Prospect Park West by Amy Sohn

As I was walking to the checkout desk in the library, I noticed this on a shelf.

I've never been to Park Slope or Prospect Park. But I've heard of the area, haven't we all? The place where people like to take strollers into bars -- because all babies deserve to be exposed to alcohol! Weird. Also, I know of a guy who got married, moved to Park Slope and disappeared. He was a bit of a jerk, and a liar, so it amuses me greatly to picture him, overweight and sloppy (he sort of already was) walking through the park with his frumpy wife, pushing a stroller with a screaming, messy kid in it -- just like the people in this book.

I thought this book was hilarious. It's about four women, all mothers living near Prospect Park. They're obsessed with their addresses, and more importantly, their school zones. There's Karen, the crazy mom who puts knee pads on her kid before he plays on the playground because, you know, children should never have skinned knees. (Parents like this are why kids are so messed up -- I'm a teacher, I've seen the damage first hand.) She's obsessed with finding property in the "right" school zone and she's trying to get pregnant again. She's also stalking one of the celebrities on the block.

Melora was a child star, now married to a handsome Australian actor and raising their adopted child. She's also a drug addict, and struggling to hold onto her career, and not all that interested in being a mom. And yet, I probably liked her a bit more than some of the other women in this story.

Lizzie was a lesbian -- a hasbian is what she calls herself -- until she married a guy in a band. He's always on the road, leaving her alone with their son. She's not as status conscious as the other moms and doesn't seem to fit in with the crowd at the playground. But she's so happy when she thinks she meets a normal mom - Rebbecca.

Rebbecca hasn't had sex since her one and half year old daughter was born, and that's pretty much all she thinks about. She's so self absorbed. Her husband won't go near her because she's mean and insanely jealous of the attention he gives their daughter. She's a horrible person and gets worse as the book continues.


These women are all messed up in some way. There's women are pathetic and damaged. But reading about their troubles was amusing to me. In fact, it gives me a sense of superiority to read this and be so very glad that I don't have their problems.


I liked the book. Granted, it's not great literature, but it was entertaining. I got through the book quickly, not wanting to put it down at night. As I described it to someone, I equate reading things like this to watching Real Housewives on Bravo. I know it's wrong, but they make me laugh. Sometimes, it's okay to indulge in our guilty pleasures.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Girl Who Played with Fire, and Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Rather than write a separate post for each book, I'm just writing one for all three. It's a long one, and it's mostly me gushing over the books. But I don't want to say too much for fear of giving something away.

When I imagine Lisbeth Salander, I automatically hear the Mission Impossible music playing or maybe something from the Matrix soundtrack, something that sounds big and powerful, and I see her walking forward, calmly, steadily, a bullet in her head, blood on her face, a weapon in her hand, her shirt is torn, her arms are scraped up, but she remains invincible as she leaves behind a trail of destruction in her wake. I see towering flames, buildings falling and explosions going off behind her, but none of it fazes her in the least. She’s done with that shit, she’s moving on to the next bastard who needs his ass kicked.

My image of Salander is based only on the books. I plan to watch the first movie later tonight, but I wanted to write my review of the books first because I don’t want the movie to influence what I write.

This morning I finished reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. It’s the third in the Millennium series, or The Girl Trilogy, as I’ve seen it called. The series that begins with Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, continues into Girl Who Played with Fire and ends with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.

I have been so engrossed in the world created by these books. There are times it’s all I can think about it. When I wasn’t reading, I was wishing I was reading – more so than normal. I just wanted to get back to the books. When I went to sleep, I dreamed about this world – and that wasn’t such a good thing. But I was that sucked in.

Difficult to believe that I avoided these books for so long.

I’ve been hearing about these books for a while. It’s not possible to walk into a bookstore or past any sort of book display without seeing them. But I wasn’t going to get sucked into the hype. I really didn’t have any interest in reading them. I could try to come up with a sensible reason as to why I didn’t want to read them – over exposure, not wanting to follow the crowd, too violent. But the truth is, I’m very particular about the crime novels I read. I tend to only read crime novels by women. In fact, I tend to only read books by women and anytime I read something by a man, I often find I regret it. I didn’t want to read these books because they were written by a man. Call it reverse sexism or whatever, but there it is.

As I was getting ready to leave for a two week trip to Europe, I became desperate to find a book to read on the trip. I would be spending lots of time on planes and trains and I’m the type that always has to have a book with me. I needed something that wouldn’t take up too much space, wasn’t too heavy, but would last for a while. I needed something interesting, and I wanted something European.

So I gave in to the Swedish crime novels that have topped the bestseller lists. If that many people loved the book, then it couldn’t be that bad. Also, I’d become more curious about the books after reading an article about the author in Vanity Fair. Most importantly though, the book would fit in my purse.

