Book review: Bittersweet

Title: Bittersweet
Author: Miranda Beverl-Whittlemore
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Picture courtesy Amazon

Summary: Mabel Dagmar just wants to belong.  On scholarship at her East Coast college, her roommate is the beautiful, enigmatic and blue-blooded Geneva Winslow, Ev for short.  Ev ignores Mabel for a good part of the year until one day Ev invites Mabel to spend the summer with her as her guest at the Winslow family's Vermont compound.  Mabel sees this opportunity to ingratiate herself with Ev and belong to a well-known and very wealthy family.  As she becomes more and more ingrained with the family, Mabel is faced with a decision of whether to expose the secrets this family has kept hidden for so long or to accept them and become one of them.

Review: Wow.  I've expressed some frustration recently about books (like this one, this one, and even this one) where the characters are wealthy and are dealing with their own challenges.  But give me a book about a very wealthy family with some truly f***ed up stuff and I'm smitten.  Mabel's character is pathetic in her desperation to be liked by Ev and her family.  But she's also manipulative in her own ways.  At the end you truly don't know who to trust.  This book was awesome and just what I needed to cleanse my palate on "why do I keep reading books about wealthy people".

Book review: Broken Monsters

Title: Broken Monsters
Author: Lauren Beukes
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Picture courtesy Amazon

Summary: There's a serial killer on the loose in Detroit.  He's using the bodies as artwork.  Detective Gabriella Versado is on the case.  She thought she'd seen it all, but these bodies are gruesome. Gabriella's 15-year-old daughter Layla is just trying to fit in at her new school.  Jonno is desperately trying to revive his freelance journalism career.  TK is trying to protect his homeless family.

Review:  I started listening to this book on CD.  This is NOT a good book to listen to in audio format (at least it wasn't for me).  While the story is creepy (in a good way, at least at first), I didn't like the character's voices and there were too many characters to keep track of.  I can always sense when I'm not engaged with a book on CD when I space out while listening and realize I have no idea what's going on in the book.

When I realized the audio version wasn't working, I checked out the actual book.  Ah, that's better. One thing I liked about this book is that the protaganists weren't particularly likeable.  Jonno is trying to exploit this case to further his own career.  Layla's primary "fault" is she's 15 and dealing with her parents' divorce and all of the other insecurities that come with being 15.  TK is a peripheral character at best but he has his own violent history.  Gabriella is a detective and dealing with all of the bureaucracy and other crap that goes along with that, plus less than stellar co-workers.

Where this book lost me is what happened once they discovered who the serial killer was.  The search for the serial killer dragged on for a bit and the climatic scene where Gabriella and the rest of the characters converge on the killer's final piece of artwork was a little too supernatural for my taste.   I'm not really into demons that take over somebody's body, but that's just me.  If you're into that stuff, you might like this book better than I did.

Book review: Secrets of the Lighthouse

Title: Secrets of the Lighthouse
Author: Santa Montefiore
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary:  Ellen Trawton is running away.  She hates her job and is engaged to a man that she doesn't want to marry.  She escapes to the Irish town where her mom grew up to live with an aunt that she's never met.  While there she discovers an entire extended family that her mom has never mentioned.  There's also a sexy (but brooding) widower.  The widower's dead wife isn't very happy that her husband might be starting to move on (five years after her death, I might add).

Review: I'm pretty sure I already started this review, but sometimes Blogger gets a little testy and doesn't like to save my drafts.  I hate re-writing reviews.  It makes me crabby.  However, this book is a delightful frothy confection.  And there are angels (well maybe one angel and a ghost).  I like angels.  Nothing earth shattering, pretty formulaic, but who cares?  It's a book version of the rom com. Also, can we talk about how unique the author's name is?  I have no idea if that's her real name, and I can't imagine what it's like to grow up with the name Santa.  I surmised from reading up on the author that she grew up wealthy.  Maybe Santa is the English counterpart to Muffy or Tinsley? 

So why not the full five stars? Because, Ellen comes from a wealthy family.  And has the luxury of quitting her job and escaping to Ireland.  Perhaps I need to start getting my book suggestions from publications other than People magazine.

Anyhoo, if you're looking for an easy read during the cold winter, I highly recommend this. 

Book review: Yes Please

Title: Yes Please
Author: Amy Poehler
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: Amy Poehler, of SNL, Parks and Recreation and Upright Citizen's Brigade fame, has written a book.  What else do I need to say?

Review:  I have a crush on Amy Poehler.  How could you not?  She's so funny and seems down-to-earth and like somebody you'd love to be friends with.  Also, she's from Burlington!  I listened to this book on CD, so not only did I get to read a book she wrote, I got to listen to her read it too.  Win-win!
While the book was interesting and had lots of stories of her progression to fame and essays on her thoughts on motherhood and other topics, it wasn't double-over-laughing funny.  That's the primary reason I didn't give it 5 stars.  Also, I was perplexed when she discussed her insomnia in one part and then described her ability to sleep anywhere in another part.  Maybe that's not fair but I have high standards for my crushes.  Still, very enjoyable.

Book review: Psychos: A White Girls Problems Book

Title: Psychos: A White Girls Problems Book
Author: Babe Walker
Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Summary:  Babe Walker is fresh out of rehab and looking to get her life back. She has the luxury of endless money, so this book is about her post-rehab adventures. 

Review: I felt a lot better about disliking this book when I read in People magazine that Britney Spears loved it, although I'm not sure I believe she actually read it.  I don't really see Britney as much of a reader.  I digress.  As I mentioned in my review on You Should Have Known, I'm getting a little tired of reading about characters that are rich and don't have to work.  This is a mocu-memoir (If that's not already a real word then I'm making it up right now), I think.  I'm pretty sure this person isn't real but is some persona that somebody made up.  But again, I'm becoming older and out of touch, so...who knows.

Perhaps this is a sign that I'm getting old, but I didn't really get this book.  In fact, I started reading it awhile ago but then put it down because I couldn't get into it.  I like to think I have a pretty good sense of humor but I didn't really find this book that funny.  All I kept thinking was, "she would be more interesting if she didn't get bailed out all the time".  To Walker's credit, she has a blog too, which I enjoyed more than this book.  But not enough to provide any sort of link on this review.  

Book Review: Edge of Eternity

Title: Edge of Eternity
Author: Ken Follett
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary:  This is is the final book in Follett's The Century trilogy.  Rather than summarize this book in my own words, I'm going to use Amazon's summary: "Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy follows the fortunes of five intertwined families—American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh—as they make their way through the twentieth century."

