AJ - Millers Falls, MA (1,185 books)

AJ has challenged herself to read 52 books in the 2012 Reading Challenge

Create your own 2012 Reading Challenge »

AJ marked as to-read:

The Snow Child
by Eowyn Ivey (Goodreads Author)

My rating:

AJ marked as to-read:

XVI (XVI, #1)
by Julia Karr (Goodreads Author)

My rating:

AJ gave

to:

Wake (Dream Catcher, #1)
by Lisa McMann (Goodreads Author)

My rating:

Ugh. Poorly written YA is such a downer.

Janie is 17 and when people dream near her, she gets pulled in. She has to watch as they wander around naked, panic and fall, or live out their sexy thoughts.

It’s exhausting.

Of course she’s not going to...more

AJ liked Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!*'s review of Wake:

" *Hello, this is me rewriting a bunch of my reviews because I keep reading my old reviews and hating them. So, I just want to flesh out some of them a bit more and make them a little less trollish in some cases. So here we go.*

It's been a ... "
Read more of this review »

AJ gave

to:

The Nobodies Album
by Carolyn Parkhurst

My rating:

Octavia Frost, bestselling novelist, is submitting a game changing book. Authors talk about things they wish they'd done with their books and how it's hard to walk away sometimes, but Octavia has decided to actually do something about it. In her ne...moreOctavia Frost, bestselling novelist, is submitting a game changing book. Authors talk about things they wish they'd done with their books and how it's hard to walk away sometimes, but Octavia has decided to actually do something about it. In her newest book she is rewriting the final chapters to all her books. It's never been done before and her publisher thinks she's crazy.

But why is she doing it? Why does she want to change the past for her characters and what is she trying to change for herself?

On the day she is to hand the manuscript over, she finds out her estranged rock star son has been arrested for the murder of his girlfriend. Milo and Octavia haven't spoken in years but she gets on a plane and goes. She doesn't know what will happen when she gets there, but she needs to be close by.

Parkhurst writes several stories in this novel. While Octavia is trying to heal the wounds with her son, chapters from her books are slipped throughout. Parkhurst writes Octavia's original ending and then the new ending. These pages within the story give clues to Octavia and Milo's past. We know Octavia's husband and daughter are gone, but why? Divorce? Death? More falling outs? What happened years ago, and why did Milo shut her out of his life?

I liked the layered mysteries in this. The foreshadowing is thick, but isn't too obvious. Clearly something happened and it wasn't good, but you don't know what it was. When you do find out the first part, you still don't know why the second break happened.

Parkhurst does a great job writing the tension between mother and son. Octavia has wanted to be in her son's life since the day he cut contact. Now that she's back, neither one of them knows how to act. And of course it's extra confusing because his girlfriend has been murdered and he was the one found covered in her blood.

The ending was good, but what really sold me on the book was the characters and structure. Parkhurst really spent time developing personalities. Giving herself the added challenge of writing endings to fictional books and then rewriting them to give clues about Octavia and Milo is clever, original, and it worked. She had to create the idea of fully formed novels by only writing the endings, and then re-write those endings to slip in clues about Octavia and Milo. This could have failed spectacularly.(less)

AJ marked as to-read:

Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles, #1)
by Jessica Spotswood (Goodreads Author)

My rating:

AJ gave

to:

The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee
by Sarah Silverman

My rating:

Certain books need to be heard. This is one of them. Sarah Silverman reading her own book makes it so much better. The funnier parts are funnier because she knows how the sentences are supposed to sound, where to put the beats and the stresses, an...moreCertain books need to be heard. This is one of them. Sarah Silverman reading her own book makes it so much better. The funnier parts are funnier because she knows how the sentences are supposed to sound, where to put the beats and the stresses, and how to pitch her voice to structure the horror or glee. The serious parts are stronger because you’re comparing them to the time she told her nana to shove those brownies up her ass. How can you NOT want to get the audio version?

Even better, she tailors parts to address the listener. I love that she goes off script for her own book to acknowledge that you’re listening to it. Sure, you might miss a few pictures, but you get to hear first hand how she stabbed Al Franken in the skull with a pencil.

She is completely honest about her life and doesn’t gloss over the ugly bits. She gets very personal and it feels like you’re hanging out with her as she shares a bunch of stories about growing up and then moving to New York and getting into the business.

She doesn’t take herself seriously when it doesn’t matter, but is incredibly on target in the moments where she needs to be. She came to realize a long time ago that what she has been able to do is a gift and she recognizes it all the time.

The back stories of things that didn’t go so well were really interesting. I had seen both of her MTV moments where it looked like she was trying to make Paris Hilton and Britney Spears cry. She came off looking like a total bitch (even though, hey… Paris Hilton) but the reality is that she was sort of set up. I like when you get the other side of a media story and realize that you totally fed into the machine and were willing to believe what the entertainment news people told you to believe.

I laughed out loud a lot while reading this. The kind of laughter where you think maybe you should pull over because it can’t be safe to be driving a car while shrieking and crying.

