75 Books...More or Less! discussion
Archive (2013 Completed)
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Alecia's 2013 challenge
Mod
Hi, Alecia. I'm so glad you joined us again for this year's challenge. Your first read sounds really interesting . . .
Book #2 Toby's Room 4/5 starsI am so happy to start the year of with two 4 star books! Pat Barker really feels comfortable writing with World War I as her backdrop. Some years ago I had read part of her Regeneration Trilogy, which has the same setting. I got caught up in the story told in Toby's Room right away. It was rather surprising to me that incest plays a role in this book, as it took me unawares. But the writing of the story set at home and descriptions of men at war were equally engrossing and beautifully done. I found especially interesting that some artists (such as the main character, Elinore) were chosen to use their skills to aid in the reconstruction of those maimed in combat.
Kay wrote: "Hi, Alecia. I'm so glad you joined us again for this year's challenge. Your first read sounds really interesting . . ."Thanks, Kay. Good to be back and I'm off to a good start with my first two books of 2013!
Book #3 Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail 3/5 starsI am not a hiker, and yet I found A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, the story of his trek on the Appalachian Trail, a terrific read. It was very humorous, while at the same time transmitting the endurance, pain and extreme effort it took to complete such a daunting task. Wild by Cheryl Strayed (the author changed her name to reflect her opinion that she "strayed" in her life) is another tale with hiking as the subject, and she writes this book while looking back on this journey she made in her twenties. This time it is the Pacific Coast Trail, an eleven-hundred-mile journey. I applauded her gutsiness (craziness?) to attempt this alone, while marveling at her lack of preparation for such a trip as this. She had no back packing experience and did not think things through (for example her boots were too small). Also, the choices she made in her life previous to the hike, (and continued to make while on the trail) were questionable at best to my mind. But she writes well, has a lot of courage, and clearly this was a transcendant experience for her. I just wonder if her poor feet were ever the same.
Book #4 Sweet Tooth 2.5/5 starsI would give this 2.5/5 stars just because McEwan's prose is good. I was disappointed in Sweet Tooth as I usually like his novels a lot. It is told from Serena Frome's (pronounced like "Plume")point of view. She is a low-level spy for Britain and the setting is 1972 during the Cold War. Once again, McEwan is using the first person voice of a woman. He does this well, but the storyline and plotting were humdrum. I found it dull in parts, and the love story and "twist" at the end unconvincing.
Alecia wrote: "Book #4 Sweet Tooth 2.5/5 starsI would give this 2.5/5 stars just because McEwan's prose is good. I was disappointed in Sweet Tooth as I usually like his novels a lot. It is told from Serena Fro..."
Oh darn, my book club is reading this for our February pick!
Alecia wrote: "Book #3 Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail 3/5 starsI am not a hiker, and yet I found A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, the story of his trek on the Appalachian Trail, a terrif..."
I really enjoyed this book. I seem to be drawn to damaged characters and she does write very well. As I wrote in my review last year, she's not someone I'd be friends with in real life but I found her story fun to read.
Jan, you might like Sweet Tooth...it seems some people do. For me, though, it just wasn't up to his other books. I'll be interested to read what you thought.JanB wrote: "Alecia wrote: "Book #4 Sweet Tooth 2.5/5 stars
I would give this 2.5/5 stars just because McEwan's prose is good. I was disappointed in Sweet Tooth as I usually like his novels a lot. It is told ..."
Book # 5 The Black Box 3.5/5 starsReading a Michael Connelly book is like settling in with an old friend, and for this book I'd give it a 3.5/5 rating. In this case, the old friend is Detective Harry Bosch, now working in the Los Angeles Open-Unsolved Unit clearing old cases. This case involves an unsolved murder of a female journalist during the LA riots twenty years ago. I don't know what it is about Connelly's writing that draws me to read all of his books. The prose is actually quite dry at times, and his dialogue sometimes seems stilted. Connelly writes like the journalist he was, meticulously recording Harry's every move. And yet, there is a humanity that pops out with Harry's character, and the realtionship he has with his daughter rings true. I also think Connelly's plotting is always good. So, although this book is not the best one in recent years, it was still an enjoyable read.