I ended up not reading it on the plane. I flew first class and had my own entertainment video system, so I watched movies the entire trip. When I ended up reading it was on the underground in London. Tip for solo travelers: always take a book. If you’re sitting there reading, you look like you know where you’re going, what you’re doing, and not like a lost, lonesome tourist.

The first book is very slow in the beginning. Lots of background and legal info. I think it took about 130 pages before I really felt like I was absorbed into the book. I was on the train from London to Paris when it happened.
I carried that book all over Paris with me, not realizing that the Millennium 2 movie poster I passed in the metro every day was for a movie based on Girl Who Played with Fire.

I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on my last night in Paris. I thought I’d be able to pick up a copy of the sequel at the airport. The books were all over London. But the Paris airport – at least the section I was in – is a horrible place. I finally found a display of “foreign” books. They had about ten books in English, one of the books was Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. But Girl Who Played with Fire couldn’t be found. Luckily, I had another book to read on the plane from Paris to Boston. In the Boston airport, the first thing I did was find a bookstore and buy a copy of the sequel. I think I paid more for that book than I’ve ever paid for a paperback, probably more than I’ve ever paid for a hardback. But I wanted it right then so that I could read it on the plane back to Dallas. Then I promptly fell asleep after the plane took off. Typical.

Reading the books has almost felt like taking another trip across the ocean.

What I absolutely loved about the books is the character of Lisbeth Salander. She’s everything a person wants to be and should strive to be. She’s brilliant and strong and doesn’t give a damn about what anyone thinks of her. She’s in complete control of her emotions and actions. When someone hurts her or someone she cares about, she goes after that person. But not in a blind rage, she puts together an effective strategy and carefully puts it into place. She believes in taking responsibility for every action, never making excuses. She had a horrible childhood filled with abuse and torture and bureaucratic mishaps and she survived it all and made herself stronger as a result of it.

She's described as being 4’11” and thin, and yet she never backs down from a fight against someone bigger than her. To me, she is the perfect mixture of action and intellect. She does just as much, or more, fighting with her mind. I can’t remember the last time I loved a character this much. I can’t stop thinking about her, and am so sad that the series is over.

As I said, I initially avoided these books because I tend to not read books written by men. With that attitude, I was pleased to discover that the female characters in this series were, for the most part, strong women. The series is filled with women who care about their careers and their families, women who don't simper in a corner and wait for a man to save them, women who aren’t afraid to fight back. When a character calls for a body guard, it’s a woman that shows up to handle the job. The two toughest police officers in the story happen to be women. Also, the men who have problems with these women are viewed as complete idiots. It is clear that these books were written by a man who respected women, understood the kinds of adversity women often face, and did not in any way regard them as the weaker sex. It breaks my heart to know that there won’t be any more books written by him. (The author died after writing the third book. Supposedly, there is part of a fourth book written and maybe an outline for up to ten books.)

I read somewhere that the original title for the first book is something along the lines of Men Who Hate Women. I’m glad they changed it, because I like that the focus is put on Salander, but at the same time, the first title makes sense. The villains in the story are pure evil and sadistic and their cruelty is directed at women.

I have to admit, there was one scene that was so horrible, I very seriously considered setting the book down in the seat next to me on the Paris metro and leaving it there. I felt ill and stopped reading and looked around me, horrified by what I’d read. Of course, I realized no one around me knew what I’d just read. I didn’t think I could continue reading the book. I like my crime novels to be more intellectual, less physical. But I knew if I left the book there, I’d be wondering what happened next, so I kept reading. The horror was balanced by the brilliant way in which Salander sought her vengeance. I realized that what happened had to be that horrible in order to show the extent of Salander’s determination. Still, consider yourself warned.

I think the second book probably moved the quickest. I found parts of the third book slow, again it was because of extensive, but necessary background information. Once I got through that, the action picked up again. I had a few issues with one of the characters - Berger. I thought the author went overboard with describing her insatiable sexual needs. But, then again, I am something of a prude. Also, in the third book, I felt like the storyline involving Berger got in the way of the main storyline. He sort of tied it all together, but I think the book would have been fine without it. At this point in the series I was really disliking this character and just wanted her to go away.

Overall, though, I can’t remember the last time I got this excited about a series of books -- probably when I was reading books 1-4 of the Harry Potter series. I’m disappointed that despite the books’ popularity, it seems no one I know has read them, so I have no one to discuss them with. I could go on for hours and as lengthy as what I’ve written is, I cut out a couple of pages. (Not kidding.) So if anyone would like to borrow my books, feel free, then we can get together for dinner and discuss them.

