Review - The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
Publisher: Ecco 2011
Hardcover 309 pages




***Review Coming Soon***

Review - Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Publisher: HarperCollins 1995
Hardcover 406 pages



***Review Coming Soon***

Review - The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
Publisher: Putnam's Sons, 2011
Hardcover 320 pages




The Weird Sisters grew up in a kind of family that I had wished everyday for as a child. A childhood where books occupied a central role in the family, especially those by the Bard. This book follows the three Andreas sisters as they come home to heal their own wounds as well as that of their mother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. They all move back under their parent's roof, all with secrets that are crushing them, yet they can't seem to let out. This book is a wonderful journey into not only sisterhood, but about how all of us, no matter what point in life we are at, have the capacity to change direction.

As a side note, this wonderful book also happened to mention a favorite childhood game of mine called Spite and Malice. I always thought that this game was a peculiarity of my grandparents who taught it to me because it seems like everyone I ask has no idea what I'm talking about. Imagine my surprise then when the book mentioned the game with the following quote:
"Rose had taken a long walk, and when she'd gotten back Bean had been nearly desperate enough to suggest a game of Spite & Malice, a card game we had played as children that was terrible with only two player..."

Oddly enough, I've only ever played it with two players and thought it perfectly fine!

Review - Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Multiple

First in the Women of the Otherworld series
Bitten (2001)
Stolen (2002)
Dime Store Magic (2004)
Industrial Magic (2004)
Haunted (2005)
Broken (2006)
No Humans Involved (2007)
Personal Demon (2008)
Frostbitten (2009)
Waking the Witch (2010)
Spellbound (2011)

Bitten
While this book was a bit... smuttier... than I usually enjoy, the story moved along at a good clip, the characters had some depth to them, and the action sequences didn't seem too contrived. In all, for an urban paranormal romance it was a reasonably good bit of fluff. The novel tells the story of Elena Michaels, a girl with a deadly secret. Elena is a werewolf, and even more than that she is a member of the most powerful werewolf clan in the world and the only female werewolf in existence. Elena is working hard to deny her more animal side and has separated herself from her clan, her family, in order to live a "normal" life. She is soon called back to the clan though, as an outside presence has threatened to tear her family apart.

Review - The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card
Publisher: Tor 2011
Hardcover 384 pages


This newest series by Orson Scott Card (author of Ender's Game) stars a precocious 13 year old Danny North, a descendent of great mages who all live in the backwoods of the Deep South. He grows up in the "Family Compound" an outsider at his apparent lack of magical skills. One fateful day, Danny learns an almost unbelievable truth, he is not only a mage, but one of the most powerful mages, a gatemage. Gatemages are banned in his world though, and his family would kill him on sight if they knew. So Danny must run from his family, while trying to learn a skill that no mage in over a thousand years has had.

This book was great fun, and for older teens and adults who enjoyed the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, this would be a great recommendation for them.

Review - The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Publisher: Putnam's Sons
Hardcover 451 pages




I am such a snob. This book was so terribly popular that I was determined to hate it from the moment I picked it up off of the shelf. Alas, this book was just too good not to love. The characters are memorable, the story has enough truth to hurt, but also can teach something as well. I shan't go into reviewing the storyline of this book as it is so well known in both print and on screen, only to say that it should find its way to sit alongside a great such as To Kill A Mockingbird. A must read.

Review - The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Publisher: Europa Editions 2008
Hardcover 325 pages



Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog is everything a great novel should be. It is whimsical and sad, enlightening bordering on sardonic and most of all... it is a fabulous story. But before I delve into the mechanics of said fab-u-lous story I would like to take a moment to discuss what a great story means to me. For me, a great story makes you want more. Not just more information about the characters of the novel, no, a great story brings about a desire to learn more about the world within which we live. With this particular novel I was simultaneously jotting down vocabulary lists, philosophies to discover and movies to watch. And of course, a great book should also bring you to tears. Either from sadness or from the titillating rapture that comes from exquisitely written prose.

And that brings me back to this delightful book. The Elegance of the Hedgehog introduces us to a vivid cast of characters who reside at 7 rue de Grenelle, a posh apartment building in modern Paris. The novel is told from the prospective of the eccentric concierge, Renée, who while upholding to the cliched vulgar outer appearance inherent of her class, is truly a sophisticated and cultured autodidact. The other character on which the story revolves around is twelve year old Paloma, a resident of the building who disguises her genius behind the outward appearance of a pop culture obsessed adolescent.Renée and Paloma are both hiding their true intellect and finest qualities from a world they suspect cannot or will not appreciate nor understand them. The two kindred souls finally meet when a wealthy Japanese man (Ozu) moves into the building and sees through both of their disguises. The story can at times be laborious to read and has a quite a lot to teach one about philosophy, which is understandable considering the author is a philosophy teacher herself. Yet far from being soporific, the trysts into deontology makes for a surprisingly engrossing detour. Overall this novel is a triumph and tribute to the more unassuming of us who may feel the need to blog anonymously or take quiet refuge within the disguise of familiarity and the ordinary.