Book # 6 A Killer in the Wind 3/5 starsI am rounding up my rating from a 2.5 to a 3/5 stars. This is because I think Klavan achieved a well-told story arc that made sense. The story is about Dan Champion, a former NYPD cop who is presently working as a small town detective. This provides the background for the intricate, ghost/hallucination-filled story that takes off from that premise. Dan has a hazy childhood background that he cannot remember. As that memory of his traumatic past unfolds along with the story line, the narrative is propelled along.
That this book was not for me led to the 2.5 rating. There is a lot of action in the book which may please some readers but just makes my eyes glaze over after a while. I have not been crazy about Klavan's writing in the recent past, and this is the first of his books I have picked up in a long time. I think the writing is fine, it just wasn't for me.
Book # 7 Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand 4/5 starsThis is not the only biography of Barbra Streisand that I have read. But it is the only one that focuses on the five years (1960-65) when she experiences her meteoric rise to stardom. I am not a Streisand "fan", but I certainly appreciate her talent and drive. It was interesting to concentrate on that time period, as her ascension was so swift, and she was so very young ( a broadway leading lady at 21). The calculation involved to develop a "kookie" persona is intersting, as is her young wish to be a "serious" actress first and a singer second. She seemingly considered her prodigious voice as almost an afterthought, although that talent, along with her personality and blind ambition, is what propelled her to the top. I am not crazy about when biographers use conjecture to move a story along, such as "Barbara must have felt...", or "It's likely she thought...", etc. But despite this, the story moves along and I found it a thoroughly enjoyable read. Her strained relationship with her mother, and early marriage to Elliot Gould are interesting. I also enjoyed Mann's previous biobraphy: How to be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood.
Book # 8 Suspect 3/5 starsThis was a nice departure from the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike books. I think Crais' writing is better in this book than in his previous books. He does a great job writing from a dog's point of view, and I don't usually go for that kind of thing.
Book # 9 The Starboard Sea 1/5 starsI had to force myself to finish this one, and only did so as it was recommended to me, and I kept thinking it would pick up. I can only describe how I felt by my feeling that the book was written in "leaden prose". I did not care about the characters,find them believable or engaging in any way, and I did not like the writing at all. It felt so weighty and just dragged along. For a wonderful novel about prep school, I highly recommend Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld.
Alecia wrote: "Book # 9 The Starboard Sea 1/5 starsI had to force myself to finish this one, and only did so as it was recommended to me, and I kept thinking it would pick up. I can only describe how I felt by ..."
Wow, this was highly recommended in the Bookreporter newsletter. I've had other misses with their recommendations. Glad I didn't bother with this one.
Book # 10 Daddy Love 3.5/5 starsI would round this review up to a 3.5/5 stars. Just for her riveting prose alone, this book is worth a read. The subject matter is horrific and a true horror story. JCO has tread in dark murky waters before and these waters are very dark indeed. The abduction of 5 year old Robbie, wrenched from his mother's hand in a shopping mall parking lot is one of every parent's nightmares. The further infliction of grave injuries on the mother, Dinah, as she tries to run after the van, is just one more horror layered upon the kidnapping horror. I think Oates's interest lies in the how such a dreadful experience might alter the boy and the parents, should they finally find each other again. The story is told through the points of view of the child, the monstor/abductor, Daddy Love, and the mother. I read through this rapdily and thoughts about the ending and it's implications have stayed with me.
JanB wrote: "Alecia wrote: "Book # 9 The Starboard Sea 1/5 starsI had to force myself to finish this one, and only did so as it was recommended to me, and I kept thinking it would pick up. I can only describe..."
The person who recommended it to me really liked it,and it also got a good review and was named a Notable Book of the year by the NY Times. Not for me, though!
Alecia wrote: "JanB wrote: "Alecia wrote: "Book # 9 The Starboard Sea 1/5 starsI had to force myself to finish this one, and only did so as it was recommended to me, and I kept thinking it would pick up. I can ..."
I'm going to trust your judgement on this one! :-)
Alecia wrote: "Book #4 Sweet Tooth 2.5/5 starsI would give this 2.5/5 stars just because McEwan's prose is good. I was disappointed in Sweet Tooth as I usually like his novels a lot. It is told from Serena Fro..."