The Believers by Zoe Heller

A friend of mine mentioned this book in her facebook status. She recommended it with a warning for those sensitive to stories about dysfunctional families. Hmmm... sounds right up my alley.

What I liked about this book, is what I liked about the other Zoe Heller book I've read (Notes from a Scandal). She has a knack for creating complex characters. They're real people, not good or bad, just people, trying to do the best they can to get through the day. She lets her readers into her characters' heads and provides an understanding as to why they do and say the things they do.

This particular story is about a family in which the father has just suffered a stroke. The story isn't necessary about the father's stroke, but rather begins at that point. Then the reader learns about the mother and the two daughters and their adopted son. I suppose the best way to describe this book is that it's about a family and the different personalities that make up a family. It's about the difficult interactions between parents and siblings. Everyone is searching for meaning in their own way - through work or religion or politics or relationships or most likely some sort of combination of those elements.

The family was very politically minded, the father a well-known lawyer fighting for social justice. His wife stood proudly by his side, her identity tied closely to his. They raised their children to think and believe as they did. One daughter went to Cuba and then decided to devote herself to helping young girls in New York City and another married an important man in a union. But both begin to realize they aren't satisfied in their lives. Maybe because they were living the lives their parents told them to live, and not the lives they wanted.

As adults the children are beginning to question their beliefs and trying to figure out what is real and what works for them.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the daughters. I felt so close to them and wanted so much for them to find happiness. I thought the mother was a bit horrible, but I think she truly believed in the life she'd left, which I assume is where the title comes from. She believed and wanted her family to do the same. The family was very opposed to religion, but in a way, created their own religion in their home. But with their leader -- their father -- gone, the foundation of this "religion" begins to crumble. Their reality becomes an illusion as the truth emerges.

I do recommend this book. It's an interesting, well-written story.

Chameleon's Shadow by Minette Walters

Minette Walters is one of my favorite authors. I like her books that include strong, tough women. This book had a bit of that with the character of Jackson, but not as much as her other books.

This is the story of Charles, a solider who returns home with a disfigured face. He ends up linked to several violent crimes. Luckily for him, Jackson, a doctor, who is also part owner of the pub where he gets drunk and gets in a fight, takes pity on him. Without her assistance, Charles would have ended up in jail, with no way to defend himself.

I really liked the character of Jackson. But the story had so many coincidences that it became a little difficult to believe. Some of the conclusions they arrive at about the effects of abuse seemed a little far out. I don't want to give away what happened, but it was weird.

This book was okay, but not anywhere near Walters best work.

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

I really liked Nick Hornby's Long Way Down, so when I saw this on the new release shelf at the library, I picked it up. A story about a musician, a person obsessed with that musician, and that person's girlfriend. Being that I love music and know a bit about people being obsessed with music, I thought the story sounded interesting.

First there's Duncan, the fan who spends all his time obsessing over this musician, Tucker Crowe, and communicating with other obsessed fans on a message board. If you've ever visited an online forum for a band, you've seen these people. They analyze everything, each lyric and guitar chord. They know setlists and cities and dates and anything and everything that has to do with the musician. Duncan's girlfriend Annie has been with him for years. It's on a trip to America, while visiting Tucker Crowe-associated sites, that Annie begins to realize she's growing tired of Duncan and his obsession. She's beginning to think she wants more out of life. She's comfortable with Duncan, but she's longing for something more than simple comfort.

One day, while going through the mail, she opens a package for Duncan. It's a CD called Juliet, Naked. It's a stripped down version of Crowe's CD, Juliet. This version is simply demos and unfinished tracks. Much to Duncan's horror, she listens to the CD before he gets home.

After listening to the CD, Duncan posts a long review on his message board, claiming Juliet, Naked is the greatest thing he's ever heard. Annie, having listened to the CD before Duncan, posts a response saying that it's ridiculous and insulting to claim these unfinished tracks are better than the studio production. Clearly a lot of work went into the finished piece, and to claim the "naked" version is superior is to disregard all that work.

Much to Annie's surprise she receives a Private Message from someone agreeing with her response and claiming to be Tucker Crowe.

The story that follows is about Annie and Duncan splitting up and Annie's online flirtation with Tucker Crowe. Annie is trying to figure out what she wants in her life, as is Tucker Crowe.

I enjoyed this book. It's a funny story and the characters are likable and real. As with Hornby's other books, the story moves quickly.

I thought the ending was a little too sappy, but overall, I do recommend this book, especially to music fans.

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

I read this book because I was curious about the movie. It sounded interesting, but I don't know that I really ever understood what it was about. A married couple who wanted more out of life. They were going to be different - "revolutionary."

