2011: Book 6

Slackjaw: A Memoir by Jim Knipfel


256 pages

Completed 1/31/2011

This memoir about Knipfel's descent into depression and blindness, intermittently disrupted by his punk lifestyle and attitude, was well-written, and a quick read, but not a book I'd recommend. Although the lack of self-pity was commendable, I didn't feel like I gained anything from this read.

A few years ago, I read Cockeyed by Ryan Knighton, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Entertaining, and chock full of dry humor, I thought it'd be interesting to pick up Slackjaw; it seemed so similar, and I figured I'd enjoy it. I don't know if it was the fact that if I knew Knipfel in real life, he would annoy me, or if his attitude was just too abrasive for my liking,  but I just wasn't as drawn to this memoir as I was Knighton's.

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.

2011: Book 4

Ambulance Girl: How I Saved Myself By Becoming an EMT by Jane Stern


240 pages

Completed 1/24/2011

I don't know whether it was the book or whether I was starved for a book, but I sped through this memoir. The tale of a depressed, middle-aged woman who, despite her claustrophobia, fear of illness, and overall disgust with bodily functions, decides to become an EMT to get her out of her slump. Faced with the aforementioned issues, as well as being a rare woman in the field, as well as heavy, Stern takes us through her triumphs - and defeats with poignancy.

I was pretty interested throughout this book - short snippets of odd cases, brief moments of humor - but when she took a turn into depression, the book lost my interest. Although an important part of the story, I was kind of annoyed by how sorry she felt for herself; same goes for her relationship with her shrink. Once the book began delving into her marriage problems, I was lost completely. Luckily it didn't last long, and the memoir finished well.

2011: Book #3

Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story by Isabel Gillies 

261 pages

Completed 1/9/11


Honestly, I was drawn to this memoir simply because it is written by the actress who plays a detective's wife on one of my favorite television shows, Law & Order SVU. Even more honestly, I really enjoyed this book; Gillies manages a well-written book and managed to hold my attention. The wife of a poetry professor who moves her and her two young sons to Oberlin, OH (read: middle of nowhere), she seems to be living the idyllic life. New friends, a gorgeous dream-home, dabbles in the college community, Gillies is content.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, her husband decides it's time to leave the family. The aftermath that results - despair, anger, relocation, denial, an investigation - lends itself to an intriguing book. Meshed with her Wasp-y upbringing and insistence that her husband stay to work things out, Gillies manages to present quite the good book.

2011: Book #2

The Book of Revelation by Rupert Thomson


272 pages

Completed 1/5/11

This was one of those books that has been sitting in my bookshelf FOREVER so I decided to just start reading it. Based on a dream the author had, the story of a male dancer drugged and kidnapped by three women and held and sexually tortured for eighteen days and the subsequent effects of it on his life is a bizarre tale that somehow became a page-turner.

I feel as if I do not want to reveal too much of this book's story, because as the reader, I didn't see the majority of it coming. While unpredictable, the plot line remains fluid, and I never once regretted picking this one up. Yes, a bit bizarre and graphic in the early chapters, but watching the narrator's life as it unravels and reassembles is presented in such a way that you just have to know what happens next.

2011: Book #1

What Happened to Johnnie Jordan: The Story of a Child Turning Violent by Jennifer Toth 

320 pages

Completed 1/2/11

In 1996, fourteen year-old Johnnie Jordan randomly bludgeons his elderly foster mother to death and flees. Toth's book tries to conclude why Johnnie did such a thing by tying together his tumultuous childhood, his experience in the foster care system, the kindness shown to him by the woman whom he murdered, and the subsequent life of Johnnie behind bars.

Written in a sort of disjointed way that I didn't particularly care for, this book was nothing but informative, if not disturbing. A must-read for those considering work in child psychology or social work, I think that "What Happened..." is a wonderful glimpse into the brokenness that exists in young - and the elder - Johnnie Jordan.

LIZ: BOOK #45

The Effects of Light by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

368 pages

Completed 12/27/10

Let me begin by saying I could not wait to finish this book; but not for my usual reason of not liking it. Instead, I had to know what happened as soon as possible. When I say that Beverly-Whittemore is talented, I mean it in a way that makes you not want to do anything else but finish her story.

The story of Myla and Pru Wolfe, whose single father David introduces them to photographer Ruth Handel, is one you are quickly sucked into. Ruth's nude portraits of the girls become "the centerpiece around which their lives unravel." As reader, you are introduced to Kate Scott, aka Myla Wolfe. After a mysterious letter summons her home to Portland, Oregon, pieces of the tragedy that killed her sister and forced Myla to start her life anew begin. The novel is told alternatingly by Kate/Myla and young Pru.

The emotion in this book is overwhleming, but not in a sappy, sad way. In fact, I found myself surprised towards the end when I was moved to tears, as I had not experienced such emotion throughout my reading. My only complaint about this debut novel of Beverly-Whittemore's is the somewhat-rambling philosophical tellings of Myla's deceased father; I will admit that I skipped over most of it for lack of interest.