I was thinking of a “30 before 30″ type of list for books, but since that birthday is still a couple of years away, I don’t know that I have quite the insight into life necessary to write something like that.  Or at least I like to think I’ve got a few more lessons coming my way between now and 30, and hopefully a few more life-changing books.

People don’t come to me for relationship, career or life advice, and rightfully so.  My life does not read like a fairy tale, and could at times be considered a “what not to do” when it comes to career.  Instead, friends come to me for advice about what to read.  I’ve been noticing it more and more- to the point where some have a section on their i-Phone with lists of books to read as recommended by me.  Books are something I love, and are probably the only topic of advice I’m even remotely qualified to give.

When I was a teacher, my advice came often unsolicited, but was appreciated (at least that’s how I imagine things, so don’t take that away from me!)  There’s just something about getting the right book into the right hands that you know it can change someone’s life for the better.  A book has the capacity to do that.

People often ask me what my favorite book is, and I usually freeze.  I have no idea.  I studied English in college, taught English to high school students, and I have no answer to that question.  The answer is there is no answer (sorry, couldn’t resist quoting one of my favorites- Chuck Pahlaniuk)  What I mean is that I can tell you my favorite book, but most likely it will not impact you in the same way it did me.  When people ask me for recommendations, I usually try to give them something I think they’ll like based on their personality.

While I will always respond with, “Oh, I loved it you should read it right away!” when asked about these books, know that they are not for everyone.  Without further ado, here is my ever-changing list of all-time favorites (in no particular order):

1.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky- Thinking about this book reminds me of that scene in Almost Famous where the main character’s sister gives him a stack of records and says “One day you’ll be cool.”  I would recommend this to anyone who was born in the 80′s, grew up in the 80′s or is currently in high school.  It’s kind of like a The Catcher in the Rye minus the extreme depression and add an obsession with The Smiths.  This might not be the best book you’ll ever read in your life, but it will stay with you forever, and if read at the right time will change your perspective.

2. A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor- A book of short stories by the master of the genre and my idol.  The title story will stay with you no matter how much you want it to go away.  These stories are haunting, and I don’t usually recommend them to people because they are not good for light reading.  The reader has to take the time to read into them, or they just won’t make sense.  In my humble opinion, symbolism at its finest.

3. Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby, Jr.- The title means a death of a dream (I had to look this one up because in high school I’d never heard of a requiem.)  This is another one that I typically don’t rave about to people because I don’t want people to judge me for recommending a book that features drug addicts as the main characters.  This book is so much more than a book about drugs.  The writing style does not include quotations, so the reader has to rely on her understanding of the character’s dialect and verbiage to read it, but it is so completely worth it.  This is also one of the few times where the movie is *almost* as good as the book.

4. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck- Last summer I had the privilege of traveling around California and seeing Steinbeck’s old stomping grounds.  I love everything about this novella and have read it at least five times.  It’s a concise and beautiful reflection on friendship.

5. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien- I may be a little biased since I have the good fortune to meet the author himself, but this is a true classic.  I wrote about this one in depth here.

6. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl- Forget the movies and read this book if you didn’t have someone hand it to you as a child.  It’s magical.  Dahl is one of my all-time favorite authors because he is entertaining and original.  In this book alone he created the characters Willy Wonka, Charlie Bucket, Veruca Salt, and the Oompa Loompas.  Come on, who can compete with that?

7. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls- I had Bret Eason Ellis’s book American Psycho here, but removed it because I knew that nobody would be able to relate to that one.  This memoir, on the other hand, is something anyone would like.  I read it with my Intensive Reading students and they say it’s the first book they’ve ever liked.  That should tell you everything you need to know.

8. Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis- Another memoir, but not one of the kids.  His life is so interesting, so even if you are not a fan of his band the Red Hot Chili Peppers, you will probably like this anyway.

9. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling- If you haven’t read this yet, shame on you.  Perfection from beginning to end.  I’m confident that there will never be another series in my lifetime that I will love as much as this one.  It doesn’t even matter if you like magical elements in novels, this is so much more than that.  I had a fantasy of going to Harry Potter World in Orlando and buying a wand for my birthday this year.  Alas, that dream will have to wait for another you!

10. Choke by Chuck Pahlaniuk- Maybe read Fight Club before this one to get used to Pahlaniuk’s writing style.  It’s unique and definitely not for everyone, but at least give it a try.  I included this mainly because it opened up a new style of writing and reading for me when I read his books.

Well, now you have read my list of favorite books.  I will probably revise this completely in a year, but for now here it is.  I also want to include the honorable mention, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.  I feel like it will definitely make the cut over Choke, but I just finished it a few days ago, so it’s too early to tell if it will have a lasting effect on my life.  We shall see!

Included below are a couple of birthday pics from my two favorite birthdays of my early 20′s… pretty funny…

Blowing out the candle on my 24th birthday cake… Just got home from a night out dancing with my coworkers from the spa, so I clearly did not feel like searching for anything but a tea light!

My 22nd birthday at my apartment pool in Athens, GA… Someone else was also having a party that day, hence all the people in the background… I am not that popular, but pictured are most of my close friends from that time!

The Cat’s Table

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This month’s book club pick was probably my least favorite of the year.  I finished it over a week ago, and hadn’t even wanted to write about it because it was so dull and jumpy.  It was written by Michael Ondaatje, the author of The English Patient.  While I’ve never read that book or watched the movie, both of my parents told me that they think it is the most boring movie they have ever seen.  Ever.  That’s pretty bad, so I have to admit, my expectations weren’t very high, but I try not to ruffle feathers at my book club, so I didn’t say anything.

The premise of the book sounded promising- three young boys traveling from Asia to Europe by boat.  They are made to sit at the cat’s table, the dinner table farthest away from the prestigious captain’s table, and there they meet an array of interesting people.  Three weeks of adventure and hijinx on the high seas.  Sounded interesting, and it was, while the book was on that topic.  It seemed like Ondaatje got tired of writing this plot and completely switched halfway through.  Out of nowhere, the main character was no longer on the boat, and was on land searching for answers to his past by reconnecting with people he had been on the ship with.  Then, the main character isn’t even relevant and he is focused on the other characters on the ship.  This leads to a very disjointed feeling from beginning to end.

Even worse, it also seems like the author would get tired of telling one character’s story and move to another.  No character is fully fleshed out, and it leads the reader to quit caring for any of them.  They all have a story to tell, but I just wish he’d stopped and actually told them instead of glossing over the history of everyone.  I never felt like I knew any of them.

Usually I’d tell you to find out for yourself if you agree or disagree because everyone has different tastes, but with this particular book I want to warn you not to waste your time!  Any suggestions to help me get out of this book slump?  Please, let me know!