Jealousy

“Be scared you’re fat, be scared your boobs are too big and be scared they’re too small. Be scared to walk on your own, specially anywhere quiet enough that you can hear yourself think. Be scared of wearing the wrong stuff, saying the wrong thing, having a stupid laugh, being uncool. Be scared of guys not fancying you; be scared of guys, they’re animals, rabid, can’t stop themselves. Be scared of girls, they’re all vicious, they’ll cut you down before you can cut them. Be scared of strangers. Be scared you won’t do well enough in your exams, be scared of getting in trouble. Be scared terrified petrified that everything you are is every kind of wrong. Good girl.”  Truth.

18.14 The Secret Place

I love Tana French’s books, I've read them all and preorder them as soon as they have a release date.  I set aside everything else to read them as soon as they hit my hands, but this was not great. In fact, my husband is now reading her first and I wish I could trade places.

I liked the detectives as always, seeing Moran and Mackey (or whomever) returns again is always a thrill in her books, but the mystery was totally lacking. Maybe it was the fact that the entire book happens in the course of one day - minus flashbacks - but it all seemed too easy. Too dumb really. Usually I love the private school setting. I think taking kids away from their parents to see how the truly act is generally a great writing device but here it just seemed odd. The girls friendship was odd, the reasoning of both the girls and the detectives was odd, the big reveal was a let down, and the ending was unnecessary.  The questioning by police of these minors seemed like it shouldn’t be happening, and the flashbacks were more tedious than insightful. And was that magic going on or were they all delusional... I don’t even know.

I’ll certainly be back for her next but I’m starting to wonder whether her formula is being counted on for success more than it should be.

Burrrrrr

“We all do what we think is best. Sometimes we make terrible mistakes, sometimes we do the right thing.” Truth.

17.14 The Winter People

It has been so hot here, and for so long, I’m dying for cooler temps.  I want to wear jeans, use blankets, wrap up in sweaters, and this book brought me some of those much needed chills. It is creepy in a way that makes you want to be in a very large, open space. No woods or caves to be seen, or to be seen in.

What I loved most was how it spun a ghost story as well as a mystery; both well developed and well plotted. Plus, we shift between an old diary and present day action, which is my favorite.  There are some similarities to other stories that have come before but it is a quick and easy read that made me want to look for the author’s other work immediately. Not sure the last time that happened but it is certainly a welcome feeling. I just hope I can read the next one curled up on the couch with a hot cup of coffee instead of sweltering by the pool being splashed by wild children.

Ummm

“I’m the kind of person who would rather get my hopes up really high and watch them get dashed to pieces than wisely keep my expectations at bay and hope they are exceeded.” Truth.

16.14 Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

I am not a big fan of memoirs, - and if I do give you my reading time you better have done something pretty nasty to the Nazis – in general I’m not big on non-fiction, but this is why I joined a book club - forced expanding of my horizons.

I was excited for this book, it has been a long, hot summer and I was looking forward to some laughs. Unfortunately, I didn’t find them. While I’m truly trying to expand, I am a bit of a stickler about one thing in my reading: It should have purpose. Simply put, I didn’t find any here. There was barely a structure. A few of the essays were cute and might have gone somewhere but most seemed like starts without ends, and honestly seemed a bit like first drafts.

Mindy is most famous for her work on The Office, a show I enjoy, yet all that I learned from her writing of her experience was that she liked her co-writers and stole office supplies from set - these seem like no brainers as opposed to revelations to me. I don't work in show business, nor am I a comedy writer, so maybe the insight was lost on me... And as for the rest, I think I may just be too old.  In high school I worried what people were doing without me as well, but 20 years after the fact, not so much.

My Summer Of Re-Reading

It seems that I didn’t accomplish much this summer, and my brain was not in the reading (or any other) game anyway.  I read a few throw away books that I can’t even remember enough to write about, and then I did some rereading.

I read Gone Girl again for book club and have to say it was much more fascinating to watch Nick get set up knowing what was going to come next.  Our club discussion was interesting too, we all knew Amy was crazy but most people kind of felt like he had it coming, having read it twice I didn’t totally agree.  I feel like he was just scared to confront anything (his mom, his dad, Amy), like so many people are nowadays. I’m really looking forward to seeing this movie in October, which is funny because…

I also started to read the Harry Potter books over in preparation for reading them to my son soon, and a bit of the magic was lost in reading the story because I could see the movie so clearly in my mind.  It is one of the only cases I know where the stories and characters are just as widely known by nonreaders as by readers.  Now I have to work on my plan to keep my son from seeing them first…  Good luck, right?

So I feel very out of the reading loop and it makes me sad.  I’m hoping that the cooler weather and the joining of the book club can get me somewhere.

Until then, I present My Summer Reads:

“ ‘A bad beginning may still be a beginning.’”  Truth.