Review:  In the interest of full disclosure, I read this entire trilogy for a book club at work.  And I use the term "book club" loosely since we have yet to actually meet to discuss any book in this trilogy, although we are scheduled to meet and discuss in just a few weeks.  I've never read any of Follett's other books, so I can't speak to how this compares to his other books, but this book is so bad it's good.  There isn't a lot of depth to the characters, but I like to think it's educational (if I assume that the description of events in the books from the 60's on is actually true.  I was educated by the California Public School system and while I was in high school when the Berlin Wall fell, I don't actually remember learning about why the Wall going up in the first place).

There are a LOT of characters to keep track of.  Fortunately, there are character lists and family trees to help one remember who is who.  I wouldn't read this book on its own--if you're going to read this then start with the beginning of the series. 

Book review: You Should Have Known

Title: You Should Have Known
Author: Jean Hanff Korelitz
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: Grace Sachs has an enviable life--she lives in Manhattan with her pediatric oncologist husband and son.  A successful therapist, her first book, You Should Have Known, is about to be released.  The premise of her book is that women generally have only themselves to blame when their relationships begin to fall apart.  Grace argues that problems of infidelity or poor money management or emotional unavailability are obvious very early on, but women have a tendency to overlook these things.  In other words, they should have known.

When the mom of a kid at the school that Grace's son's attends is murdered, Grace is stunned when the cops show up at her door asking the whereabouts of her husband.  He could never do such a thing--he's a pediatric oncologist loved by his patients and their parents.  Turns out, he's also a sociopath.  Grace's life as she knows it disintegrates.

Review:  When I read books like this I can't help but wonder what I would do if I were in the same situation.  Inevitably, the women in these books seem to have more resources than me.  In Grace's situation, she has the luxury of escaping to her summer place in Connecticut, where she takes the next few months off so she can process what has happened and what her next steps will be.  Granted, the summer place isn't winterized and Grace and her son end up moving there in the winter. So they have that to deal with.  But both their Manhattan apartment and the Connecticut summer home are paid for because they've been in Grace's family for years.

I know I shouldn't take these books so literally--they're fiction.  But I can't help it.  In Grace's defense, she states a few times in the book that they couldn't afford their Manhattan apartment if they had to buy it with their salaries. But she still has it.  And yes, I realize these people aren't real.  But it's this inability for me to relate to her convenient financial situation that led me to give this four stars over five.  If my husband turned out to be a sociopath, I would still have a mortgage to pay with two kids in daycare.  I wouldn't have the ability to run away to our summer place.  If I was lucky I'd have friends that would let me stay at their summer places, but I'd still need to work to pay for the aforementioned mortgage and other bills.

The rest of the book was great.  There's the right amount of buildup to Grace's discovery, and her reaction feels real and raw.  But I just couldn't get past my frustration (and envy?) that her financial situation oversimplified things for me.

Book review: All Joy and No Fun

Title: All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenting
Author: Jennifer Senior
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Summary: Parenting is tough.  This book outlines in great detail and with a lot of supporting studies how tough parenting is no matter what age your children are. 

Review:  I couldn't finish this book.  It was too stressful.  In hindsight perhaps I thought this book would be funnier.   I think I was looking for confirmation that I'm not the only one that gets overwhelmed with parenthood sometimes.  And I got that confirmation.  Ms. Senior does a fantastic job citing study after study of how parenting has changed.   And there's certainly room for debate on the influences of those changes and if parenting has changed for the better or worse. But it wasn't very reassuring or comforting.

All it did was make me feel more incompetent than I already feel at times and dread adolescence even more than I already am. Not because it's going to be a difficult time, but because that's when they're going to start to distance themselves from me, and that makes me really sad.  Because as much as they drive me crazy sometimes, the best part of my day is when they come running up to me when I get home with big hugs. Well, this has been an uplifting post.  No worries, I have two more to write and post soon.

Book review: Black Chalk

Title: Black Chalk
Author: Christopher J. Yates
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary:  Six friends at Oxford University embark on a game.  Initially it's fun, but as the game progresses, the stakes get higher and it's not as fun.  Fourteen years later, the remaining players come back together to decide the winner.

Review:  Admittedly, this review is overdue.  I finished this book a few weeks ago and as I write this review, all I can think about is it reminded me a lot of Donna Tartt's The Secret History.  But not as good as the Secret History.

When I write these reviews, I never know how much to give away.  There are a few twists--the person whose perspective this is told from isn't who you think it is initially.  Also, it lacked chapters, which sort of drives me crazy.  I like chapters.  It helps to provide a break for those of us who may not have all day to sit down and read a book.

The book jumps from the present to 14 years ago, with the present told from the perspective of one person.  I'm not very sympathetic to a character that hasn't had to work for the past 14 years.  The flashbacks are more interesting, but as characters drop out of the game, they disappear from the story.  Which is fine--the point of the story is to focus on the people that are left in the game, but I always like to know what happens to these characters.

I didn't really like any of the players that were left, nor did I think their present day lives really made sense.  But again, maybe I'm just not sympathetic to shut-ins?

Book review: All Fall Down

Title: All Fall Down
Author: Jennifer Weiner
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary: Allison has it all--a beautiful house in the suburbs, a beautiful little girl, and a flourishing career as a blogger. Despite this "perfect" life, she's not as happy as things appear.  For one, her marriage is struggling--her husband sleeps in the spare bedroom and Allison is starting to suspect he's having an affair, or close to having an affair.  Also, her dad just got diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  Holding it together for the perfect life is really stressful. Fortunately she has her friends Oxy, Vicodin, and Percocet to help her out.

Review:  I listened to this book on CD in my car.  This book is stressful at times, probably because this woman's life so closely resembled my own.  Also, the daughter's voice was really whiny.

As many women out there know, life is overwhelming sometimes--kids, job, husband, and everything else--it can be a LOT to manage.  As I listened to this story (and as I listen now to my own whiny children and can't they just give me 10 minutes to finish this long overdue post?), I couldn't help but think, "wow, this could be me".  And if this is why people become addicted to pain killers, I can totally see why.  There's so much to do in so little time, it's great to have something to take the edge off and relieve some of that stress so you don't have to worry so much.  Unfortunately it can get expensive, especially when you have to seek out illegal ways to get it once you get cut off from your docs.

While this story hit close to home, I love a good addiction story.  One of my favorite shows used to be Intervention.  Once I had kids I had a hard time watching the ones with the younger addicts--those broke my heart--but it was fascinating to watch Allison's spiral into addiction and her subsequent attempt at recovery.

