One Day - on film

I read One Day last September and was so absorbed in the story but just never got around to making the trip to the theater to see the film. Bad reviews didn't help to push me in that direction, and I almost never go to the movies anyway, but I'm happy to say that my dear friend Jenni invited me over to watch it tonight.

Perhaps the nay-sayers didn't read the book, didn't identify with Emma or Dexter, or maybe just couldn't get passed the bad fashion and odd frame of Jim Sturgess, but I really enjoyed the movie. Just like the book, it brought up memories from my past - both happy and tragically sad - but being reminded of those times are what makes me the person I am so bring it on.

Anne Hathaway's English accent was quite charming and I've never seen Patricia Clarkson in a role I didn't like so those are two definite pluses. On the negative side I didn't find Jim Sturgess remotely likable, but I suppose that is fitting since I didn't really feel a great deal of empathy for Dexter's character when I read the book. He's really a cad to tell you the truth.

My most favorite parts of the book (the ones that made me laugh my ass off) were not presented well on film, but the story for the most part was very true to the novel. I'm now looking forward to seeing Like Crazy which I know will require some kleenex (One Day did not - at least for me).

The Kindness of Strangers

The Kindness of Strangers was a difficult book to read - not as difficult as The Lost Dogs - but TKOS was on a whole new level of disturbing. Thank goodness it's fiction.

The book is narrated by separate characters each chapter. Unlike some other books that employ this technique, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of needless overlap.

As an overview I will admit that I was reading this book while having my hair cut at my local Great Clips (yes I am cheap). I'd seen this particular girl a couple of times and she remembered me as "the reader", so she asked me about my current book. I described it to her as delicately as I could and she just said, "Wow. I'm fairly certain I couldn't read that."

It's true, but I'm glad I did. It's a story told in reminiscence - and that last scene in the book - from the past - is truly uplifting. Amazing. I can't think of another way to describe it.

After reading this book you'll want to immediately run out and volunteer for some underprivileged organization!

Read more about The Kindness of Strangers here...

Dismantlement = Freedom

From the book jacket: "Henry, Tess, Winnie and Suz banded together in college to form the Compassionate Dismantlers. Following the first rule of their manifesto – “To understand the nature of a thing, it must be taken apart” – these daring misfits spend the summer after graduation in a remote cabin in the Vermont woods committing acts of meaningful vandalism, and plotting elaborate, sometimes dangerous, pranks. But everything changes when one particularly twisted experiment ends in Suz’s death and the others decide to cover it up.

Nearly a decade later, Henry and Tess are living just an hour’s drive from the old cabin. Each are desperate to move on from the summer of the Dismantlers, but the past isn’t ready to let them go. When a victim of their past pranks commits suicide – apparently triggered by a mysterious Dismantler-style postcard – it sets off a chain of eerie events that threatens to engulf Henry, Tess, and their precocious nine-year-old daughter Emma. Is there someone who wants to reveal their secrets? Is it possible that Suz did not really die – or has she somehow found a way back to seek revenge?

Full of white-knuckle tension with deeply human characters caught in circumstances beyond their control, Jennifer McMahon’s gripping story and spine-tingling plot prove that she is a master at weaving the fear of the supernatural with the stark realities of life."

Sounds good don't you think? While the book received widely conflicting reviews, once I picked it up I did not want to put it down. I was rapt. I was spooked. I was intrigued. I was perplexed. Again I say, I was rapt.

There are annoying aspects of the book - as noted by one reviewer, I never want to hear the word "babycakes" again - but the writing is solid and actually pretty funny at times. I love quirky OCD Emma and her intuition regarding her parents' precarious relationship.

The author utilizes a multi-narrative style, in which each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character. This doesn't always work (in some books it becomes annoyingly repetitive) but I think it is very appropriate for this novel. When done properly, this style allows the reader to more closely identify with each individual main player. Here it works.

Spine-tingling is such a cheesy word, but fitting when describing this book. It'll keep you guessing until the end. A great weekend or beach read. Definitely worth checking out at your local library!

One Day. Twenty Years. Two People.

I'd been wanting to read this book since I read about it in Entertainment Weekly a couple of years ago, but I didn't get around to reserving it from my local library until a few weeks ago. Just in time for the movie right?

In my perpetual state of procrastination I found myself on Monday evening at page 60 with less than 48 hours to finish the book, and I'm glad that's how it turned out. I'm sure I would've loved the book all the same, but reading almost the entire thing in two sessions made it all the more enjoyable. Given that the story takes place on July 15th every year between 1988 and 2007, I think it might've been less emotionally profound had I spent days rather than minutes/seconds between the connected years.