Alecia, you were much kinder in your rating than me! I struggled to finish it and gave it one star. Only one person in my book club liked it, several couldn't finish it, and the others finished it but didn't like it. I thought it incredibly dull and plodding.
Jan, You are right, I was feeling particularly kind for that rating, even though I really did not like it. I think it was the respect I had for McEwan's previous books and the enjoyment I experienced from reading them that swayed me in my "generosity". I'm usually much harsher;)
Alecia wrote: "Jan, You are right, I was feeling particularly kind for that rating, even though I really did not like it. I think it was the respect I had for McEwan's previous books and the enjoyment I experienc..."I understand, I'm usually much kinder to a favorite author if they occasionally have a book I dislike. I've only read Atonement. Which of his other books would you recommend?
Mod
Jan, I also liked his book, Solar. Here is my review of that one: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...BTW, there's a nice article about Goodreads in the NYTimes from Feb. 13, 2013, if anyone has a subsciption... The title is: Read Any Good Web Sites Lately? Book Lovers Talk Online. I have a subscription, but don't know how to "share" the article with all of you.
Book # 11 Ghostman 3/5 starsThis was a very hyped debut novel with a killer review in the NY Times. I was excited to read it and noted that many reviewers on this site liked it a lot or loved it. Briefly reading over the Goodreads reviews, I concur with those less-enamored of the previous reviewers on a few things: While I thought it was a good novel, I didn't think it was great, or particularly worth recommending to anyone. I think Roger Hobbs has potential, and I would probably read any new work he comes up with. There was too much detail in everything the protagonist narrates, finally becoming tedious and somewhat pedantic to me. It's all like a primer on "how-to do a bank-heist" or whatever other nefarious act he is committing.
The detail in this book reminded me somewhat of Thomas Perry's series where the Native American protagonist, Jane, helps people disappear. He also goes through all the mundane details of her trade. But Ghostman takes it even further and, for me, it becomes too much information. All that being said, it was a fairly enjoyable read, and is perhaps fodder for a screenplay
Alecia wrote: "Jan, I also liked his book, Solar. Here is my review of that one: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...BTW, there's a nice article about Goodreads in the NYTimes from Feb. 13, 2013, if a..."
Alecia, thanks for the recommendation. It will go on my tbr list.
I think I found the article in the NYT about goodreads:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/boo...
Very interesting article, thanks for sharing it. Maybe one of the site administrators can figure out how to share it with everyone.
Book # 12 Heft 3.5/5 starsThis is an engaging, well-told novel, and the reader is in the hands of a really good "story-teller". I would give this 3.5 stars. The reason I did not give it 4 stars is it lacks that extra oomph or gravitas that pushes a book into one that really resounds with me. But I did think about the rating a lot, which means I thought it was rather special.
Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds, is a retired professor, and hasn't left his home in 20 years. Kel Keller, a 16 year old high school baseball star, is struggling with a sick mother, poor grades, and trying to find a place for himself in high school as a poor boy amongst the rich kids. Arthur and Kel's stories intertwine, and both are told in the first person. Although the ending does not resolve a major question in the book, I thought it was quite appropriate.
Book # 13 Camouflage 3.5/5 starsI would give this a 3.5/5. I always enjoy Bill Pronzini, and Camouflage is a very nicely written mystery. The same characters from the Nameless Detective series populate this book, and two stories are told concurrently. As usual, Nameless narrates his story in the first person, and Jake Runyon's part is narrated in the third person. It's a very enjoyable read.