This was one of those books where as I went through each CD I got a little sad that I was one CD closer to the end of the book.  Despite how stressful it was to feel like I was listening to my life, I didn't want this story to end.  Highly recommended. 

Book review: Winter People

Title: Winter People
Author: Jennifer McMahon
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: Ruthie Washburne is concerned when her mom suddenly disappears.  Ruthie and her mom live in West Hall, Vermont.  Ruthie and her little sister discover secrets as they search for their mom.  West Hall was also home to Sara Harrison Shea, whose death in 1908 is still talked about.  Townspeople said the ghost of Sara used to wander the town after dark.

Review:  Admittedly, this book took me a while to get into.  I'm not into monsters, but apparently I don't mind spells.  Once I got into this book, I loved it.  The back and forth between Sara's story and the present time was easy to keep track of (key for me since by the end of the day my brain is fried).  It was kind of creepy and scary and you really didn't know how it was going to end.  The ending left you hanging a bit, which I both love and loathe since I'm dying to know what was on the other side of the door.  But that's what so great about endings like that--it leaves it up to your imagination. This is a great book for Halloween or just the upcoming winter.  Nothing says winter like Vermont and nothing says Halloween like spells.

Book review: A Circle of Wives

Title: A Circle of Wives
Author: Alice LaPlante
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary:  Dr. John Taylor, a successful plastic surgeon, is discovered dead in a hotel room.  The autopsy reveals his death wasn't accidental.  His funeral brings together his three wives.  Not his two exes and a current wife--his three current wives.  It turns out that he was a bigamist.  Stranger still, his first wife knew about and encouraged the two additional marriages.  Needless to say, several people have motives for why they'd be angry enough to kill Dr. Taylor.

Rating: This book was intended to be sort of a palate cleanser for me.  It seems like my last few reads have been on the intense and/or serious side, and I wanted a break from that.  This was seemingly a good choice for that, but it was like I was expecting a mango sorbet but got lemon sorbet instead.  It's fine, it's just not what I really, really wanted.  There wasn't a lot of depth to the characters.  I had a hard time keeping the wives straight, too.  Also, the detective was the usual cliche--are detectives ever happy people?  I'd like to see a book about a happy go lucky detective with a happy home life.  Is that too much to ask?

Book review: We are all completely fine

Book review: We Are All Completely Fine
Author: Daryl Gregory
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Summary: Harrison, Stan, Barbara, Greta and Martin are all damaged in their own way and are brought together for some group therapy.  Monsters are involved.

Review: This book was recommended to me by my husband, Aaron.  Aaron's and my taste in books don't always intersect but Aaron thought I'd like it. I read the description and it seemed promising, and the book was more of a novella than a novel, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.  What I missed in the description was the reference to monsters was literal.  I thought the monsters were symbolic.

I'm not a huge fan of sci-fi, vampires, alternate worlds, that sort of thing.  Interestingly enough, I seem to be okay with ghosts, because I'm reading a book about ghosts and magic and so far so good on that one.  But I digress--that review will be written later.  Anyway, I gave this two stars because I was turned off by the real monsters.  A bond did develop with the group and that was right up my alley and there was certainly growth among the characters, but I just couldn't get past the monsters.  However, if you like monsters, you might want to check it out.

Book review: The Book of Jonah

Title: The Book of Jonah
Author: Joshua Max Feldman
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary:  Jonah's a lawyer at a Manhattan white shoe firm on the partner track.  He has a girlfriend that he's pretty sure he's going to end up marrying one day. In the meantime he's also still seeing another girl on the side.  He's on top of the world.  Then Jonah goes to a party one night and has a disturbing vision.  These visions continue and end up turning his life as he knew it upside down.  He crosses paths with Judith Bulbrook, an intense woman with struggles of her own

Review: I loved the first part of this book and the end.  The main reason I didn't give it five stars is there was a small part of the middle that seemed a little vague and meandering.  Perhaps that was the point but it didn't really resonate with me.  This book was different from anything I've read in a long time.  Jonah's self-destruction is fascinating and Judith is an interesting character in her own right as well.  Judith is set to conquer the world when tragedy changes her world forever.  I love living vicariously through characters whose life takes a path that I didn't get a chance to explore.

Book review: Clever Girl (DNF)

Title: Clever Girl
Author: Tessa Hadley
Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Summary:  This story follows Stella's life from her childhood with her mom into...adulthood?  I'm not sure how far the book goes into Stella's life.  I gave up on the book about a third of the way in.

Review:  This book wasn't unreadable, it just wasn't very interesting.  Thus the Did Not Finish (DNF) status.  I read about a hundred pages and just...lost interest.  It could be my mood.  Maybe I'll revisit it one day...

Book review: The Headmaster's Wife

Title: The Headmaster's Wife
Author: Thomas Christopher Greene
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary: Arthur Winthrop is the headmaster at the prestigious Lancaster School in Vermont.  His dad and grandfather were also headmasters at Lancaster.  This book opens with Arthur being arrested for wandering naked in Central Park.  The story unfolds to review the events that led Arthur to his arrest.

Review:  This book was good but as more time passes between my finishing it and writing this review, it isn't really staying with me.  Thus the reason for three vs. four stars.  It starts off with Arthur having an affair with a student.  This first part of the book is probably the best part as one realizes that what's happening might not be all that appears, which further adds to the intrigue.  The book progresses to provide more insight and provides a point of view from his wife.  It's a fast read and it was good, but it wasn't one of those books that I looked forward to reading at the end of the night.  Nor was it a book that I would stay up late to keep reading.

Book review: This is Where I Leave You

Title: This is Where I Leave You
Author: Jonathan Tropper
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary:  Judd's father just died.  He also recently found his wife cheating on him with his boss.  Judd's not having a great time with life right now.  When he gets back home for his dad's funeral, his mom tells Judd and his three siblings (Wendy, Paul, and Phillip) that their (previously unreligious) dad's dying wish was for them to sit Shiva.  Judd can't remember the last time the entire family was together for an entire week.  Some hilarity ensues.

Review: This book has been made into a movie and stars Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Jane Fonda, just to name a few. I read this book just after having surgery and it was a terrible book to read because I was laughing so hard and it really, really hurt to laugh.  There are a lot of sad aspects to the book (each kid is dealing with his or her own issues), but it feels real and that's what makes it good.  Plus I love books about family drama.  This book made me want to check out Tropper's other work.