9.14 Dreams of Gods and Monsters

10.14 The Lincoln Lawyer

11.14 The Brass Verdict - Audiobook

12.14 The Leftovers – I read this before the show came out and found the show to be total rubbish.

13.14 Harry Potter 1

14.14 Gone Girl

15.14 Harry Potter 2

Mysterious Ladies

“There weren’t many people in this world who would let you be vulnerable and still believe you were strong.” Truth.

8.14 The Thousand Dollar Tan Line

I’m a Veronica Mars fan, I backed the Kickstarter movie, and I read this book in two days.  Clearly, we have a history and I honestly have no idea how people would react to the book without the background I already had going in, but I enjoyed the book a lot as a fan, a lot more than the movie actually.  The mystery here is much more solid, as is the detective work, and thus the Veronica character.  The movie was so busy getting every cameo possible squeezed in that the entire plot failed a bit. 

The book takes up exactly where the movie leaves off, Keith is still recovering and Veronica is still struggling with the decision to do what she feels like she needs to versus what she feels like she should, and, as fans of the show know, a conflicted Veronica is a snarky and sassy Veronica.  She is great when she is a little angry.  The mystery is a bit darker which fits with her more grown up world and there is even a twist I never saw coming.  Overall, it left me excited about where this possible avenue of continuing Veronica’s story can go.

Plus, brilliant move to initially print in paperback.  Why are not all publishers doing this now?  With all the distractions available to people now, are many still willing to pay more now for what you can get for less later?  Maybe it’s just me.

“Look.  There is only one of me, and it’s all I’ve got.” Truth.

6.14 The Haunting of Hill House

I read this book a while ago and decided to include it here because what I really took away from reading this horror story was the female characters.  I was kind of distracted from the plot because I kept remembering the movie version that came out a few years ago, but I was impressed with the quite modern relationships and lifestyles being portrayed without apology being that the book was first printed in 1959.

Bond, Gabriel Bond

“‘Remind me to never get on your bad side.’” Truth.

7.14 The English Girl

I think this is the 13^th book in the Gabriel Allon series, and I have read every one.  I know the characters from descriptions without needing names; I know where they have friend and where they have enemies.  I know that they fight the good fight against very bad guys, and I know that they basically do it the same way every time.  The Allon books are familiar and familiar is good, but sometimes familiar needs a bit of shaking.

As I started The English Girl I was a bit shocked to see things take a bit of a different route.  This is not the typical case that Allon is used for, and he goes it somewhat alone (even getting his hands dirty with an ex-foe).  And I liked that.  I liked him doing the actual work without having everything he needs at his fingertips, it was good to see why he is known for being so good at what he does, but I also wondered why he was doing it. Why did he care?  And when the plot takes a supposed shift – along with reverting back to the tried and true plot structure of books past – I still didn’t get why he would care.  Why would any of them really care?  I still don’t really get it. 

But what I do know is that seeing Allon in new circumstances was exciting, much more exciting than seeing him do again what he has always done before.  I mean, after a while we all know he is going to do it every time right?  Where’s the fun in that?

Bribery

“Before he lost his sight, the maester had loved books as much as Samwell Tarley did. He understood the way that you could sometimes fall right into them, as if each page was a hole into the other.” Truth.

5.14 A Feast for Crows

I came to the A Song of Fire and Ice series late.  I discovered it through a New Yorker article about how impatient George RR Martin’s fans are becoming for him to finish the series, and many fretting over the fact that he may die before he manages it.  I was amazed by the article and asked my brother who is a huge Fantasy fan if he had read the books.  He hadn’t… three weeks later he had and he was hooked.  So I decided to delve in. 

I have made no secret of the fact that I have grown tired of the new trilogy/series fad.  Mostly because I think it leads to over written ideas that really don’t need to be dragged out, and after finishing book four of the series I have hit true fatigue.  As I read, my attention wandered away from the story more often than not and I kept thinking that while I understand that Martin has created a world and characters that he loves, and I can understand why he wants to see where they may go and what they may do, that in the end I bet it was a pretty simple story he intended to tell.  I imagine that when he wrote that first book he knew how it all would end, but then got lost in all the planning and imagining and thus we end up with (supposedly) seven books that will, once complete, still bookend that same simple story line.  Is that a bad thing?  No necessarily.  He is a great writer and people love the books so have at it.  I just hope it finishes up at some point for those fans.

By the way, I had to bribe myself to finish this book with promising myself the purchase of the only book I have been really, really excited about in a long while. Very excited.

Best Laid Plans

"I watch her go, envying the certainty of her youthful confidence - the confidence of thinking that everything will go according to ones plans." Truth.

4.14 Arcadia falls

When I got back into reading, and began blogging, I never thought that I would lose my footing again. And then last year I lost all my footholds at once and I was shocked to see the salvation I had found in reading fade into the either of daily drudge. It also didn't help that my son stopped napping.