Book # 14 The Cocktail Waitress 3/5 starsWell, I think the word "lurid" might be an apt one for describing this melodrama imbued with tinges of horror. This was the last unpublished work by James M. Cain. He was supposedly writing this at age 82, suffering from angina, which is what one of the novel's principal male characters, Earl K. White, suffers from. Our narrator is Joan Medford, and the book opens at her husband's funeral. He was an abusive drunk who dies in a car accident, leaving her and and her young son penniless.There is some suspician by the police that she had something to do with his death, but the reader knows this is untrue. Her son is being taken care of by her sister-in-law, who hates her and wants to keep her son for herself. The rest of the story is about Joan's cocktail waitressing job where she wears a very hot outfit showing off her natural attributes. The descriptions of her physical charms harken back to old noir detective novels, and she is busy fending off the attentions of the men, specifically Earl K. White. He is a much older, very wealthy man who falls for Joan, and there is also a younger man in the picture. Some of Joan's motivations did not ring true to me, and although she protested how much she wanted her son with her, she did not seem to visit him that much. But for fans of James M. Cain, this is a book of interest, however flawed. The ending is quite chilling...not a warm and fuzzy book.
Book # 15 Indiscretion 4/5 starsThis was a beautifully written story of a tale that has been told many times before, but it is handled in a lovely, evocative manner. I took this book off a library shelf without knowing anything about it, and I got lucky. I really could not put it down, and I was quite moved. Harry and Madeleine Winslow are a golden couple, he a handsome and a literary success, she, an intelligent beauty. They have one son and are devoted to each other and are a real love match. They are priveleged, and love to entertain in their East Hampton home, where their numerous friends love them and bask in their glow. But then, along comes Claire, and Harry and Maddy take her under their wing. What follows is a story of lust, deception, and a tale of the disintegration of a beautiful marriage.
Dubow takes some devices from other writers. He has a narrator who is in love with Maddy, like the ones in The Great Gatsby and Sophie's Choice. And he has borrowed some tricks near the end from Ian MacEwan in Atonement. I would quibble that the ending is a tad overworked, and could have been cut down. But I found it moving, nonetheless.
Book # 16 The World Without You 3.5/5 starsI would give this a 3.5/5 rating. Almost a 4 but I think it is a bit too long and wordy, and it especially drags a bit in the middle. But the writing is very good, and it draws the reader in to the Frankel family.
The year is 2005, one year after Leo Frankel has been murdered while reporting in Iraq. The Frankel family (Leo had 3 sisters) has gathered for his unveiling and a memorial service. Leo's parent's summer home is in Lenox, MA, and this is where the family travels to over this July 4th weekend. We learn about the three sisters, one an orthodox Jew with 4 children living in Israel, the other two sisters are in relationships and thinking about having children. And Leo's widow and their small 3 year old, with new developments in her life since his death, have traveled to join the family. Leo's mother and father's marriage is under a huge strain since his death and this fissure leads off the story.
There are not many details about Leo's death per se, but the title of the book says it all...what happens to a family after a loved sibling/husband/son is killed. I found much of this book to be very enjoyable and it rang true with the Frankel family dynamics. Life does go on.
Book # 17 Truth in Advertising: A Novel 3/5 starsAlthough the plot of this book was somewhat cliched and a bit hackneyed, I did enjoy Kenney's acerbic, wry and sometimes rather wise takes on life. The life specifically described is Finbar Dolan's, a pushing-forty copywriter at a New York Ad Agency. He has recently called off his wedding and his estranged father is dying. This last development leads him to have some dealings with his estranged siblings. I did appreciate some of the humorous writing in this book, and it is evident that the author was a humor writer for The New Yorker.
Book # 18 The Child's Child 3/5 starsOnce Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine was one of my favorite authors. I read everything she wrote and thoroughly enjoyed the reads. But in the past ten years or so, that has changed, and I have been disappointed in the wordy, lengthy novels that never seemed to get to the point or end. Although The Child's Child still suffers from being too wordy, reading it was more enjoyable for me.
It is a novel within a novel, and really is not a mystery at all. It is, instead, the author's ruminations on being gay and having children out of wedlock, and the implications of these situations in society. The narrator in the story that bookends the middle story is named named Grace, and her brother Andrew, with whom she lives, is gay. Grace is writing her PhD thesis on unwed mothers throughout the ages, and society's treatment of these women. She is asked to read an unpublished manuscript called the Child's Child and that comprises the book in the middle. It is also about an unwed mother and her gay brother, but that story begins in 1929.
The stories move along well, but they are really a commentary of the author's views on social mores. I thought that the last part of the book-ended story is rather abrupt and too short. And it's rather hard to come back to the original tale after being so steeped in the middle book with different characters.