Book review: The Race Underground

Title: The Race Underground
Author: Doug Most
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary:This book details the development of the Boston and New York Subway systems.

Review: This is a non-fiction book.  I don't read many non-fiction books these days.  In my mind these require more brain power.  Perhaps this is true, perhaps it isn't.  In this case, there were so many different characters involved, it was hard to keep track of at times.  Anyway, this was a really interesting book.  There were times I almost gave up--after the Boston subway was completed and New York still hadn't started their own I couldn't help but think, "so where is this going?".  But in many ways the development of the New York subway was even more interesting than the Boston part.  I think anybody that lives in either Boston or New York will enjoy reading about what the cities looked like back at the turn of the century. 

Book review: this dark road to mercy

Title: this dark road to mercy
Author: wiley cash
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Summary:  Twelve-year-old Easter Quillby and her 6-year-old sister Ruby are living in a foster home after the death of their mom.  Their dad Wade relinquished his rights to them a few years back so the girls don't have much of a relationship with him.  He appears out of nowhere and kidnaps them in the middle of the night.  Meanwhile, somebody is hunting down Wade for some money he stole and a caseworker is trying to find the girls before Wade gets too far with them.

Review: You know a book is good when it's hard to put down and you can't wait to pick it back up again.  I waffled between four and five stars.  This book rotates the point of views between Easter, the guy hunting the dad down and the case worker trying to catch up with them.  Even while writing this review I couldn't decide, thus I landed on the 4.5.  I initially didn't think the viewpoint of the killer added any value but the more I think about it, the more it does.  If anything, I wished it were longer--that's ultimately the reason I didn't give it 5.  Selfish?  Maybe.

Book review: The Wives of Los Alamos

Title: The Wives of Los Alamos
Author: TaraShea Nesbit
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Summary: During World War II, scientists were moved to New Mexico for a top secret project to build what was ultimately the atomic bomb.  The scientists' families were moved along with them.  They couldn't tell anybody where they were going or when they were coming back.  The wives knew nothing about what their husbands were working on for years (there were some women scientists there too, but they were the minority).  These families were thrown together with other families and forced to live in fake town of sorts.  Houses were assigned based on family size, things were rationed, and any communication was reviewed and censored.

Rating:  I've never quite read a book like this before.  There were no real characters and everything was written in the plural first person.  It was really frustrating to read a book with no characters. I originally gave this three stars but I downgraded to two because while I finished it, nothing really happened.  The lack of characters didn't provide any depth as to how the families dealt with the realization of what the men had been working on for the past several years and how their wives and children (those who were old enough to understand) felt about it. It was alluded to, but as with everything else in this book, nothing was really explored. 

Book review: Chance

Title: Chance
Author: Kem Nunn
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Summary: Dr. Eldon Chance is a neuropsychiatrist who is on a path of self-destruction.  Recently divorced, he becomes entangled with Jaclyn Blackstone, a woman who appears to have multiple personalities and also happens to be married to an abusive and dirty Oakland detective.  Chance has also recently befriended Carl and D, who refinish furniture, among other talents.

Review:  This book seemed so promising to me but I just couldn't get into it.  Chance is described as an antihero in the book jacket and I would agree wholeheartedly with that description.  He's pathetic.  His affair with Jaclyn is pathetic.  He puts his career at stake.  And you know he's smarter than that, and he knows he's smarter than that, but Jaclyn is his kryptonite.  The climax, a showdown between Carl, the abusive husband, Carl and D is interesting, yet also felt like a cop out.  I kept thinking there was going to be a twist to make it more interesting, like Chance was crazy and imagined the whole thing, but that never happened. 

Book review: The Silkworm

Title: The Silkworm
Author: Robert Galbraith
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: This book is the second in a series about a detective named Cormoran Strike.  Owen Quine is an author of questionable skill who goes missing.  His wife approaches Cormoran because while he has disappeared in the past, he usually comes back.  This time he hasn't.  The wife asks Cormoran to find Quine.  Quine is found, but he's been murdered.  It turns out that Quine has just written a book that exposes secrets of players in the literary world.  To find a list of suspects, one just has to look to the book to see who was exposed the most.  It's a pretty long list but Cormoran, along with his assistant Robin, is on the hunt for Quine's killer.

Review: For those that don't know, Robert Galbraith is a pen name for JK Rowling.  Cuckoo's Calling was the first book in the Strike series and I had resisted it for a long time because of this.  I have never read the Harry Potter series and I have a tendency to avoid things that are so overexposed, like Harry Potter was in its heyday.  Yet every time I read about Cuckoo's Calling, I was drawn to it.

I finally gave in and I loved Cuckoo's Calling.  So I couldn't wait for this to come out and I wasn't disappointed.  I have a tendency to shy away from ongoing detective series because after awhile they become very formulaic.  This series is either still too young to be formulaic or Rowling is a good enough writer that they won't.  Plus, these books are fun.  I have immensely enjoyed these books for a few reasons:

1.  Rowling does a great job with the development of Strike and Robin's relationship.  Robin's engaged and her fiance isn't thrilled with her job.  This is causing a fair amount of tension in their relationship.  They end up having to postpone their wedding and you start to wonder if it will be postponed indefinitely.  I liked how Rowling resolved this (for now).
2. Maybe it's obvious to you, but I have yet to figure out who the killer is ahead of time.  This book kept me interested to read on and find out.
3. I couldn't help but wonder if Rowling modeled some of the characters about people she knows in the literary world, so that piqued my interest.

This is one of those books that is hard to put down and you can't wait to pick up again.  I can say for a fact that the book I'm reading now doesn't fit that description.  Stay tuned for the next review!

Book review: Andrew's Brain

Title: Andrew's Brain
Author: E.L. Doctorow
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Summary:  This book is about...I don't have the faintest idea.  This book is a conversation between Andrew and an unknown person about Andrew.  He rambles about his life and wives.  There's a sad story about a little girl that has no resolution.

Review:  This book is like ordering a crisp Sauvignon Blanc and getting a tumbler of scotch.  The scotch is probably good, it's just not what you ordered and what you were in the mood for.  I've never read a book by E.L. Doctorow and I'm not terribly familiar with his work.  And by not terribly familiar, I mean not familiar at all.  I've gotten quite a few comments from you dear readers on the volume of books I read.  Most of them don't require the level of concentration that this book required to read.  And it might be a good book, it's just not the book for me.  That's the main reason I gave it two stars versus one--didn't think my preference for a light summer white wine was Doctorow's total fault.  Still, this book is one that needs concentration and focus.  If you have more of that than me, then you might like this book better than I did.