I just happened to see the book on a shelf at the library and decided to check it out.

I so wish I hadn't.

I didn't like this book at all. The couple were two extremely selfish, arrogant people. They were convinced they were better than everyone else. Completely and totally convinced. And yet, I never learned anything about them to convince me that they were smarter or more attractive or at all better than the people they seemed to despise.

The husband is so pleased that he manages to do nothing at work. In fact, he is described as selecting the job because it was one of those big companies that no one would notice if he did nothing. We all hate our jobs at some point, and office jobs can be especially soul sucking, but we figure out ways to compensate for that. You either look for work that does have meaning, or you try to create a meaningful life outside of work. He's quite content to just brood about how boring his life his. How he deserves to live in Europe because life is better there.

His wife is equally horrible, convinced of her husband's brilliance and her own, by association with him.

His wife does at least make an attempt to do something to change their lives. She decides they're going to move to Europe. She's listened to her husband all these years and is convinced that is the cure. She starts making plans to get a civil service job of some sort. I didn't really understand that part. It seemed to be very easy for her to apply and get this job, despite the fact that she'd not worked in years.

But her action is, in a way, calling her husband's bluff. What is he going to do in Europe? He's not an artist or a writer or an inventor. How is he going to uncover his true potential in Europe? This is when you realize that all he wanted to do was complain. He never though moving would be a possibility, and now that it is, he's panicking. Also, at this point, he's finally starting to get involved in his office job and isn't sure he wants to leave.

The husband is such a jerk. He's always thinking about himself and how he looks and what impression he's leaving on others. Some of the descriptions of conversations between him and his wife were so bothersome. They never spoke to each other like two people who knew each other and cared about each other. He was always playing a role. I got so frustrated with them, why didn't they just talk to each other and tell each other how they were feeling.

These two people didn't love each other, they didn't even like each other. They liked the impression other people had of them. He was handsome and she was pretty and they liked the way they looked together.

Their plans to move fall apart because of their carelessness. The situation looks to only be worsening and April again finds herself trying to make things better. I suppose the ending is sad, but I disliked the characters so much I didn't care all that much.

finished reading: June 15, 2010

Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman

I like the way Hoffman interjects bits of magic into seemingly normal, every day stories. She does it so casually, in such a matter of fact way, that a reader almost believes that magic must exist around us, just as it does in Hoffman's books. At least that's what I choose to believe and I suppose these books seem to validate my own beliefs. There are fairies hovering in the window, demons hiding in the corners, pure thoughts create pure action, just as anger conjures evil.

The Story Sisters: A Novel is about three sisters in New York City who also have family in Paris that they visit. Their parents split up and their lives begin to fall apart. They try to cope by creating a magical world of their own, their own language and magical creatures. But then something truly horrible happens to one of the sisters and sets her on a path of self destruction. The magic created with her sisters loses its power and she turns to harsh reality of theft and drugs and sex.

I understand that we're supposed to feel sympathetic toward Elv because what happened was very bad and this is her way of coping. But she did terrible things to her family. She was so self-absorbed and didn't seem to care about who she was hurting. I hated her. As a reader, I knew that she'd had this bad experience (something the other characters in the story didn't know) but I still didn't feel sorry for her. She didn't seem tough, she seemed pathetic. Her actions ended up ruining the lives of the people who loved her the most. Any time someone tried to help her, she did her best to hurt that person more.

It's a very sad book, one tragedy after another. To some extent it seemed like too much. These sisters did nothing to deserve such a horrible life and yet things kept getting worse for them.

What I did like about the book though was the scenes in Paris. One of the sisters, Claire, goes to Paris to try to get away from the sadness. Her grandmother is there, and all of her grandmothers friends provide the support system that she needs to move on with her life. I loved the descriptions of Paris and the different colors in the sky. I thought of that on my recent trip to Paris, and I noticed the colors in the sky, the pink and orange and yellow as the sun sets in the evening. Also, when I walked around some of the neighborhoods, I noticed the little glass figures in the windows of shops and I thought of Claire's creations.

There's a hint of happily ever after in the end. The bad sister seeking redemption and I suppose we're expected to view her as a recovered person, but I felt too wary based on her past actions. I couldn't forgive, even if the rest of her family did.

I suppose I liked the book, without liking all of the characters.

finished reading a bit before 5 a.m. on Feb. 7, 2010

Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

An employee at Borders recommended this book. I told my book club about it and we decided to read it.

This is a story about a little girl who doesn't speak. She's a selective mute. She can speak, but she won't. She and her friend disappear one morning and the novel is about the family and law officers attempt to figure out what happened and find the children.