If you like her even a little bit, I recommend this and if you have the choice, get the audio version. You know you want to hear her actual voice explain the difference between pee and pee-pee.(less)

AJ gave

to:

The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse
by Robert Rankin

My rating:

Jack follows the fairy tale motif and heads to the city to seek his fortune. He then almost immediately goes crazy because the city is filled with toys. And not just any toys. These toys are alive and they’re running the place.

Well, sort of. Th...moreJack follows the fairy tale motif and heads to the city to seek his fortune. He then almost immediately goes crazy because the city is filled with toys. And not just any toys. These toys are alive and they’re running the place.

Well, sort of. The most important members of Toy Town are the humans. And they aren’t just any humans: these are the humans from the nursery rhymes and fairy tales themselves and they make sure the toys know they’re just toys. Mother Goose runs a brothel, Little Boy Blue owns a house of couture, and Little Tommy Tucker is the most popular rock star in Town. He’s also the only rock star in Town, but that’s not the point.

The point is that they’re all getting murdered.

Jack meets up with Eddie the bear. Eddie is Bill Winkie’s bear. Bill Winkie is a super popular detective. He’s so popular that Jack has read all of his books and knows how the story works.

But Bill Winkie is missing and it’s up to Eddie and Jack to solve the crime before more rich and famous get killed.

I like wacky zany writing. I’m a fan of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and Christopher Moore and other authors who write while winking and nudging the reader. This is not easy to do. You can’t be too clever and you can’t be too cute. You can’t try too hard.

Rankin didn’t do it for me. There were parts that I thought were amusing and clever, but overall I felt like he was trying too hard and it just wasn’t working. I loved the idea and the characters, but his writing style didn’t grab me. Maybe I was comparing him too much to other authors, but I felt like he tried and failed.

I did really like Eddie. He’s a fantastic character with some great one-liners and the wacky zany reality completely worked for him. Maybe that’s why the rest of the book didn’t hold up. It was clear that Rankin could do it for Eddie, but couldn’t do it for everyone and everything else.

I also didn’t like the ending. It suddenly turned into something else, then whipped around into a different ending. Maybe it felt too cute or too over the top, but it just didn’t work for me.

I can see why people like this book. It did have its moments, but for me, it did not live up to the hype.(less)

AJ liked Kristen's review of The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse:

" The key thing that I have taken away from reading this book is that Titles cannot be trusted. Certainly the title of this book is brilliant; I even love the little chocolate bunnies on the cover, glaring at me as they plot. The concept presented on t... "
Read more of this review »

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AJ has challenged herself to read 52 books in the 2012 Reading Challenge Create your own 2012 Reading Challenge »
Feb 06, 2012 05:59am
AJ marked as to-read: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Feb 06, 2012 05:57am
AJ marked as to-read: XVI (XVI, #1) by Julia Karr (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Feb 05, 2012 02:21pm
AJ gave to: Wake (Dream Catcher, #1) by Lisa McMann (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Ugh. Poorly written YA is such a downer. Janie is 17 and when people dream near her, she gets pulled in. She has to watch as they wander around naked, panic and fall, or live out their sexy thoughts. It’s exhausting. Of course she’s not going to...more
Feb 02, 2012 12:15pm · see review
AJ liked Brigid Flying Kick-a-pow!'s review of Wake: " Hello, this is me rewriting a bunch of my reviews because I keep reading my old reviews and hating them. So, I just want to flesh out some of them a bit more and make them a little less trollish in some cases. So here we go. It's been a ... " Read more of this review »
Feb 02, 2012 11:24am · see review
AJ gave to: The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst	My rating:
Octavia Frost, bestselling novelist, is submitting a game changing book. Authors talk about things they wish they'd done with their books and how it's hard to walk away sometimes, but Octavia has decided to actually do something about it. In her ne...more
Feb 02, 2012 10:56am · see review
AJ marked as to-read: Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles, #1) by Jessica Spotswood (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Feb 02, 2012 05:48am
AJ gave to: The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee by Sarah Silverman	My rating:
Certain books need to be heard. This is one of them. Sarah Silverman reading her own book makes it so much better. The funnier parts are funnier because she knows how the sentences are supposed to sound, where to put the beats and the stresses, an...more
Feb 01, 2012 08:52am · see review
AJ gave to: The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin	My rating:
Jack follows the fairy tale motif and heads to the city to seek his fortune. He then almost immediately goes crazy because the city is filled with toys. And not just any toys. These toys are alive and they’re running the place. Well, sort of. Th...more
Feb 01, 2012 07:18am · see review
AJ liked Kristen's review of The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse: " The key thing that I have taken away from reading this book is that Titles cannot be trusted. Certainly the title of this book is brilliant; I even love the little chocolate bunnies on the cover, glaring at me as they plot. The concept presented on t... " Read more of this review »
Feb 01, 2012 06:51am · see review

AJ's Profile

AJ's favorites shelf

AJ's Bookshelves

AJ is Currently Reading

rssAJ's Recent Updates

AJ's Friends (47)

AJ's Favorite Authors

Listopia Votes

Favorite Genres

2012 Reading Challenge

Quizzes and Trivia

rss
AJ's Recent Updates