Book review: The Vacationers

Title: The Vacationers
Author: Emma Straub
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary: The Post family heads from Manhattan to Mallorca, Spain for a 2-week vacation.  The intent of the trip was multi-faceted: spend time together as a family before Sylvia headed off to college, celebrate Franny and Jim's 35th wedding anniversary and to see their son that lives in Florida.  They're also joined by Franny's best friend Charles and his husband Lawrence. But it's going to be a long two weeks.  Jim was just let go from his job for having an affair with a much younger employee.  Franny and Jim's son is a bit under water and needs to ask his folks for money.  Lawrence and Charles are trying to adopt a baby.

Rating:  This book will not change your life but it is a good summer read. There isn't a lot of depth to any of the characters, but the two weeks the family spends together passes quickly enough.  So why not a higher rating? It was good, not great.  Everything just turned out too perfectly.  I know that's the point with a summer read, but I guess I don't like books that end neatly.  Sometimes it's hard to get into too many specifics without giving away the book, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

Book review: Apple Tree Yard

Title: Apple Tree Yard
Author: Louise Doughty
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Summary: Yvonne Carmichael is a renowned geneticist and happily married mother of two.  She meets Mark Costley in the hallway of the House of Parliament and begins an affair (yes, it is that random).  Then Yvonne gets raped and in a random act of chivalry, Mark kills the guy.  Then they get caught and go on trial.

Review:  The inside of this jacket says, "...Apple Tree Yard is a psychological thriller that calls to mind Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl even as it stakes out its own chilling territory."  I know the publisher is trying to sell books, but this melodrama makes me roll my eyes.  I'm usually able to forget these sensational statements, but in this event, it stuck with me.  Also, even though I remember reading that full sentence, I sort of trailed off at the mention of Gone Girl.  I loved Gone Girl and I kept waiting for the twist.  This book is no Gone Girl and the comparison to Gone Girl sort of ruined it for me.

The book was...fine.  Here are some of the issues I had with it:

1. The guy was clearly bad news.  He was vague about his job and all contact was on his terms.  
2. Hiding the affair after the murder was a terrible idea.  See #1.  If the two of you are on trial for murder and he asks you to hide the affair, it doesn't occur to you that he will use this against you?
3. Because of items 1 and 2, it made zero sense that he would kill the guy that raped Yvonne.  
4. I kept waiting for the plot twist.  When was it going to be revealed that Yvonne was actually behind the whole thing? 

Maybe I missed something?  But I don't think so.  Would I have liked it better if I could get around the Gone Girl comparison?  Probably not.

Book review: And the Dark Sacred Night

Title: And the Dark Sacred Night
Author: Julia Glass
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Summary: Kit Noonan has been drifting for awhile.  He's an unpublished PhD who's been job searching for some time. Finally his wife gives him an ultimatum--he needs to find his dad.  In fact, she's kicking him out of the house until he finds his dad.  Kit's mom has always hid his father's identity from him, but Kit explores other avenues to figure out who his dad is.  He finds a new family, but it also makes him realize that his "real" father isn't necessarily sperm-related. 

Review: The other day my husband Aaron told me he was reading my reviews and he commented that I was so nice in my reviews.  My response was, "I'm not trying to be the New York Times Book Review."  I've made the same comment about People magazine--their reviews are very nice as well, and are typically in the 3.5 to 5 star range.  But it did get me thinking--have I been overly nice or have I just been reading good books lately?  Or is it because even if I don't love a book, who am I to say it's bad?  I've never tried to write a book.  I've thought about it, I suppose, but I've never explored the process of writing a book.  It seems hard.  What is this review about?

My conversation with Aaron has at least for the short term led me to take a more critical eye to the books I read.  The first victim of this is And the Dark Sacred Night.  I'd like to think that even before I had the above conversation that I would have given this book three stars at most.  It just wasn't very interesting.  Yet it wasn't boring enough to put down.  It was just...eh.  The story would present a scene, meander to a flashback, and by the time it came back to the present I would have forgotten what was going on.  I also think Kit's biological father's family accepted him far too easily.  There was also more to explore--Kit's stepdad had a son that was an alcoholic, but there wasn't a lot of depth to this.  I'm always perplexed when a character's described with what seems to be important details, but the author never really explores it.  Also, Kit's wife kicks him out, but beyond the first part, there's no further exploration of their relationship.  Everything just felt undeveloped.

What do you think?  A more thorough review than what I usually put together?

Book review: Shotgun Lovesongs

Title: Shotgun Lovesongs
Author: Nickolas Butler
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary: Henry, Lee, Ronny, Kip and Beth grew up in Little Wing, Wisconsin and have known each other their whole lives. Their lives have each taken their own trajectories but various life events keep bringing them back together. 

Review: I listened to this book on CD, so that may be influencing this review.  As with any book on CD, the readers can make or break the book.  In this case, they made it (except for whoever did Ronny's voice.  His voice rubbed me the wrong way for some reason, but not enough to get me take off a star).  I think I would have still liked this book even if I'd read it myself. But because the book was so well performed, I loved it.  I loved how the book rotated characters, I liked how their lives evolved, I loved it all.  There was one event in it that involved a recovering alcoholic falling off the wagon that was rather glossed over, but everything else overwhelmingly made that worth looking over.  Highly recommended.

Book review: Caught

Title: Caught
Author:  Lisa Moore
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Summary:  David Slaney is 25 years old and has escaped from jail (he was in for marijuana possession).  He's looking to reconnect with his former partner Hearn.  But before he does that, he needs to stay one step ahead of the authorities who are looking for him.  Slaney connects with Hearn and plans to make one last big deal before giving up the drug business for good.  Is he successful?  Or do the cops catch up with him?

Review: I thought this was a suspense novel but it wasn't very...suspenseful.  It wasn't even that eventful.  The book wasn't terrible, it just wasn't terribly interesting.  He's being chased by an undercover cop but there isn't a lot of character development.  Slaney is the main focus and you think you'll get more background on other characters but that doesn't really happen, at least not beyond a superficial level.  I liked the epilogue, but by then it was too little too late. 

Book review: The Rosie Project

Title: The Rosie Project
Author: Graeme Simsion
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: Don Tillman is a Genetics Professor.  While he's brilliant, his social skills are a bit lacking.  Example: He's created a questionnaire that he's titled The Wife Project.  The questionnaire is designed to help him identify his perfect mate and weed out women with undesirable qualities.  Enter Rosie.  She's looking for her father and seeks Don's help to help her identify him.  Rosie doesn't fit Don's profile of the perfect mate at all, yet he can't get her off of his mind.  Maybe love isn't as simple as answering all the questions correctly on a survey?