Review - House Rules by Jodi Picoult

House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Atria Books 2010
Hardcover 532 pages

I'm a little tired of Jodi Picoult. When I first started reading her 10 years ago she seemed so promising. A strong female writer who was able to make drama both suspensful and emotional. Yet lately I feel like her novels are more of a soapbox to tout her own political or social beliefs and House Rules seems like it does just that. If I wanted to read about the dangers of vaccinations then I would be reading Jenny McCarthy's books. If I wanted to read about how kids with autism are brilliant and wonderful people, I would read Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime. Instead I'm reading this slow, irritating book that lost my interest after 100 pages. To say that Picoult's writing has become formulatic is putting it midly. I will not say that her novels are not well written and suspenseful, because they are, but just like reading a John Grisham novel, if you have read one then you have read them all.

One interesting side note is Jodi Picoult's criticism of book reviewers and their disregard for popular female authors, or in other words, authors of "chick lit". The criticism came from the recent excultation of the author Jonathan Franzen and the unprecidented print that was given to his latest epic Freedom. I'm not a fan of Franzen by any means, yet even I can tell the difference between "serious" fiction and a book entitled Good In Bed. So please save us the whining Jodi Picoult, and even if Franzen did get way too much publicity for him mediocre novel, the people who should be whining are the truly under appreciated writers. So I'm here to say: I appreciate you Keith Miller and Evan Mandery. You are brilliant, please keep writing.

Review - The Book on Fire by Keith Miller

The Book on Fire by Keith Miller
Publisher: Immanion Press 2009
Paperback 246 pages

There is a book out there for everyone. A book that speaks to your very soul, that can make you weep in utter heartache and cry tears of joy and amusement. For me, this is the book. This is MY book. I found myself reading slower, rereading passages again and again, just to savor every last morsel from this exquisite feast of the imagination.

Review - Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin

Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin
Publisher: Harper Perennial 2010
Paperback 277 pages




Rarely do I read books about horses. Maybe it is my rejection of my rural upbringing and the horse crazed girls of my youth, but I have avoided horse books like Seabiscuit, Black Beauty and The Horse Whisperer like they were the plague. So when I saw that the author of Lean on Pete was going to appear at my local library I paid little attention to it. But then every librarian I knew kept telling me what an amazing novel it was and how the author had been so funny and engaging and that I just HAD to hear him speak that I decided that I had to give this little novel a chance. Now I am so happy that for this one instance I bowed to peer pressure and not only read a fantastic coming of age novel, but also had the gift to hear a truly gifted and insightful author speak about his work.

The story is not so much about a racehorse as it is about a boy struggling to define himself in a world where the odds are stacked against him. Raised by his father after his mother left them, fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson wants nothing more than to play football, have food on the table, and run. Living with his father's frequent absences, Charley learns that the only thing that he can rely on is the uncertainty of his life. Where he will get his next meal (often by stealing from grocery stores) and where he may end up is not written in stone. On one of his morning runs, Charley comes across a horse racing track where he meets a grizzled old man who hires him on to help care for his horses. For the first time in his life Charley is making his own money, and develops a friendship with a tired old racehorse named Lean On Pete. When tragic events leave Charley homeless and alone, Charley grows increasingly dependent on his relationship with the horse. When events at the racetrack come to a shocking head, Charley decides to head East in a desperate attempt to find his aunt whom he hasn't spoken to in years. In his travels Charley meets both the best and worst that humanity has to offer in an increasingly urgent bid to find his family.

Review - Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Thomas Dunne Books 2007
Hardback 472 pages



Just in time for Halloween, Let Me In is a terrifically scary tale that kept me up late into the witching hour reading. The story takes place in the quiet suburb of Blackeberg, Sweden. The town is in shock when a teenage boy is found dead in a nearby forest, murdered in a ritualistic fashion and drained of all his blood. Nearby, twelve-year-old Oskar is focused on the murder, living out his own sick fantasies of revenge for the bullying he endures daily at school. But as the murders continue a strange element comes into Oscar's life that draws his attention away from the almost constant bullying. A new girl has moved in next door, a small girl who only comes out at night, has supernatural intelligence and a look in her eyes that is not at all human. As Oscar comes closer to learning the truth about his new friend, the entire town comes closer to perdition.

The story is told mainly in the perspective of twelve-year-old Oskar, with brief interludes by other members of the town, both the victims and the murderers. Yes, there are multiple forms that evil takes in this novel, no character is portrayed as being wholly innocent, each person has their own dark past to contend with. I think that is what makes this book so thrilling, it keeps you guessing about each characters motivation until the last, dramatic scene. And the ending is wonderfully unexpected, but so fitting I couldn't see it closing any other way.