From the back of the book, "It's 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another. Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same day - July 15th - of each year. Dex and Em face squabbles and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. And as the true meaning of this one crucial day is revealed, they must come to grips with the nature of love and life itself."

The book took turns I was fully not expecting, but that I very much welcomed. I laughed out loud (so much so that onlookers at the gym made me explain what I was reading); I was shocked and inspired; and I found myself reminiscing about friends and loves from my past.

Emma and Dexter seem quite real. As characters in a story they are deftly developed. I was completely absorbed.

One Day makes the heart leap with anticipation, vibrate with laughter and completely stop in heartbreak.

Here's to hoping the movie directors/producers didn't completely eff up a great story.

Dead Reckoning

I was disappointed after reading Harris' last Sookie book, "Dead in the Family," but I was pleasantly surprised by "Dead Reckoning."

The previous book was so far removed from the core story that I grew tired of the "new" plot that I didn't give a crap about. "Reckoning" returned to the Sookie tales I love and felt far truer to the story at hand.

Readers will learn more about Sookie's Fae legacy, as well as her family history and also get some insight into Sookie's future - the not boring one - that may or may not include both Eric and Bill.

"Reckoning" is Harris' 11th Sookie book. If HBO's True Blood really follows the book trail then Anna Paquin has a SUPER long future playing a blonde back-country girl. I'll keep watching for as long as Alan Ball creates. After all, he is the mastermind behind my most favorite show of all time! (Six Feet Under).

And it goes without saying that after following for this long, I couldn't really abandon Harris either. I'm sure I'll read about Sookie until her story ends.

A Dog's Purpose

When I picked up this book at the library, I got to the parking lot before I started reading the jacket. Then I burst into tears - much to the fright of several patrons milling about.

A Dog's Purpose follows the life of Toby/Bailey/Ellie through his/her many lives as a beloved reincarnated dog. The bulk of the story follows Bailey - an ever loyal Golden Retriever and his favorite human, Ethan.

Of course it was the name Bailey that reduced me to sobbing in public. Ethan's Bailey and my Bailey shared many great qualities, and though my Bailey was a Norwegian Elkhound, I still couldn't help but picture him in Ethan's adventures. Bailey's "end" made me feel like I'd relived the ordeal of saying goodbye to my Bailey, which was thoroughly heartbreaking, but cathartic nonetheless.

The dog's dialogue in the book was often quite funny and made me laugh out loud to think of any of my dog pals sharing the same sentiments. For example, when reborn as Ellie, Bailey quips, "A few weeks later I was in the yard, showing one of my brothers who was boss, when I stopped and squatted and all at once realized I was female! How could I, Bailey, be a girl dog?"

Ultimately just as much of a tear jerker as Marley & Me, Purpose is still very much worth an investment in reading 320 pages. I cried. I laughed. I gasped. But most importantly, I was reminded of my latest and greatest friend, and why he was described as such.

I miss Bailey every day and remembering him often brings me a great deal of sorrow, but I also know that he will forever be an integral part of my life.

Bailey is a very special dog. I'm certain he's fulfilling a very important duty on the other side of the rainbow bridge. xo

Unbearable Lightness

Just as Ellen DeGeneres states in the epilogue of Unbearable Lightness, Portia de Rossi was crazy. She was hands down batty and out of her mind, all the while portraying the epitome of control on TV as Ally McBeal's Nelle Porter.

Portia de Rossi is reportedly 5'7", and when she reached rock bottom she weighed 82 pounds. She reached that rock bottom after approximately fourteen years of starvation, bingeing and purging - with the latter years hovering in complete starvation mode.

Compulsive exercise, reclusive behavior and the severe effects of starvation began to take a toll on her mind, as well as all of her relationships with outsiders which were tenuous at best. She lost all perception of reality and thus retreated into her own deep private hell.

Then she made the reluctant decision to crawl out.

While whiney and overly self-loathing at times, I mostly sympathized with de Rossi as I followed her life of disordered eating. Most of the negative reviews I've read were likely penned by persons who've never been touched by an eating disorder - never had one or loved someone suffering from one. Eating disorders are never simple, and they're most often not taken on consciously.

When I presented a study on the presence of anorexia/bulimia on the internet while at graduate school, I was confronted with a few students who asked me, "But isn't it a choice? You could've just stopped. Seems more like a cry for attention or an act of rebellion."