Review:  This is a great beach read, especially for rom com lovers.  I waffled between three and four stars and finally landed on the four.  It was amusing more than funny (at least to me, maybe I don't get Australian humor?), but it's still cute.  It's obvious where the story is going and at times it feels like the author dragged out the ending a bit, but still a light easy read for the summer and it's fun to see Graeme's transformation.  He tries really hard to be aware of social cues, but it's hard for him. 

Book review: The Lowland

Title: The Lowland
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: Subhash and Udayan are brothers born 15 months apart.  Throughout their childhood growing up in Calcutta, they're inseparable.  Despite being so close, they're very different, and their lives take very different paths.  Subhash ends up moving to the United States, but when tragedy occurs, he goes home.  The events that happen while he's home change Subhash's and his brother's wife, Gauri's, life forever.

Review: The only reason I didn't give this book five out of five stars is it took me a while to get into it--I thought it had a bit of a slow start.  But once the pace picked up, I loved it.  I didn't give a lot away in the Summary, but this book's point of view shifts between Subhash, Gauri, and Gauri and Udayan's daughter Bela.  It spans decades, from when Subhash and Udayan are little boys to when Bela's in her forties.  It gives closure but also leaves a lot to the imagination.

Book review: Orange is the New Black

Title: Orange is the New Black
Author: Piper Kerman
Rating: 4 out 5 stars

Summary: Piper Kerman had a boyfriend, a career and a life when her past caught up with her.  Ten years previously, Piper delivered a suitcase of money for her then-girlfriend, who was a drug dealer.  Piper's life was put on hold while she served 15 months in a Federal "correctional facility" in Dunbury, Connecticut. This book documents her time behind bars, most of which was spent in Connecticut, but she also provides a perspective of another jail she was in when she was called to testify against somebody else.

Review:  I had no idea that the show Orange is the New Black was based on a book.  As soon as I found this out, I had to read it.  This book interested me for one primary reason--I have an irrational fear of being committed for a crime I didn't commit.  In this case the author was guilty of a crime she committed 10 years prior, but I wanted to read about how this middle-class (although I'd argue upper-middle class) white woman survived prison.  The good news is if I end up at a minimal- or medium-security Federal prison, I might actually survive.  Of course, it would depend on how long my sentence was for.  Is prison glamorous?  Hell no, it was still hard.  But it was still reassuring to know that it wasn't Oz.  There's been a lot written about men's prisons, but not a lot has been written about women's prison.  Whether you share my fear or not, this provides a fascinating view into women prison life and a face to the mothers, daughters, and sisters in these facilities. 

Book review: The Enchanted

Title:  The Enchanted
Author: Rene Denfeld
Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Summary: The Lady is a lawyer.  She's a death row's inmate last chance at getting a reprieve for dying.  Her current case is York.  It's never fully explained what York did to get to death row, but does it really matter?  York wants to die and doesn't want the Lady's services.  But York's lawyers are paying for her, not York.  Other stuff happens but it's not that interesting.

Review:  This book was "eh".  I couldn't get into it.  The majority of the characters didn't have real names.  There was another death row inmate that clearly had mental issues.  The Lady was interesting and I liked her exploration of York's past and her revelation that they were both born from women who were mentally retarded (not the same woman in case you were wondering.  At least I don't think so).

Maybe I was too simple for the book.  I don't need a book to be deep, have themes, symbolism or metaphors.  I like books where the characters have names and there aren't  undercurrents of things going on that are unsaid but I should pick up on.

Book review: Frog Music

Title: Frog Music
Author: Emma Donoghue
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary:  It's the summer of 1876 and San Francisco is going through a heat wave and a small pox epidemic.  Blanche is a French burlesque dancer.  Blanche had a baby a little over a year ago but the baby is being taken care by somebody else.  After all, a baby doesn't really fit into a burlesque dancer's lifestyle.  Her new friend Jenny is outspoken, wears pants at a time when it's illegal for women to wear pants, and mysterious, among other things.  She also challenges Blanche to rethink her life and some of the decisions she's made.

Jenny's murdered one night but was the bullet meant for Blanche instead?  Blanche makes it her mission to figure out who killed her friend and discovers that she didn't really know that much about her new friend.

Review:  I really wanted to like this book.  I think I even put it first on my hold list because I wanted to read it sooner rather than later.  But then I unintentionally requested the large print version of the book.  I hate reading the large print versions.  They're so much bigger and you read and read and read but don't feel like you're getting anywhere.  So I think that was hanging over me the whole time I read it.

There were so many promising elements to this story--it was based on a real unsolved murder, it had elements of women breaking boundaries and seeking redemption.  It had elements of women empowering themselves.  It took place in San Francisco.  Yet, none of these things really came together for me in this book. 

Book review: I Heart My Little A-Holes

Title: I Heart My Little A-Holes
Author: Karen Alpert
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: Karen is the author of the Baby Sideburns blog. This book is a collection of essays on why children are a-holes. 

Review: This is a book only a mother could truly appreciate.  Or moms will appreciate it the most.  This is one of those books that I don't remember where I heard about it but I requested it from the library and shortly thereafter got an email about it that it was being held for me.

I ended up getting this book right before I went on vacation.  While I haven't blogged about it on my other blog (yet), we were going to California.  On a plane.  There's a whole chapter on traveling with children.  I wouldn't recommend bringing this book on the plane if you're traveling with children.

Needless to say, I found this book a lot funnier after our trip was over.  There were truly moments that I was doubled-over in laughter.  I don't know if Karen will notice links to her blog from this blog, but in the event that she does, I thought I'd provide answers to some of the book club questions she posed at the end of the book.  You're going to have to check out the book :

1. Karen is!
2. Bits (for both), toots and poop.
3. I'd say normal.  I currently have a 2 YO lying on her back screaming for her Daddy.  
4. Who am I to judge?  Am I a good mom?  Some days I'm not so sure.
5. Another Holiday?  Are You F'ing Kidding Me?  Also, the section on homeschoolers.

 That's it for now. My reasons for not giving this book 5 out of 5 stars are two-fold:

1. I started reading it on our vacation and couldn't get into it because I was so stressed out about not being "that family" on the plane.
2. While I don't think I'm cut out to be a stay-at-home mom, I still secretly hate stay-at-home moms because they get to spend way more time with their kids than I do. So it's mainly spite.  If by some miracle the author actually reads this review--sorry. 

