LIZ: BOOK #6

The End of the World As We Know It by Robert Goolrick

214 pages

Completed 1/31/10

Until page 160, this book seemed to just drone on. But at that point in this book, the author wakes up as a four year old boy being molested by his father while family members snore nearby. In fact, there was an entire chapter of just run-on sentences questioning 'how they went on.'

This memoir seemed to be a cathartic healing process for the author, rather than an entertaining memoir to the reader. In fact, "morbidly funny" are the words on the cover used by a critic to describe the book; this was anything but funny. Instead I found it sad; the putting-ons of appearance, the facade the family had built up, and the anguish of Goolrick throughout the years.

I feel like perhaps this book was more suited towards a male audience; an entire chapter was dedicated to male puberty, in a way that didn't seem necessary to the book, in my opinion. I have veered away from memoirs as of late because of their plainness; I should have done the same with this one, as well.

CeCe: BOOK #1

So, here it is... Finally!!! My first book review!!!

The Shack by William P. Young

256 pages

Completed 01/27/10

After reading this book, I felt accomplished and even a bit uplifted. I don't consider myself to be the religious type, but I am spiritual. Although this book was based around religious structure, I found it quite enlightening and would recommend it to anyone that has suffered a loss in life or faced adversity.

After his daughter Missy was abducted an killed, Mack (Mackenzie) basically withdrew himself from life and surrendered to depression. Years later, he receives an anonymous note inviting him back to place of his daughter's death: the shack. Determined to find out who wants him to go and why, he embarks on a journey that changes him forever.

Mack's weekend at the shack with his new found friends open up his mind and heart in a way never before. The religious references throughout the story were somewhat overwhelming, but equally enjoyable.

LIZ: BOOK #5

Thin Is the New Happy by Valerie Frankel

256 pages

Completed 1/26/10


Recently began a new workout and diet regime, and was inspired to pick this memoir up - mostly because of the cover. Guilty again. What I thought would be a comical journey through a lifetime of weight struggle stories actually turned out to be more of a self-help book; not my thing.

Being put on her first diet at 11 and feeling the thrill that came with being thinner, Frankel proceeds through the rest of her life ranging in size from 6 to 22 on and off a variety of diets, weight loss programs, denial, and obsession. Now in her forties with two daughters, Frankel decides to shed not pounds this time, but her obsessive behavior surrounding dieting and weight.

Frankel's quest to rid herself of her self-critical body obsession while tackling the root cause of it just didn't reel me in as I had hoped. More of a cathartic book for her it seemed, and equally boring for me.

LIZ: BOOK #4

Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

320 pages

Completed 1/14/10

This much anticipated sequel to 2000's Nanny Diaries failed to impress. I loved the original; the charming story of a 21 year old nanny to a four year old Grayer whose parents were like so many of New York City's hands-off workaholics. Nanny Returns picks up 13ish years later, with Nan returning to N.Y.C. with her Harvard Hottie - now husband - to a dilapidated fixer-upper, dire job prospects, and an absent said husband. Then, oddly enough, a 17 year old Grayer shows up, draws Nan back into his and his (unknown until this point) younger brother's lives. The same neglectful parenting style, the same inner conflicts, the same snobbish upper class.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, I really did. But the unlikeliness of it all - Nan's elderly grandmother still thriving, reconnecting with friends long since lost, a job falling into her lap - it was just such a stretch. This time around, and perhaps because I am more jaded 10 years after first beginning this series, Nan didn't pull at my heart strings. In fact, she seemed downright implausible. When the authors attempted to weave marital woes into the story, it seemed ridiculous, what with Harvard Husband being absent for 90% of the story.

What should have taken me a few days instead took a week to get through, if only because I was forcing myself to continue. I'd skip this one if you were a big fan of The Nanny Diaries, if only to keep the original story untouched in your memory.

LIZ: On My To-Read List

The following are the books I hope to get through this year. These are just the ones sitting on my bookshelf right now (I know, I think I may have a problem!) I am notorious for judging books by their covers, so chances are that not all of them will make the cut when I begin reading them.

• Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (the newly released, much-anticipated follow-up to The Nanny Diaries!)
• The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
• I'm Perfect, You're Doomed by Kyria Abrahams
• The Center of Winter by Marya Hornbacher
• Toast by Nigel Slater
• What Happened to Jordan? by Jennifer Toth
• Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman
• The Middle of Everything by Michelle Herman
• Mississippi Sissy by Kevin Sessums
• Meant to Be by Walter Anderson
• Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
• A Barn in New England by Joseph Monninger
• Giving Away Simone by Jan Waldron
• How to Make Love Like A Porn Star by Jenna Jameson
• Returning Frankie's Rocks by Dana Hornig
• Accidental Playboy by Leif Ueland
• The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond
• Tales From the Bed by Jennifer Estess
• Swing Low by Miriam Toews
• Going All the Way by Sharon Thompson
• Torch by Cheryl Strayed
• Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen
• The Velveteen Father by Jesse Green
• The Two Kinds of Decay by Sarah Manguso
• Tweaked by Patrick Moore
• Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett (The Patron Saint of Liars is one of my favorite books)
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• Jewel by Brent Lott
• In the Country of Men by Hasham Matar
• Life on the Outside by Jennifer Gonnerman
• Slackjaw by Jim Knippel
• The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll by Jean Nathan
• The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle
• Lads by Dave Itzkoff
• Levi's Will by W. Dale Cramer
• Daughter's Keeper by Ayelet Waldman
• Please Stop Laughing at Me by Jodee Blanco
• Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp
• Planet of the Blind by Stephen Kuusisto
• The House of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
• White Oleander by Janet Fitch (this has been on my to-read list for at least 5 years - maybe I'll finally get to it!)
• The Jewels of Tessa Kent by Judith Krantz
• A Home At the End of the World by Michael Cunningham (I really enjoyed The Hours by Cunningham, hopefully this book will be the same)
• The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut
• More Than You KNow by Beth Gutcheon
• Where is the Mango Princess? by Cathy Crimmins
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
• Thick as Theives by Steve Geng
• Terry by George McGovern
• Thin is the New Happy by Valerie Frankel
• Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham
• Little Children by Tom Perrota
• While I Was Gone by Sue Miller
• Delivering Doctor Amelia by Dan Shapiro
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen
• Fires in the Bathrooms by Kathleen Cushman
• Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman
• The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin
• Crazy by Pete Earley
• Please Excuse My Daughter by Julie Klam
• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
• My Incredibly Wonderful, Miserable Life by Adam Nimoy
• The World Made Straight by Ron Rash
• One Child by Torey Hayden
• Too Close To the Falls by Catherine Gildiner
• Candy Freak by Steve Almond
• Cabin Pressure by Josh Wolk
• The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard
• Bound by Sally Gunning
• The Book of Revelation by Rupert Thomson
• Blue Angel by Francine Prose
• Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen
• First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung
• First Person Plural by Cameron West
• The Effects of Light by Miranda Beverly-Whittermore
• Educating Esme by Esme Raji Codell
• The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong
• Even Dogs Go Home To Die by Linda St. John
• Burro Genius by Victor Villasenor
• Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne
• Don't Wake Me At Doyles by Maura Murphy
• Happens Every Day by Isabel Gillies
• The Good Eater by Ron Saxen
• Inklings by Jeffrey Koterba
• A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas
• Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch
• For the Sins of My Father by Albert DeMeo
• The Flock by Joan Frances Casey
  

Liz: Book #3

Scattershot: My Bipolar Family A Memoir by David Lovelace

292 pages

Completed 1/10/10

The cover of this book is what drew me in - it looked humorous, and with my own family history of (somewhat comical) mental illness, my interest was piqued. Ugh. I should have skipped this one. It took me far too long to complete, just because it was so boring. While the story started out well enough - Dave Lovelace's father is completely manic and has left his wife to fend for herself having fallen into a stupor for days - but soon progressed to monotonous, not-very interesting life stories. While Lovelace suffers from bipolar disorder, I feel like the second third of the book was instead about his travels - which, yes, would affect his disease, but instead it just droned on and on. His introduction with his future wife was unclear; in fact, most of this book seemed like a shoddy piecing together of random tidbits of Lovelace's life. As for the last third of the book, it had all to do with the disease, and in much to serious of a way, if you ask me. I picked up this book for some lighthearted humor regarding a serious subject; instead I felt that I had read a self-help guide to hard times. I felt no empathy for his family, and found myself bothered by the fact that he seemed to place them below himself. For a family memoir, this was definitely lacking.

CeCe: Prelude to my Reading Venture...