Book # 19 Sacrifice Fly 1/5 starsI purchased this book for a trip and chose not to finish it. Although I thought some of the writing was good and had potential, the meandering story line did not hold my interest.
Book # 20 Hit Me 4/5 starsBeing a Lawrence Block fan from way back, I am predisposed to enjoy practically anything he writes. He is clever, wry, wise, and sometimes downrght funny. Keller (now known as Nicholas Edwards) is a hit man by profession, but Block manages to make him a fleshed-out character. The fact that he has a wife and chid now help to do so.
This book is divided into titled chapters, some of which could stand alone as short stories (I'm thinking particularly of the hit assignment he has on a cruise).His hobby is stamp collecting, and this is woven into the novel quite effortlessly, and gives it a unique touch. Similar to another character of Lawrence Block's, Bernie Rhodenbarr, who was a burglar and book collector, Keller is an erudite assassin.
Book # 21 The Next Time You See Me 3.5/5 starsI struggled with the rating on this book. While I found Holly Goddard Jones's writing to be very good, there was something about the book as a whole that kept me from giving it four stars, a rating that writing like this should receive. I will round it up to a 3.5.
This is a dark book, with two well- fleshed-out characters who are social oddities and the objects of bullying. One is Emily, a socially awkward 13 year old, the other is Wyatt, an overweight factory worker who finds a glimmer of love in these pages.
These characters and others are connected as the stories converge to solve the mystery of what happened to Ronnie, a hard-drinking woman who is the sister of another character in this book. Early on the reader learns of Ronnie's fate, but the mystery, such as it is, is to find out why. The character studies are very well drawn, but this book fell just short of a really great read for me.
Book # 22 A Thousand Pardons 2/5 starsI was anticipating reading this book but was disappointed. I so enjoyed The Privileges. But A Thousand Pardons barely eked out 2 stars, and only because I appreciated Jonathan Dee's last effort so much.
Like some other readers of this book, whose reviews I have looked over, I had a hard time believing that Helen, a divorced middle aged woman who hadn't held a job in many years, would suddenly soar to success in the Public Relations field in the manner Dee describes. And although the description of her husband Ben's fall from grace and ensuing scandal is told well at the beginning of the book, I found the motivation of his character rather inexplicable as the story continued. Ben and Helen's adopted daughter's character rings truer, as a sullen adolescent. There were many parts in this novel that I anticipated would happen, such as the heavily foreshadowed appearance of a famous movie star Helen went to high school with. I found the book, as a whole, rather unconvincing, plodding and cliched.
Book # 23 The Boyfriend 3/5 starsThomas Perry has a very dry style of telling a story. I think it works better with his Jane Whitefield series than it does in this book. I was thinking about what was lacking in his writing and I think it is any semblance of humor. There are many crime writers who do not use humor in their writing , but I just finished one by Lawrence Block, also starring a hit man, and his observational, wry writing lifted his book to another level. Perry's writing lacks "juice", not just humor, but is otherwise better than average.
This is a pretty good read, and it moves along. Jack Till is a retired policeman/private detective who has a grown daughter with Downs Syndrome. He is hired by the parents of a murdered high class prostitute to help find more clues about their daughter's murder. This leads Jack on the trail of a man who is a cunning killer with a trail of murdered escorts behind him, all with strawberry blond hair. The ending is a bit abrupt, but all in all, not bad for this genre.
Book # 24 Falling to Earth 4/5 starsThis was a very well-written small novel with sweeping ideas. A tornado devastated an area in 1925, and Kate Southwood took this historical fact and wrote a beautiful elegy about random destruction, human behavior and faith.
The Graves family is the only family in the town of Marah,Illinois, to survive this horrible tornado that descended upon their town without damage to life or home. Even Paul Graves's lumberyard stays intact. The beginning of this book, which describes the impact of this unexpected act of nature, is written so vivdly and eloquently that it stays with the reader. There is great loss of life and property, described in all it's horror. Soon, the townspeople begin to resent the Graves family, who alone in this town, remain unscathed. Some of the behavior harkens back to the novel Lord of the Flies in that human behavior, given certain sets of circumstances, can turn quite ugly. The growing animosity and the disintegration of the family comprise the rest of this quite beautiful book.