Review - Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff

Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers 2007
Paperback 230 pages



This book is the perfect blend of science fiction, thriller and absurdity. The world is made up of "Bad Monkeys" and it is up to a secret organization to take them out, one at a time. Jane Charlotte, a former bad monkey in the making, is one of the field agents for this secret organization before she is taken into custody by the real police. In a series of sessions with a psychotherapist in the Las Vegas County Jail, Jane tells the story of her early life in San Francisco and her assimilation into the "Bad Monkeys," an organization devoted to fighting evil. And while we are trying to determine if Jane is crazy or sane, bad monkey or misunderstood, we find that nothing is quite what it seems as Jane's initial story of tracking a serial killer janitor comes under scrutiny and the initial facts about her brother, Phil, get turned on their head. The twists and turns this novel takes is enough to leave you guessing until the final mind bending pages where we learn that reality is often stranger than fiction.

Review - First Contact by Evan Mandery

First Contact or It's Later Than You Think (parrot sketch excluded) by Evan Mandery
Publisher: Harper Collins 2010
Paperback 267 pages




When it comes to books, I'm a fairly passionate person. I love them, cry over them and obviously covet them. I will readily admit that whenever I read an exceptionally good book I will push that book on all of my friends, family and, considering my profession, complete strangers. And when I say push I mean that I will buy copies of the book and start handing them out to people I know, or have a library copy at hand on the reference desk to put into some unsuspecting persons hand if they dare come within reaching distance. I have been known to carry in my purse used paperback copies of books by Kurt Vonnegut to hand out to random people I meet. In other words, books are my crack and I'm the most dedicated and persistent crack dealer you could ever imagine.

I mention all of this because when I finished reading First Contact by Evan Mandery I immediately started devising a scheme to get this book into every one I know hands. This book is so smart, funny and unbelievably imaginative and entertaining that I will admit that I fell in love with it. It promised a great deal: the back cover of the book claims that it will be "a satirical joyride in the tradition of Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams". I mean really; that is quite a tall order to live up to. Even with that, Mandery failed to disappoint. From the very first page this book had me in hysterics, but this isn't just some pointless satire; Mandery adds the sort of look on the state of humanity and philosophy that one comes to expect from... Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams. It takes a talented author to pull off such a tall order and Mandery is an exceptionally talented one.

The book is about Earth's first contact with an alien species. The current president of the United States is a George Bush like character and immediately assumes that the peace loving aliens are "pains in the ass". As the US decides to declare war on this vastly superior race, the president's aide is falling in love, the alien ambassador's wife is having troubles with the PTA and an insurance schemer is searching for a new world to scheme... namely the Earth! The final conclusion of the book is a little rushed and the story may wander at places, but for his sophomore book Mandery has proven himself to be able to craft a truly intelligent and humorous novel that both entertains and enlightens.

Review - Everyman by Philip Roth

Everyman by Philip Roth
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin 2006
Hardback 182 pages




Increasingly I have noticed that time is slipping away from me. From the piles of books that I have scattered around my bedroom, waiting to be read, to the backlog of reviews that I need to finish, there never seems to be enough minutes in the day to finish all of the tasks that I have taken on. And as the piles of books to read continues to grow and consume my living spaces, I have to wonder: how will I ever live long enough to read everything that I want? And so it may be appropriate that as I was having these thoughts about my own mortality when I decided to read Philip Roth's Everyman.

This book is in the typical Roth style, dealing with the complexities of grief and regret, loss and facing ones own mortality with a sharp, unfailingly straightforward storyline. Like Roth's other books, the protagonist of this tale is a Jewish man from New Jersey, who, as he grows older, is confronted with his own mortality as his health steadily declines. The entire book is about this confrontation, from a small child and his first experience of dealing with death and sickness, to having to face his own mortality and confront the guilt and regrets of his life as he finds himself increasingly alone as friends and colleagues pass away and his three failed marriages leave him isolated.

While this isn't one of my favorite books by Roth, it is still an enjoyable read and is quite accessible to all types of readers. Roth's voice is at turns arrogant and angry, and always, sarcastically funny and wry. Like his other novels he doesn't write to a type (coming of age Jewish-American males) he writes to a condition: the human one.

Review - Indignation by Philip Roth

Indignation by Philip Roth
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company 2008
Hardback 233 pages




I have a habit of doing things backwards. One such "backwards" habit of mine is to read reviews of a book after I have finished reading it. This especially holds true with authors that I like. I would rather that I first form my own ideas, feelings and opinions about a book before someone has time to eviscerate a beloved authors newest work. When I open a book I want it to be a fresh world, unprejuidiced by the suppositions of others.