It's been a while since I read this, so I don't remember the exact details. I remember that the story held my interest. I didn't find it boring. But I also remember that the storyline seemed to get a little absurd. There were several villains in this story, and one seemed to appear near the end and wasn't really tied to the rest of the story. I don't want to give away spoilers, but I thought it seemed a bit odd.

What mostly stands out to me though is the mother in the story. There are few things that annoy me more than the sympathetic treatment of a neglectful mother. The mother in this story is portrayed as so pretty and so innocent and so abused and weak. All the men want her, even if just to make sure the other men can't have her. She made me so angry, and I don't think that was the author's intention. As I was reading this though, I felt like the mother was largely to blame because she should have gathered her children and gotten the hell out of the abusive situation in which they lived. She had family and friends who would have helped her, but she instead chose to be dependent on a man who beat her.

It was an okay book. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. I didn't like the characters very much. I even found the little girl annoying. Maybe it's just my general dislike of small town, rural life and their different value system that annoyed me. I'm a city girl and I like reading about people in cities.

Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs

I am a huge fan of the TV show, Bones. Bones is based on the life of Kathy Reichs, who writes a series of books about a character named Temperance Brennan. If you watch the show, you may have noticed that in the show, Temperance (Bones) is a novelist, who writes a series of books about a character named Kathy Reichs. Anyway... Deja Dead is the first book in the Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brenan series. I'm always looking for a good mystery novel, and a great series to dive into would be especially nice, so I decided to start with this book.

I liked the story well enough. But the character of Temperance is so, so different from the character on the show. In the book, she lives in Canada and she's a recovering alcoholic and divorced with a grown daughter. She seems tired and weary and sad. She seems to be missing a lot of the traits that I love about the character on the show. On the show, Bones doesn't care about dating, she's not worried about her family, she's too involved in work to pay attention to anything else.

If I could view this book as something completely separate from the show, I may have liked it more. But I was a little disappointed. Also, I felt there were some weird coincidences. She happens to be helping out on a case and then, oh look at that, the killer is also stalking her because he happens to have newspaper articles about her in his house. I remember thinking that was odd because he would have had to have targeted her before he had any clue that she would be involved. I was also bothered that the criminal was able to get so close to her, and there seemed to be a lot of physical violence. I think I've said before, I'm more drawn to the intellectual investigations, less direct involvement with the killers.

I wanted to like this book so much that I would felt compelled to read the rest of the series. But I didn't feel that. I may read the other books, but I didn't feel the need to rush out and get the second book.

Finished reading Jan. 18 around 4 a.m.

Disquiet by Julia Leigh

I selected this book because I like the title and the cover is beautiful. Probably not the best of reasons, but so be it.

A woman and her two children show up at her mother's home in France. Around this same time, the woman's brother and his wife and their dead baby show up. Gradually, through bits of dialogue and her interactions with others, the reader discovers the circumstances that led to her return home, as well as hints about her future plans.

I liked the book. It's a very short novel, a novella, I guess. A quick read about a family in France. I liked the style in which this was written. There are not any words wasted explaining the setting or background. The events are described, and it's up to the reader to figure out the back story. Once the full story is pieced together, the reader realizes in just a few words, there is a lot happening, or rather, a lot has happened that is currently affecting these characters.

I liked the atmosphere created in the book. It felt dark and moody: a French chateau; family secrets; mischievous children; sad, disappointed family members.

Overall, an interesting read. I enjoyed it, a nice way to spend an evening. Planning to read more by this author.

Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

A friend, who knows me fairly well though she hasn't known me for very long, recommended I read this book. The fact that she felt it would resonate with me exemplifies how well she knows me.

This is the story of Helen and her relationship with her mother, and way that relationship has effected Helen in other aspects of her life.

The title comes from her father telling her that her mother is there, they just can't see all of her. Like the moon? asks Helen, we know it's there, but sometimes it's hidden.

The novel begins with Helen killing her mother and continues with her trying to figure out what to do next and remembering the events in her life that led her to her mother's death.

Her mother suffers from some form of mental illness though there is no indication that she was ever diagnosed or treated. Whatever her mother's problem, whether real or imagined, the result is that she's controlling and cruel. She does all she can to convince her daughter that no one could ever love her except for her. She expects her husband and child's world to revolve around her. She's weak outside of the home, but in complete control while inside.

The damage she inflicts on Helen is deep and lingering. Helen grows up, goes away to college, has a husband and children, all in her attempt to be normal, to have a life that didn't revolve around her mother. But eventually she loses all of that. She doesn't finish college, her marriage ends, and she returns to live in a home near her parents, supported by her father's money. Just as her mother wanted, she becomes her whole world.