Book # 25 Rage Against the Dying 2.5/5 starsIn reviewing this book, I realy do wish we had 1/2 points, or at least categories for our ratings. I would give the total rating a 2.5. The writing, told in the 1st person narrative of Brigid Quinn, is very engaging, and I'd give that a 3. The beginning of the book was very interesting as it is told in an intriguing way from the point of view of the predator. But the plotting and some of Brigid's choices strained my credulity. The unusual thing about the title character, Brigid, is that she is 59 years old and is still fearless. She is a former FBI agent who hunted sexual predators. Among the parts I didn't believe in was the access granted to Brigid for ongoing cases, since she was supposed to be long retired. And for me, the plot lines tended to get rather murky as the book went on.But I might read another book by Becky Masterman, as I enjoyed her writing style.
Book # 26 Schroder 3.5/5 starsI would rate this book a 3.5/5 stars. I really liked the writing, and I admired the way the writer, Amity Gaige, used the first person to narrate this story, and get into the main character's head. She appears to have drawn inspiration from the true story of Clark Rockefeller, another man who lived his life as a fraud. I dimly remember that story on the news, and it had something to do with him kidnapping his child after posing most of his life as a "distant" relation to the Rockefeller family.
In Schroder, the narrator has a similar tale, but he has chosen the name "Kennedy", and has somehow managed to fool everyone, including his wife, implying that he is a "distant" relative to the famous family. He works as a realtor, but when the reecession hits, he becomes a stay at home Dad to his daughter, Meadow, while his wife works. After their marriage fails and his wife wants a divorce, custody and visitation problems ensue. Since this story is told to the reader by "Eric Kennedy", we have a very unreliable narrator. But somehow, although we cringe at his choices and views, we grow to sympathise a bit with him, and feel for him and his desperate, ill-advised saga. I look forward to another novel by Amity Gaige.
Mod
Book # 27 The Woman Upstairs 3/5 starsThree stars for Messud's writing, but less than that for the totality of the story. I really enjoyed her previous book, The Empreror's Children, and hoped this would be as powerful. And although her prose doesn't disappoint, her psychological novel, a la Ruth Rendell, does to a point.
Nora Eldridge, an unmarried elementary school teacher who is in her late 30's, is the narrator. She is vaguely unhappy with the life she is living, feeling like "the woman upstairs"..unnoticed, inconsequential, unfulfilled. But this yearning for more in her life actively comes alive when she literally falls in love with the Shahid family. The son, Reza, is a new student in her class, and the mother is a vibrant Italian artist, just like Nora had wanted to be. The father is a handsome, dashing Lebanese professor, in Boston for a fellowship to Harvard, and who regales Nora with his stories.
Nora becomes so smitten with each member of this family, she becomes subsumed by them, becoming obsessed. The reader does not know if her "readings" of the situation are true or unreliable due to her neediness and emptiness in her life. I also found the ending somewhat predictable.
Andrea wrote: "Wow Alecia, you are 1/3 done!"The year is 1/3 done ;)...I've got to keep reading to get to my goal!! So far so good.
Book # 28 The Burgess Boys 2/5 starsAlthough I loved Elizabeth Strout's previous books, Amy and Isabelle and Olive Kitteridge, The Burgess Boys left me cold. I found myself disengaged and uninspired from this story, not drawn in as with the other two books. I also could see plot lines coming before they happened, which is rarely a good thing. And even though her prose was lovely at times, as a whole, I found this book just okay.
Book # 29 The Humanity Project 3/5 starsI really enjoy and admire Jean Thompson's prose. I kept reading this book because of that. But, for the book as a whole, I'm not sure what to make of the unending sadness, unhappiness, and misery of the characters. Life certainly has those periods for everyone, but reading this is not a cheery proposition. There were times that the writing and story lines reminded me of something that T.Coraghessan Boyle might have done. This is not a bad reference, as I also like Boyle's writing a lot.