That being said, reading a review after I have read the book can be as entertaining as the book itself. I can either feel solidarity with another reader, shout in outrage over their misinterpretations or just laugh and think "how in the world did they get that out of this book!". No matter what though, it is always an interesting journey for me.

The reason I bring up this topic now is due to the wide variation of reviews that I found for Philip Roth's Indignation. Some, like the Financial Times found it to be "intricately wrought, passionate and fascinating" while The Los Angles Times found it "an irritating, puzzling and fascinating bundle of mistakes, miscalculations and self-indulgences". And if these two reviews were just the extremes of what has been said about this little novel then one could disregard them, however they seem to be the norm. The reviewers either hate it or they love it with no feelings in-between.

So now to give my own humble opinion on this little book. Again, I think Roth has crafted another complex, yet meticously compact, story that reaches on themes larger than any one character. Very few authors have the gift that Roth has for conveying so much thought and passion in such a stunningly simple and beautiful way. The neurosis of the young Messner shows us much more than a young man's individual struggle to fit in. It shows us humanities struggle to find a place of acceptance and respite. Read the reviews if you must (a link to them can be found at the end of this post) but my advice to you is to read it and judge it yourself.

Reviews from a variety of publications can be found here.

Review - The Humbling by Philip Roth

The Humbling by Philip Roth
Publisher: Harcourt 2009
Hardback 140 pages




I am in love. I read this book in a 90 minute car ride. Okay, so it would be more accurate to say that I devoured this book in a 90 minute car ride. I have to say that my first thought after reading this book was a particular episode of my favorite library comic strip Unshelved:

http://www.unshelved.com


It is about the "Seven Stages of Falling in Love with an Author". Currently I'm on stage 4: gluttony. I have ordered every book he has written (which is quite a few!) and have been reading them until I fall asleep with my nose pressed against the pages. (Thank goodness I don't drool!) The last time I did this with an author was after I read Chuck Palahniuk's book "The Diary" that my cousin had given me to read. Now once again, I find myself cautiously in love with this new author.

The Humbling is a story about a distinguished stage actor, who finds that after years at being at the top of his craft, he suffers a breakdown of the spirit and can no longer act. His self-doubt leads to a divorce, a stint in a mental hospital and a self inflicted exile to his countryside estate. While he flirts with thoughts of the shotgun in his attic, a forty-year-old daughter of a longtime friend shows up on his doorstep. While she comes bearing problems of her own; a disastrous breakup that caused her to flee across the country, to a just ended lesbian affair with her supervisor, her passion stirs awake something that had long been dormant inside the older actor.

Within the affair of these two people, Roth delves into topics such as age and success, love and despair, and how the difference between love and sex can either save us or tear us down completely.

Review - Love Story by Erich Segal

Love Story by Erich Segal
Publisher: HarperCollins 2005
Paperback 131 pages



I decided to read Love Story after a friend recommended this book to me. I have to say when I saw the "heft" of this little novel (130 pages!) I immediately thought that it would be nothing more than another 1970's novella of self-love and destructive lives. What I got, however, was a deeply moving tale of loss, love and forgiveness. I have never been one to enjoy love stories, especially those that featured love that seemed to defy all logic and reason. This little novella made me see how love at first sight might truly feel and that maybe there is room in this world for a different kind of love.

Then again, I may just be reflecting my own yearnings for a love that is as strong as Jenny and Oliver's. One that is able to withstand even the most abject horrors.

Review - The Amnesiac by Sam Taylor

The Amnesiac by Sam Taylor
Publisher: Penguin Books
Paperback 384 pages
Rating:



What is memory? Is what we remember reality or some sort of fiction that our mind conjures up to hide the truer emotions within?

The Amnesiac by Sam Taylor is an engrossing tale of a young man's struggle with the inter turmoil of memory. With many "tales within the tale" Taylor takes the reader on a fantastical ride through the imagination and memory of a young Englishman at the crossroads of his life.

The novel follows the spiral into madness of James Purdew. After his girlfriend leaves James in Amsterdam, he begins to delve into his past, trying to piece together the story of his life, and the years he seems to be missing, by writing it from the present day to the beginning in a book he entitles "Memoirs of an Amnesiac".

While the reader feels a certain sympathy for James, at other times I wanted to shake him by the shoulders and scream, "The answer is right in front of you!". While the storyline is engrossing, one can get lost in the plot and inter-stories that Taylor weaves.

The ending was beyond maddening. After spending almost two weeks reading this book, trying to work through the complex and often labyrinth like plot I felt that a satisfying conclusion would save this book for me. However the author seems to have finished the book 30 pages too soon. After painstakingly taking the reader through this maze of a plot the ending seemed to me to be a hurried attempt at best. Almost like he stayed up the night before a paper was due.

Those who enjoy a more complex storyline, penetrating characters and a read that is more psychologically engaging should have no problem finding this book enjoyable.

Happy Reading!