This book is very well-written, hard to put down. Helen embarks on one shocking event after another, having no clue as to what she should do next. It paints what I would imagine to be, a very real picture of what goes through someone's mind when something so startling happens. Helen didn't perform a cold, calculated murder. Her actions were impulsive and she doesn't know what to do to remedy what's she's done. The characters are baffled by the events, not sure how one is supposed to behave following a murder.

I've only glanced at other reviews of this book, and noticed a lot of negative comments. I think that's because the book concerns a very harsh subject, a situation that is foreign to most people. I don't mean murder, we've all read plenty of murder stories, but rather the idea of a mentally disturbed mother. For some people, a relationship such as the one between Helen and her mother is too absurd to imagine. Oh, to be one of those people...

Despite being so engrossed in the story, there were times when I needed to set the book down and take a break because of the intensity of the story. There were moments that hit very close to home. Everyone says they have a "crazy" mother, but as I got older I realized that people have different definitions of crazy. Not everyone's mother belittles then and tries to destroy their self-confidence, not everyone's mother says mean hateful things to their children, or makes us stories to try to cause problems in their other relationships, or writes anonymous letters calling them whores. When I got older, I was surprised to learn that some people had mothers who actually provided emotional support and encouragement. At the age of 33, that still seems like a novel concept to me: a kind, caring mother.

Most of all though, I sympathized with Helen's attempts to get away. Hers failed. I find myself in that position, trying to escape and feeling like the world can come tumbling down with a crazy phone call, or -- because I had to quit answering my phone -- a crazy email. I find myself angry and wondering why I'm not allowed to live my own life, why I've had to spend so much of my life compensating for my mother's mental instability. Unlike Helen though, I have made the decision to never have a family out of fear of replicating the only example I had. Even though I know this story is fiction, Helen's failed attempt at having a family seems to validate my own beliefs.

My only issue with the book though was the ending. There was so much buildup and so much happening, then the book just ends. I felt like the story wasn't finished, that if anything, the real action had just started. I wanted to know what happened next, but the book was over.

Life of Pi

My book club selected this book to read. I'd had it sitting by my bed for the past two years and several times I attempted to read it, but got distracted by something I considered more interesting.

I enjoyed the book. I didn't love it. A lot of people that I know absolutely love the book. I found it interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning when Pi is experimenting with different religions and is participating in three different ones, much to his modern, secular-minded father's horror.

But then Pi's family decides to move to Canada. Pi's father owned a zoo, and he's sold most of the animals to other zoos in America, so they're on a boat filled with animals when the boat sinks. Pi and a tiger named Richard Parker survive. This is when the real story begins. The book details Pi's attempts to survive on this boat in the middle of the ocean with a tiger as his only companion.

In the beginning he fears the tiger, but eventually they come to depend on each other and he regards the tiger as his friend.

This book is steeped in symbolism and probably requires multiple readings, or as the case with me, a thorough discussion involving multiple viewpoints.

To me though, this was a story about the power of one's imagination, and the way a person learns to survive in extreme circumstances. When the world becomes too unbearable to survive, Pi creates a new world in which he can exist until his situation changes.

The Song Is You by Arthur Phillips

Before this book was even released, I read all sorts of glowing reviews about it. Beautiful writing, observational wit, a man and his iPod, a man who connects to his music, etc.

I like music, I was lured in by the reviews. I checked it out from the library as soon as it was released.

Let me just begin my review by saying I think this is a terrible book. And here is why I think this is a terrible book:

A man going through a mid-life crisis, who is disappointed with everything about his life, becomes obsessive about music. He falls for a young singer at a bar and begins to stalk her. There is nothing beautiful or romantic about this. He starts sending her emails and following her around, taking photos, he travels to Europe to see her. Creepy. And the worst part, the part that makes it clear that this book is being written by a man wanting to live out his own fantasies through his characters -- is that rather than be concerned by this stalking, the singer is flattered and yearning to meet her stalker.

This is the kind of story that supports the idea that women like being stalked, that we're flattered by obsessive creeps and invite the idea of being assaulted.

If this was the story of a woman stalking a male musician the woman would be considered crazy and delusional and fit for an institution.

When women write stories like this, about following around men they adore and then have their attention returned, the writing is dismissed as "chick lit." But when a man writes this kind of drivel, he's considered "one of the greatest writers of our time." I think not. I'm going to label this as "dick lit." This is nothing more than a man writing about his fantasies of hooking up with a young woman -- in this particular case, a talented, famous young woman. And just to make this nice and neat, after it becomes certain the young girl wants him, he decides to return to his wife and continue living a nice, normal life. Convenient. Gag. Wish I'd not wasted my time reading this book.