 

Book review: Five Star Billionaire

Title: Five Star Billionaire
Author: Tash Aw
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: This is the story of five people living in Shanghai--Phoebe, Gary, Justin, Yinghui and Walter Chao.  Their lives intersect in many ways--Phoebe works for Yinghui, Justin has had a long-standing crush on Yinghui, who is also his brother's ex-girlfriend.  Yinghui is exploring a business venture with Walter, the Five Star Billionaire.  This story rotates through each of these character's lives with Shanghai as the backdrop.

Review:  I should have written this review before I went on vacation because now my brain is fuzzy.  I might not remember all of the reasons I liked this book, but remember my review on Crazy Rich Asians?  Most of the people in Five Star Billionaire are wealthy but this book is so much better than Crazy Rich Asians.

I enjoy books that rotate through different characters.  Aaron and I went to Shanghai in 2007 and I loved that trip, so that was part of the initial appeal for me.  While I enjoyed the book, the primary reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is I didn't feel like there was enough character development.  The book's less than 400 pages, which means only about 76 pages are written from each character's perspective.  Also, some characters didn't really develop at all.  Gary is a former pop star who starts over and has minimal involvement with other characters in the book.  Perhaps he started over on his terms, but I wonder if his book space would have been better allocated to providing more depth to the other characters. 

Book review: The Silver Star

Title: The Silver Star
Author: Jeannette Walls
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary:  This book introduces us to two sisters--12-year-old Jean "Bean" and her fifteen-year-old sister Liz.  It's 1970 and Liz, Bean and their mom Charlotte are living in Southern California.  Charlotte is an aspiring actress and singer who occasionally leaves her girls to "find herself".  The girls are used to taking care of themselves, but Charlotte typically returns after a few days.  Now Charlotte has been gone for over two weeks and people are starting to ask questions.  Nervous about getting separated or their mom in trouble, they take off for Virginia, where Charlotte grew up and where Charlotte's brother still lives.  

When Bean and Liz get to Virginia, they move in with their Uncle Tinsley.  What starts out as temporary begins to feel more permanent.  Bean's dad died before she was born and she gets to know her dad's family.  To make some extra money, the girls begin working for Jerry Maddox, the foreman of the mill in town and eventually start the school year in Virginia.  Their job with Maddox doesn't end well but what transpires from this becomes a true David vs. Goliath story and how two young girls can stand up to a bully and win.

Review: Well, that was a longer than usual Summary.  I'm not sure why, but one reason could be because of how much I liked the book, it was hard to cull it down to my usual paragraph.

Books about flaky moms are always interesting, as are books about the daughters of flaky moms.  I liked the independence of the sisters and their connection.  I don't want to give away what happens, but I was so proud of Liz for standing up to Maddox, the town bully.  What transpired from her decision wasn't easy and she was certainly a reluctant heroine.  Without the support of Bean and the eventual support of her uncle, I don't think she would have had the strength to make it.  For awhile you're not sure she will, but justice is eventually served.  I don't think I've read other books by Jeanette Walls but I certainly will now.

Book review: The Interestings

Title: The Interestings
Author: Meg Wolitzer
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary:  This book follows the lives of five friends that meet at camp one summer during high school.  As their lives transition from high school to college to "adulthood", lives and relationships change. 

My review:  This book is right up my alley.  I think I was surprised that I didn't read it soon enough.  The book starts out with six friends but one disappears relatively early in the story and there are three in particular that dominate--Jules, Ethan, and Ash.  Ethan's been in love with Jules since that first summer but try as she might, Jules just doesn't feel the same about Ethan.  He eventually moves on, sort of.

I wasn't sure at first how interesting these people were.  I got more into the story once they were out of college.  That's really the only reason I didn't give it five stars--it just took a while for me to get into.  I don't want to give away too much, but I did enjoy the Goodman story arc and how that blew up.  I was saddened by Ethan but I also liked how his story resolved too.     

Book review: Escape from Camp 14

Title:  Escape from Camp 14
Author: Blaine Harden
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary: An amazing (and true) story of a North Korean man's escape from a prison camp to the United States.  Shin Dong-hyuk was born in one of North Korea's prison camps.  He's the first known person that was born and raised in one of these camps that escaped and lived to tell about it.

My review:  I think this is my first review of a non-fiction book on this blog.  I'm not averse to non-fiction at all, I think I just have a perception that they require more concentration and so I'm hesitant to commit to them because I don't have a lot of energy or concentration by the end of the day.  But I read this based on a recommendation from a friend and I couldn't resist at least trying it.

This book was fascinating for some many reasons.  One, it shows the strength of the human spirit. Two, I knew that North Korea was hardly Shangri-La, but I don't think I was truly aware of the atrocities and the terrible camps.

This book is not upbeat to say the least.  I had to switch between this and The Last Anniversary at times.  That being said, it was still great, if only for the description of life within the camp.  The details on his life in America were a little vague, but the rest was fascinating.  Highly recommended. 

Book review: The Last Anniversary

Title: The Last Anniversary
Author: Liane Moriarity
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: Sophie has always wondered if she'd made a mistake breaking up with Thomas just when he was going to propose.  Three years later she was still single while Thomas was now married with a baby.  When Thomas' Aunt Connie dies, she leaves her house on Scribbly Gum Island to Sophie.  Sophie had only met Aunt Connie a few times, but this event changes Sophie's life in ways she didn't expect and reconnects her with Thomas and his extended family.  Various family members are dealing with personal issues and this book rotates through the personal lens of the different family members.

My review:  This is one of Moriarity's older books.  I had read her most recent book, The Husband's Secret, prior to starting this new blog.  I liked that book, so I thought I'd read some more of her work.  I'd definitely characterize her books as chick lit, for any male readers of this blog (who may or may not like chick lit).  It also takes place in Australia, which allows me to dream about going or even living there someday.  This is a light, fluffy book and a nice counter to the next book that I'll be reviewing.  Stay tuned. 

Question: Why do you review books that have been out so long?