I made lists, I made stacks. I read the old blog posts to remind me how much the reading had helped me normalize the last time my life felt listless. I finally stormed through a book and thought I was cured only to languish again. In 2011, I read 67 books; in 2012, 23. My brain has felt the effects, and so has my soul.

As the 2014 started, I saw tweets about Goodreads already scolding participants of their reading challenge that they were behind. I'm not great at accepting scoldings but I thought joining the group might give me the right kind of push. I set my goal at 25 books, not lofty I know but I'm still feeling a bit fragile. And so far I am on track having just finished my fourth book - on track but certainly not burning up the highway - but what I love is that I am picking books based on the challenge instead of what I see going on in the reading world. Fact is, some books can be read in two days and not need to be anguished over and analyzed to death. So if I start falling behind it's time to pick something quick. Arcadia Falls fits that bill perfectly.

I read a lot of Carol Goodman when I was teaching high school. Mainly because a good escape was needed but also because the older girls liked to read them as well and I never recommended or lent out anything without reading it myself first. The blueprint here is the same as her others: Eastern boarding school, new teacher, some sort of literary mystery leads to a modern murder, final twist that I see coming a mile away. And a book read for my challenge in three days while feeling the awesome sensation of looking forward to finishing it.

Great literature it may not be, but turns out Goodreads doesn't judge.

Old School

This post disappeared but it was for Nancy Drew's The Bungalow Mystery.  This is what I said on Goodreads.

I picked this up at the library because it said it was the original story printed in 1930. I’m sure I read the 1957 reprinting.

The first page is basically a disclaimer from the publisher saying that readers may be “extremely uncomfortable” with the stereotypes and racial language used. I didn’t see any racial language in this particular story and while I was always impressed by Nancy when I read the books as a child, I had to laugh at the fact that she didn’t do any sleuthing to solve this particular crime. She instead overheard the bad guy, who conveniently spoke out loud to himself and detailed all of his plans. I know these are for younger readers – but come on!

3.14 The Bungalow Mystery

Good Golly Day

“To love anything once extremely well made you vulnerable to another loving attack.”  Truth.  But not so much here.

2.14 Flowers in The Attic

I saw a lot of people rereading this book in preparation for a new movie adaptation coming out on the Lifetime channel.  The movie promised to “go there” and so I saw a lot of readers my age going back to read something we had read as teens to see exactly where they were going to go.  I remembered reading this book and the rest in the series, but I mostly remember liking the Heaven series more.  So I decided to dive in and see how the book compared to the very vague memories – Just an FYI; making the movie for Lifetime should have been all I really needed to know.  Turns out I do remember some parts of the book vividly, mostly the talk of living so lavishly; and the romantic parts I remember turn out to be from the original film adaptation and not the actual book.  But what I really didn’t remember, but very much assumed, was how bad it all was.

The writing is plain bad.  Who says, “Good-golly day”? And quite frankly the dirty parts kind of run the gambit, all the couplings are questionable, not just he obvious, and the fact that the grandmother is set up as the villain is kind of ridiculous in light of the mother’s behavior.  Honestly, the whole thing is totally bizarre and I can’t believe it goes on for three more books.  I can’t even really imagine what I liked about it as a teenager, other than the fact that everyone was reading it.  But now I certainly know why my mother evoked the one piece of literature for every three pieces of trash policy in regards to my book buying.

Historical FanFiction

“It made him vividly aware that nothing was for ever; that pain had its tides, its pauses.” Truth.

1.14 Longbourn

I loved this book.  Reading it with my mom really helped me to get through and stick with it. making it the quickest I have finished anything in months.  And maybe that’s why I loved it so much – I really needed to read again. 

It is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice through the eyes of the downstairs help – basically a fancy fanfiction that falls into all the rage of the recent Downton fad.

I admit that the first third of the book felt like a pretty simple retelling:  We have a maid who likes two men, one who would be the “Wickham” and one who would be the “Darcy”, and so she must make the choice to stay in service or follow her dreams to travel and live unencumbered.  But then the story shifted away from all my assumptions and became a wonderfully heartfelt story about sacrifice and true family.  The additional details to the Pride and Prejudice characters were seamless and the two very different worlds of characters all living in Longbourn seemed perfectly placed and interestingly juxtaposed.  For all the pomp and circumstance of P & P you never really slow down to think of how all those balls and dinners are put together and it was nice to see that being slogged down by all those details didn’t make the characters doing them any less interesting, in many cases they were the better by far. 

If anything, this story was a bit harsh on our dear Bennets, but isn’t that the way life works?  No one really sees anything the same way.  Hence, fanfiction.  And boy oh boy, is the publishing world taking notice.