Marley and Me

I watched the movie before I read the book, so I knew what was going to happen. But still, there I was on the airplane, sitting next to a stranger, crying uncontrollably, trying to wipe the tears away with the stupid, weak little airplane napkin they give you along with your drink.

If you've ever loved and lost a dog, then I suspect you can relate to this story.

I really liked this book.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield

For my book club, we read Sittenfield's book Prep. I hated it, absolutely hated it. The main character was so weak, so desperate to please and be wanted. The explicit sex in the book was so awkward, which I suspect was appropriate considering the subject matter -- confused teenagers fucking.

But I was curious about Sittenfield's fictionalized take of Laura Bush.

Surely we all had moments where we wondered what Laura Bush thought about her husband and his policies. Was she angry, sad, encouraging, proud? Impossible to know behind the frozen expression on her face. The robot wife.

Some chose to believe that she must not approve. She's a woman who claims to love books and libraries. How can she stand by a man who so strongly disapproves of education and instead represents the antithesis of advancement through education?

No one understands the makings of a marriage except the two people involved. As viewers on the outside, we've no right to judge. But that doesn't mean we aren't at least curious.

After reading part of this though, I started feeling very angry for Laura Bush. Sittenfield has used some details about her life but added the same explicit sex that bothered me so much about Prep. Why would a person project those ideas onto the president's wife? Her intent could only be malicious. I doubt there was any sort of information to support what she wrote. The fact that she even thought this grossed me out.

I didn't finish reading the book. I tried reading the book, and then I listened to it on CD for a while during my daily commute, but one day I just quit because I realized I was bored.

Wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

Water's Lovely by Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell is one of my favorite writers and I'll read just about anything she writes.

This wasn't a favorite though. Family secrets and lies and unhappy relationships. The story was interesting enough, but it took me a long time to get through this book. I finally picked up a copy of the audiobook to listen to on a long drive over the holidays. I found the ending to be shocking and not necessary. The ending had nothing to do with the story, but was horrible and sad.

Breaking Dawn

This is the fourth book in the Twilight series. I was so anxious for it to come out. I pre-ordered it at Borders and I stood in line with all the teenagers to get my copy at midnight the day it was released.

I was getting on a plane to Paris the next day. I didn't like taking such a large book with me, but I was glad to have the reading material. (Especially since I ended up sitting next to someone who didn't speak English, and the video system didn't work. That's right, ten hours in a plane with no TV - and it's nearly impossible for me to sleep on planes, especially at the beginning of the trip.)

I hated this book so much. And I felt so trapped with it. I couldn't discard the book because I had nothing else to read and nothing to watch and no one to talk to.

The book was absurd, filled with coincidences and convenient twists. Everything that had been said in the past books suddenly no longer held true. Becoming a vampire is a terrible process -- but oh wait, now it's suddenly simple and easy! Vampires can't have children. Well, this time they can! Just this once. Children are difficult and require a lot of work -- except for this one. She's special, grows at a rapid rate and is talking and walking in weeks. Brilliant! If the vampires in charge get angry, they'll show up and kill the people that angered them -- unless you talk a whole lot, then they'll just say okay and go back home.

As much as I defended the first three books and said they aren't harmful to teenage girls, I feel the exact opposite about this book. Never, never tell a teenage girl that having unprotected sex and an unplanned pregnancy will turn out all wonderful and happy. The author could have used this opportunity to make a statement, at least show the new parents struggling to figure out how to raise a child for which they were not prepared.

And the bit with Jacob. I almost forgot about that because it was so disgusting I've tried to block it out of my mind. Jacob is a pedophile. Nice. No, not nice, gross. So all you Team Jacob-ers, be ready, your guy is disgusting.

I hated this book. I'm angry that I wasted quality reading time trapped with this book. I wish I had never read it, then I could have gone on enjoying this series. But this book ruined it. I always tell people to avoid this book. But of course, it's the last book in a series, so they're going to read it, and in most cases, they will later with they hadn't.

Then We Came to an End by Joshua Ferris

It's been a while since I read this book, I fell behind on my book reviews, but here's what I remember...

Do you watch the movie, Office Space, and the TV show, The Office, and laugh hysterically because it's so ridiculous and true? You laugh because you lived it, and you survived, or are surviving it, and you have to laugh to keep from crying?

I spent nine years in an office. I started making plans to leave about seven years in, and around that time, things started to fall apart. Moving in new directions, relocations, etc. It worked out well for me, around the time I was ready to leave, the company was ready to be rid of us, so I waited for the severance package. We all did okay.