The different story lines include 15 year old Linnea, who is packed off to live with her estranged father, Art, after she survives a shcool shooting. Christie, Art's neighbor and a nurse, has been given the job of running a philanthropic fund named The Humanity Project. Christie's eccentric patient, Mrs. Foster, who keeps feral cats in her home, is endowing this fund. More characters whose stories are interconnected are Conner, who does odd jobs for Mrs. Foster, and his luckless father, Sean. The headline from a review of this book in the NY Times was titled "Life Stinks, but It's Still Precious". That about sums it up.
Book # 30 Angel Baby: A Novel 4/5 starsWhat a pleasure to start a book that jumps into high gear from the very first page, keeps up the pace throughout the book, and is very well-written. Yes, it's been done before: the beautiful, courageous, abused wife, named Luz, of a Mexican drug lord, plots to make her escape. Lots of bad decisions in her past, but now she wants to get back to the little girl she left behind and start her life all over again. Now, of course the drug lord is not going to be happy about this, especially as she has stolen all the money in his safe, a Colt .45, and shot the two guards. She escapes, and Luz's husband, Le Principe, sends an enforcer out to find her and bring her back to him. Luz pays a guy named Malone to drive her across the border, and he plays a part in her escape. Add to this mix a crooked border patrol cop who smells money. All in all, a terrific read.
Book # 31 The Love Song of Jonny Valentine 3.5/5 starsI would give this book a 3.5/5 rating. I really had no interest in reading it, even when I read a good review in the NY Times. But I was between books, saw it in the library, and picked it up. The narrative is told in the first person by Jonny Valentine (nee Jonathan Valentino), an almost-twelve year old mega-pop star a la Justin Beiber. Teddy Wayne really gets into this eleven year-old's head, and I thought it was mostly very convincing. Being a pre-pubescent giant pop star is a very freakish postion to be in. We are told he really is quite talented, but he has become obessesed with branding his name, extra pounds he might have put on (he and his mother call it "chub"), and all kinds of other abnormal subjects for someone his age. Jonny's mother (he callls her Jane) is his manager, and there are some unfortunate dynamics going on in that relationship. Jonny has no friends except his bodyguard, Walter, who is the only person he really trusts, and his main pastime other than his work is a video game. His father walked out on them when he was quite young and he spends much of the book searching for him via the internet. He is not allowed on the internet, so he has to sneak these searches. I applaud Wayne's efforts, and think this was a mostly successful, engaging, disturbing book.
Book # 32 The Other Typist 3/5 starsThis is a "psychological thriller/drama" (I might say melodrama) set in 1923 and narrated by Rose. Rose is a typist in a NYC Police Department, and one day her rather humdrum, unhappy life is radically changed by the appearance of Odalie, the glamorous other typist. Rose is our unreliable narrator, and we see the story enveloping around her in ways she doesn't appear to grasp. I found it interesting and mostly well-written, but a little too wordy and predictable at times. And I did not "get" the ending.
Alecia wrote: "Book # 32 The Other Typist 3/5 starsThis is a "psychological thriller/drama" (I might say melodrama) set in 1923 and narrated by Rose. Rose is a typist in a NYC Police Department, and one day her..."
I was on the library wait list for this one and just received an e-mail this morning saying it was ready for pick-up. Your review makes me anxious to read the ending :-)
75 Books...More or Less!
Books mentioned in this topic
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W is for Wasted (other topics)
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Wow, this book came to me with some heavy-duty recommendations ("maybe the best book I ever read, "you will love it", "I have never read anything like it", etc.). Sometimes that is a very hard thing to live up to when you are reading. Expectations are too high, and everyone is so different. When I started this book (I had read Seabiscuit years ago),I thought...uh-oh, this isn't doing it for me. But around page 125 I became swept up in this amazing true story of Louis Zamperini. The plagues of Job Revisited would be another subtitle for this World War II saga. So much horor,desperation, brutality, and endurance boggles the mind. I have a slight quibble with the redemption part of the story that has to do with Billy Graham. (view spoiler)[I cannot imagine such an extraordiary post-traumatic stress disorder resolving so instantaneously. But perhaps that actually happened, and if so, that would be a true miracle. (hide spoiler)] I was engrossed and inspired by this story, and was happy to have read it.