I figured I would start a post, just to introduce myself...

My name is Cecilia, a single mother of two boys, and work at the Book Cellar with Liz (as she mentioned in a previous post).

Unlike Liz, I am not an avid reader, although I have a list of books that I've wanted to read/finish reading for quite some time. I'm not much of a TV person, so naturally, reading should be the next best option. Unfortunately, my time is limited and I need a push once in a while to motivate me. I decided that joining this book read challenge would be the "push" I'm looking for.

Recently, a friend recommended a book that meant a lot to her, so I decided to choose that book to commence my reading venture.

Stay tuned for my review at the end of the week!!! :)

LIZ: Books I've Skipped

I am a voracious reader, I admit it. And between working in a bookstore and becoming addicted to paperbackswap.com, I have far too many books on my to-read list, to say the least. I currently have 5 shelves of my bookcase full of some of these books, and when selecting one to start, I just point and pull. However, because some of these books have been on said list for some time, I tend to not be interested when I start reading. Now, some people would just push on, telling themselves that they had wanted to read it for some reason at some time, so forge forward. Not me. Life is too short to waste on bad books.

This brings me to an interesting point - should I be keeping track of these books I tried but decided to skip? On paperbackswap.com, there is a nifty feature to save books you have read, and I take full advantage of this (thank god, because sometimes I feel so neutral towards some books that they dont stick with me and I end up picking them up again...This happened to me with "The Reader" this week). But what about books that I thought I'd be interested in, piqued my interest enough to track down a copy, but then started reading and decided that it wasn't for me? Well, I've decided that this blog is a great place for that. Soooo, presenting:

Liz's List of Books That She Probably Would Like but Since the First Chapter Didn't Grab Her, She Gave Up:

• Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janise Ray (extremely dry; I was bored within 5 minutes)
  
• Vows: The Story of a Priest, a Nun, and Their Son by Peter Manseau (was way more Catholic church-scandal related than the juicy story I thought was behind the title)
  

This also proves my theory that I am the biggest judger-of-covers I know.

LIZ: Book #2

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

213 pages

Completed 1/2/10

Being sick and stuck at home for almost a week now, I have been flying through books, and this was no exception; this was an incredibly quick read. I literally finished this diary-like novel in 3 hours. Revolving around socially awkward high school freshman Charlie in the 90s, these entries are being written to an unknown receiver and focus on his happiness, struggles, and confusion about coming into his own.

I am a memoir lover, so I am surprised that I have so many fiction books waiting for me on my bookshelf. This book, however, read much more like a memoir. Coming of age is hard for any teenager, let alone one who is dealing with loss, depression, and the ups and downs of making new friends. When Charlie started forging bonds with upperclassmen, I was reminded of one of my favorite movies, Almost Famous. His love of music, tendency to question the outside world, and inner conflicts, the comparison was only reinforced for me with Charlie's announcement one night that he "feels infinite."

This book is definitely more suited to a young adult audience, but considering it has been on my books-to-read list for a few years now, I just had to get to it. I felt more could be provided in the ending; what is presented as a sort of epilogue left me with more questions than closure to the story. But, if you are stuck at home sick (like me!), this is a good quick read.

LIZ: Book #1

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

416 pages

Completed 1/1/10

This book was pretty far-fetched, to tell you the truth, but was written in such a way that you couldn't help feeling raw emotion for these characters. While almost completely unrealistic in all senses - legally, physically, medically, and logically - the story did end up being a good one.

A ruined psychiatrist returns to her small town to help her police chief sister on her latest case. A young girl had emerged from the woods accompanied by a wolf pup. Seemingly untamed both physically and emotionally, the little girl's identity is unknown. Rallying to find her parents, the two sisters, along with - inexplicably - their whole town - tackles her case head-on. After nurturing her and bringing the girl out of her feral state, adoption papers are filed - but something holds up the process and breaks the reader's heart; I literally cried, which I can't remember that I've ever done during a novel. While engrossed in the book, you can't help but believe in the story; it's only afterwards that I realized just how improbable it was.

This novel was pretty wordy...and I could have done without the inevitable fairytale-like romances, but overall it was an okay read, made possible by it's talented author. Kristin Hannah does have numerous other titles (fans of Jodi Picoult tend to like her work), but she seems to be more of a romance author than anything, which is definitely not my preferred genre.