2011: Book 38

Torch by Cheryl Strayed

336 pages

Completed 4/23/11

The tale of a family left in the wake of their young mother's sudden death, Strayed manages to turn a work of fiction into a story that could easily have been ripped from middle America. From a step-father's disloyalty, to run-ins with the law, affairs, and crippling depression, the family left behind struggles mostly on their own; you have to wonder what they could have accomplished had they come together.

Rarely moved to tears, I found myself heartbroken for every member of the family. Rather than close it out with an atypical-to-the-family happy ending, the disjointedness revolving around the siblings at the end was so well-thought and ended the story in a great way.

2011: Book #34

Family Album by Penelope Lively

240 pages

Completed 4/3/11

Told from nine points of view - the six children of two parents and their nanny - set in the outskirts of London, this novel was a bit slow to get into, but I am so glad I did. Revealing the secrets behind the family, while combining their past stories with their current lives was written so well that not once did I feel lost in terms of whom was speaking.

Intriguing, I couldn't believe the ease in which huge secrets were revealed. With the mother being oh-so-cheery and living alongside her lost-in-his-own-world husband, the children have very different takes on what went on during their childhood, and each had their own unique voice. Well done; I truly enjoyed this read.

2011: Book 30

Slow Motion: A Memoir of a Life Rescued by Tragedy by Dani Shapiro


256 pages

Completed 3/24/11

Living the high life with her married boyfriend, Dani Shapiro is a college dropout in the eighties whose drinking problem is spiraling out of control when she gets a call that will change the course of her life. When she reports to the hospital where both of her parents lie after a horrific car accident, Shapiro has to make a lot of decisions, with almost no support.

With sufficient background information on her family and college-years, Shapiro manages to tell a moment-in-time memoir without leaving the reader guessing about much. The turn of events that leave her referring to time as before-the-accident and after-the-accident changes Shapiro in the nick of time.

2011: Book 21

Happy Days by Laurent Graff


112 pages

Completed 3/9/11

This super short book focuses on Antoine, a thirty-something divorcee who decides to move into a retirement home. At eighteen, he buys his own cemetery plot, and spends the subsequent years engraving his epitaph plaque. Odd, yes. A great story, definitely.

I found out about this book through a magazine article featuring the best international short books. I don't know what led me to believe it, but I was sure this was a memoir. But there it is, right on the cover; a novel. I have to admit, I was disappointed when I realized this halfway through. Somehow, thinking it was a true story had made it more enjoyable.

2011: Book 19

The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard


224 pages

Completed 3/2/11

This disjointedly told memoir revisiting the death of her mother, the bonds of her friendships, her adolescence, and the falling in - and out - of love with her husband, Beard presents an interesting read. A great balance of humor and darkness, the emotion is raw throughout.

I was a bit confused by the ongoing stories interrupted by reflections of childhood, but realized it was a wonderful way of presentation for Beard's memoirs.

2011: Book 15

Even Dogs Go Home to Die: A Memoir by Linda St. John


272 pages

Completed 2/19/11

An oddly written memoir - chapters are no more than three pages - St. John delves into her childhood when faced with her alcoholic father's impending death. With a mother who speaks awful English, two sisters and a brother, St. John reveals the abuse and poverty they suffered as children, the retribution they dished out in their adult years, and their reactions to their father's downward spiral.

Annoyingly enough, St. John writes exactly how her mother speaks ("dies ees enuf Landa"), and instead of juxtaposing this with her educated self, the rest of the book is written in slang and in odd ways. The title of the book, briefly mentioned towards the end, could have been expounded upon, in my opinion. Despite it's oddities, St. John's memoir did a wonderful job synopsizing her family.

2011: Book 5

War by Candlelight: Stories by Daniel Alarcon


224 pages


Completed 1/28/2011

Since reading the collection of short stories, Love Begins in Winter, my interest has been piqued towards a genre I normally am not drawn to. This collection of Central and Southern American-based stories are touching, but not moving.

Many of the stories left me wanting more; most seemed to have ended in such an awkward point in the story, that is was almost annoying. That being said, I did enjoy the book. With one exception; one VERY big exception. When a story began with a murdered dog and a group of boys chasing down more victims, I literally slammed the book shut and debated whether to continue. It took me three more days to pick the book back up and simply skip over the story. This is so not like me; I force myself to read books cover-to-cover, and so I felt so odd doing it. But the cruelness and unexpected violence mid-book was too much to handle.

LIZ: BOOK #26

Air Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones & Anonymous

386 pages

Completed 6/3/10

A few years ago I read Hotel Babylon and immediately put myself on the waiting list at paperbackswap.com for the other two similar books; Air Babylon and Fashion Babylon. This book follows the same format of Hotel Babylon; a period of 24 hours, written as if one character is experiencing everything but actually is the result of composing the stories from dozens of airline employees.

Surprises, debauchery, and annoying customers that could only be found on an airline, are all requisetely present, but with limited humor. The main character, who was probably meant to be dryly sarcastic, instead read as annoyingly depressing. No situation was so shocking, though, so I was kind of bored throughout.

Fashion Babylon is on it's way, so hopefully that will read a bit more humorous as Hotel Babylon than Air Babylon was.

LIZ: BOOK #21

Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen

336 pages

Completed 5/4/10


This novel revolves around two young sisters in the 1950s left to fend for themselves with a hospitalized mother, absent older sister, and alcoholic stepfather, in a town that's been plagued by two assaults and murders of two girls. The sisters' relationship is touching; other than that, though, nothing in this book really got to me.

Far too many characters with far too large families lead to confusion, a twisted love triangle, all combined with the unlikeliness of the majority of the situations written, this was novel was far too much of a stretch to be believable.

Sometimes after reading books, I check online to see what other readers had to say. I was surprised that the overwhelming majority of people loved this book - I thought it was overwritten, lacking, and disappointing all at the same time. I think it's time for a memoir...

LIZ: BOOK #12

Symptoms of Withdrawl: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption by Christopher Kennedy Lawford

416 pages

Completed 3/3/10

The Kennedy family seems to intrigue many people; I myself tend to focus more on Jackie O.'s fashion sense than the family 'curse'. But when I stumbled across this memoir of the nephew of JFK, I figured it was worth a shot. I actually began this book as an abridged audio; I was not only bored, but also felt that I was missing a lot of important things that had not been included, so I picked up a physical copy of the book.

This memoir ended up being more of a recovery-discovery set in a notorious family dynamic, rather than a tell-all. Yes, there were some dirty details and fascinating details, but all in all, this was a depressing memoir. Overdoses, deaths, broken relationships - you name it, Lawford writes about it. And not very well, in my opinion.

All in all, I say that this is an account to skip. Someone I had spoken with regarding this book was intrigued by the name-dropping: Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Sammy Davis Jr., and of course, the immortal Kennedy's, all make an appearance. But, in my opinion, this is not enough to carry this book.