You may (or may not) have noticed that the books I review have been out for some time.  I thought it might be helpful to explain why the books I’m reviewing have been out a while.  There are a few reasons for this:

1. I only read library books.  I very, very rarely read books that are bought.  This creates a conundrum when people give me books for gifts. I love getting books for gifts.  Unfortunately, it takes me ages to actually get around to reading it because I usually have to read my library books first. 
2. Are you aware I have two children?  Enough said.  I get a little bit of time at the end of the day to read.  I rarely read during the day if I do have some downtime because I usually end up falling asleep.  This doesn't help in staying on top of the latest and greatest.
3. Because of the library, I have a system for how I check books out.  I put books on hold when I request them (rather than perusing at the library).  A lot of times I end up freezing these holds because I can only handle so many books checked out at a time.  I eventually unfreeze these books, months later most of the time.
4. I am not a *real* book critic, so I don't get to review books pre-release.  Yet!

Hope that helps!

Book review: Crazy Rich Asians

Title: Crazy Rich Asians
Author: Kevin Kwan
Rating: .5 stars out of 5

Summary: This book is about several wealthy Asian families.  Really really wealthy Asian families. I suppose there was some other aspect to this story but I never made it through.

My Review: Yes, that's correct--.5 stars.  As in a half.  This book was terrible.  I didn’t make it past page 63.  I’ve read books about wealthy people before.  It can be fun to live vicariously through wealthy people and get a sense of their heavy burdens.  But this book was so over the top. I think that was supposed to be the point, but I didn’t get it.  I also think it was supposed to be funny, but it was just odd.  A book has to be pretty bad for me to give up on it so early, but this is certainly one of them.  Take this as a warning to not waste your time.

Book review: Cuckoo's Calling

Title: Cuckoo's Calling
Author: Robert Gailbraith (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling)
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary:  Nick is a down on his luck detective (is there any other kind?). He’s visited by the brother of a famous young model who had committed suicide a few months prior.  The brother doesn’t think she committed suicide and wants Nick to investigate further.  Hilarity ensues.  Not really.

My review: I resisted reading this book for a long time primarily because George X is actually J.K. Rowling.  I know many people love the Harry Potter books and I’ll probably introduce the girls to them one day but I couldn’t get into them.  This book appealed to me though, despite the fact that I feel like I’ve read a lot of “woman commits suicide but was it really a suicide” as of late.  So I finally caved and I’m glad I did—it was really good.  The characters have depth and you could tell that the detective was starting to figure out the killer, but it ended up not being the person you thought it was. I like twists like that.

I’m pretty sure this is setting the stage for an ongoing series with the detective.  There’s already another book in the works under Gailbraith’s name.  There’s a side story with his admin, who started off as a temp but is slowly becoming more of a sidekick (plus an eventual romance?).  I’d definitely be inclined to check out the next installment.

Book review: The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells

Title: The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells
Author: Andrew Sean Greer
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary: It's 1985 and Greta Wells is dealing with the death of her twin brother and a breakup with her longtime love Nathan.  In an attempt to deal with her crippling depression, Greta embarks on a series of radical psychiatric treatments.  Each treatment takes her between three different time periods: 1985, 1918 and 1941.  In the alternate time periods the people in her 1985 life are still there--her brother, Nathan, and others but her life is radically different in each.  As her treatments end, which year will she stay in?       

My review: The last chapter of this book saved it for me.  I really liked the year Greta ultimately chose and  the reason for it.  Until then, I was ambivalent about the book.  It was a quick read, thus the reason I stayed with it.  Of course, it was also a nice change from the "was it a suicide or not" genre I had been stuck in.

Book Review: Reconstructing Amelia

Title: Reconstructing Amelia: A Novel
Author: Kimberly McCreight
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: A Manhattan lawyer in the middle of an important meeting gets a call that her 15 year old daughter has just been suspended from school and needs to be picked up.  The single mom leaves to pick up her daughter only to find out when she gets to school that her daughter is dead from suicide.  A mysterious text message suggests that she didn't commit suicide but was actually pushed.  This leads the grieving mom to investigate and uncover the terrifying bullying her daughter was going through before her death.

My review:  I seem to be reading a lot of books lately about either Manhattan or suicides that aren't.  One of the next books I'll be reviewing is about the latter, but I need a break from suicides that are murders.  Anyway, I'm still working out my rating system.  I liked this book a lot.  Does this mean it gets 4 stars?  Or 5?  If I give it 4, I might have to re-rank one of my previous 4 stars to a 3.  Oh the conundrums of a reviewer.  I don't want to give out too many fives, you know?

Anyway, the book. Amelia is the girl that dies.  She went to an expensive high school in Brooklyn and was tapped to be in a secret club.  I have a weakness for stories about rich people and the spoiled and entitled people they spawn.  But this was also a story about a single mom and her teenage daughter and how they basically grew up together.  Their relationship wasn't perfect, but I liked how close they were--it was them against the world.  The mom is devastated to learn of her daughter's death, as any mom would.  The bullying aspect was horrific, but unfortunately it wasn't too far off of some real-life bullying stories that have been in the media the last few years.  The book ends about as well as one could expect it to--the mom finds out the truth but of course it won't bring her daughter back. 

Book Review: The Exiles

Title: The Exiles: A Novel
Author: Allison Lynn

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: Nate and Emily and their young son escape from the pressures of Manhattan to make a new start in Newport, RI.  Their first weekend in Newport starts poorly and leads to revelations from both of them that makes them both wonder if they really know their partner as well as they thought they did.  And are the discoveries about their partner deal-breakers?

My Review:  For some reason I kept thinking the title of this book was The Ex-Files.  This book was good but it wasn't great.  Here's what I did like: 

1. The Newport location.  Who doesn't like Newport?

1. The idea of how Manhattan just isn't affordable for a "regular" couple.

1. The lack of closure that one of the characters has to deal with at the end of the book.

If you like books about relationships, then you'll like this book.  It's not going to win any literary awards, but I like the idea that just when you think you know your partner really well, you find out that you don't.  But it's what you do with the information that determines how you'll do as a couple in the future.

Book Review: Night Film

Title: Night Film: A Novel
Author: Marisha Pessl
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars 

Summary:  The daughter of a reclusive film director is found dead in an abandoned warehouse, presumably by suicide.  A disgraced reporter is intrigued by the daughter's death and investigates further. 

My Review:  I have to admit, I didn't realize until after I got this that this was the same woman that wrote Special Topics in Calamity Physics.  I couldn't finish Special Topics, so if I realized it was the same author, I probably wouldn't have read it.  Fortunately, I didn't realize this until I was already reading this book. 

I loved this book.  It was suspenseful and scary.  This is one of those books that you'd read before bed and you wouldn't want to put down.  The book was interspersed with "real" articles about the author and her daughter.  I got the sense that the Kindle version is more interactive, which would be cool to see.

Did you read it?  What did you think?