It was after I'd been away from the office for a while that I found this book at the library. As is often the case, it was the title that attracted me. I thought it was a tragic love story. But instead it's the story of an office and what happens in an office when a group of people work together every day. It's about the way their unique, individual personalities mesh and collide. In this particular case, it is about what happens in such an office when the economy takes a hit, and downsizing begins - which explains the title.

As I was reading this, I thought, this person must have worked at the same company I worked. I did some research, thinking of all the wanna-be writers at our news distribution service. I was unable to find any connections, and it was then I realized that all offices, for the most part, are very much the same. It doesn't matter if they are distributing news or paper or plastic, in the end, it's all the same.

The story rang so true. I could match the characters with characters from my own experiences in the corporate world. It was funny and it was sad because that's what real life is.

I've recommended this book to all of my former co-workers, though I don't think any of them took me up on the recommendation. It's an enjoyable read, if only for nostalgic purposes. I don't know that I'd find it so humorous if I was still in that situation.

And here's the website that accompanied the book, which I found to be amusing: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/twctte/twctte_022307/index.html

Sundays at Tiffanys by James Patterson

A sad little girl has an imaginary friend named Michael. Years later, as an adult -- who is still tormented by her overbearing mother -- Michael returns to her life. They fall in love and live happily ever after.

But no explanation is ever provided as to how this is possible. Why is Michael suddenly real and no longer imaginary? Am I expecting too much to want to know this?

I was drawn to this book because -- well, how can I put this without sounding a little off? -- I'm a big believer in imaginary friends. I exist almost entirely within my head. I gave up on real, human relationships long ago. I couldn't handle the disappointment. I became attached too easily and broken too completely. As a child, I created a group of people to befriend me because I didn't have the social skills to make real friends. As an adult, while I'm sane enough to realize imaginary friends are indeed imaginary and not real, I keep them alive by writing about them. I never give much thought to my real world surrounding, I'm too busy focusing on my fictional people. I tell myself someday I'll put the story together, call it a novel and turn it into my livelihood, but honestly, I think I just keep the characters going because without them, I'd be alone, completely and totally alone.

I can write this because the few people I know who read this already know that I'm, well, how did I describe it earlier? ... a bit off.

Anyway, point being, I had hoped this book would further explore the idea of people depending on imaginary friends. I needed an explanation. I'd assumed that the story would be about someone who met a person who embodied everything she's once yearned for in an imaginary friend. But none of that happened. The imaginary friend had no explanation and he agreed that he was very much imaginary.

Very disappointing book.

The Next Thing on my List by Jill Smolinski

I enjoyed this book quite a bit.

I read about this book while reading a story about people making lists. I'm a big list maker. Books to read this summer, things to do before I turn 30 (that one passed a few years ago), places to visit, languages to learn, you get the idea.

This book is about a woman, June, drifting through her life. She's content enough, but doing only what she needs to do to get by. She meets a woman, Marissa, at a Weight Watchers meeting, they're in a car wreck and the woman dies. Later, a list is found in the car, "things to do before I turn 25" that belonged to the Marissa. June is well past 25, but she's struck by the list and the idea of Marissa having these goals, and not ever having the chance to fulfill them. It's been a few months since I've read the book, but if I recall correctly, while visiting the cemetery she runs into Marissa's brother and in an attempt to strike up a conversation with him and she tells him that she's decided to finish the list for Marissa.

What becomes apparent is that June has never had a list or a set of goals. As I said, she's drifted through life, letting life happen to her. For the first time ever, she's got a purpose and this changes her.

What I thoroughly enjoyed about the book was the manner in which it was written. June seemed like such a real character. In so many ways, unfortunately, I could relate to her -- settling in a boring job, living alone, drifting. I'm around her age, and constantly faced with the same realization that I stopped living my life years ago, just threw in the towel and decided I'd observe from the side. Throughout the book, she name drops bits of pop culture that reminds me that she's one of my contemporaries. Her surprise of Marissa's love for Trent Reznor, without providing a description of Trent Reznor ... women of a certain age and mindset know exactly what was meant, no elaboration needed, those older and younger, well, this book isn't really meant for them, is it?

Near the end of the book, I thought the storyline got a little bizarre. One item on the list was to change someone's life. She takes on a troubled teenager, and then possibly too caught up in the idea of goals and changing the world gets too involved with the teen, almost destroys her own life in her zeal to save this girl. It all works out in the end, but it seems a little too simple and neat.

In the end though, you feel that June has begun living with a purpose, and that's what matters. She'll never go back to drifting again. She's involved and present, no longer a neutral observer. And that's a whole lot more than I've been able to accomplish in my 32 years of life.

Overall though, I enjoyed the book and would readily recommend it to anyone in need of light, yet inspiring, read.