I'm sure there are cases of the aforementioned in eating disorder history, but I strongly believe that those cases are very few and far between.

Of course anyone who knows who Portia de Rossi is knows that she is now married to Ellen DeGeneres. By revealing her true sexuality, I think de Rossi has finally let go of a great deal of her inner-hatred and come to peace with herself and her body.

I've never been a fan or non-fan of Portia de Rossi. I watched Ally McBeal for at least the first three seasons and enjoyed it - mainly because I found Lucy Liu hilarious. I have never judged anyone for their sexual preference. None of those things had anything to do with my enjoyment or lack thereof in reading this book. It's just a powerful story about loss, despair and ultimately triumph.

The Lost Dogs

I began crying on page 2; but by page 20 I was weeping so hard that I couldn't see through my tears and page 20 did not hold the most brutal details.

I'm not sorry I'm reading this book, but I know that some of my fellow dog-loving friends will not be able to stomach it. The only way I can really express my overwhelming anger and despair is to say that while I realize my soul will suffer, I wish I could throw Michael Vick and his accomplices into a pit of blood-lusting dogs who would rip them to shreds. Beat them to death. Strangle the life from them in the same way they felt it was okay to shove their "underperforming" dogs into a bucket of water until they suffocated or were nailed to a tree to hang. Or for that one little red dog, to be repeatedly pounded into the ground until she died.

What's more disturbing is what Gorant reveals in his introduction - that many complaints sent to Sports Illustrated after the 12/29/08 issue featuring a sweet-faced pit bull with the title, "The Good News out of the Bad Newz Kennels," revolved around the following sentiment, "Why does it matter, they're just dogs?" For that thought to pass among intelligent human beings makes me sick to my stomach. I am beyond disgusted.

I could go into a crazed diatribe about how wrong that statement is - for so many reasons - but that shouldn't be necessary. Anyone who has ever owned and loved a pet knows that the aforementioned sentiment is absolutely ridiculous and could only be uttered by a heartless person.

I recently lost a beloved pet, a Norwegian Elkound named Bailey, and I miss him more than anything I've ever lost in my life. I was shocked to learn that the Norwegian Elkhound garners the #21 spot in the list of most dangerous canines. Anyone who knew Bailey knows that is beyond ridiculous, which just goes to show that a dog, just like a human, should be innocent until proven guilty.

Losing Bailey was a huge blow, and my family has been amazing, but I am still reeling and no one can really help me with that. Reading about these dogs who were forced to suffer so much brings it all to the forefront. Not because Bailey suffered, because I really don't think he did, but because I mourn for the happiness those puppies could've had - the happiness I know my Bailey enjoyed.

National Geographic's Dog Town admirably covered the extensive efforts to rehabilitate the most aggressive of the "Vick dogs" and truly provided an outsider with a tender look into those poor dogs who were trained to fight - something most dog lovers/advocates know is AGAINST their nature. I recommend viewing it - available on iTunes.

Sookie's story is dying out

I read Charlaine Harris' most recent "Sookie Stackhouse" novel and felt extremely disappointed. It's a good thing True Blood (a show I thoroughly enjoy watching) is WAY behind when it comes to the written Sookie tales. Harris should seriously stop now.

This book was so scattered. Characters were introduced (or re-introduced) that honestly had no bearing on the plot at hand. Actually, I should clarify that by saying that there was no clear plot at hand - another major problem with this book.

It was a rather short read (less than 400 pages) so I suffered through, but I am comfortable in saying that if Harris writes more Sookie books I will NOT be someone hanging on her next written word.

Having said that, I highly recommend the show True Blood (HBO) to everyone. Great show! Much better than Harris' books. Perhaps she should be credited with the idea, but it's clear that Alan Ball has perpetuated it with far more success.

Magic Time

This book was a Christmas gift from my dad several years ago, and having heard nothing about it, it was shelved for future perusal. I tried to pawn it off on a friend whom I'm not sure tried to read the book at all, but she labeled it "unreadable." The book then landed on the "read only if nothing else is available list" until I sent it to my father.

Dad read it and really liked it. He said he struggled through the first 60 pages or so - but when he passed it on to my mom she said she was hooked from the beginning - as was I. (After my mom and I both voiced our inability to understand how someone could not be drawn into this book, my Dad said he thinks his reluctance was born by my warnings of an "unreadable" story).

I hesitate to compare the plot of this book to film, as it really isn't the same story, but I definitely kept thinking about "A Time to Kill" while I read this book.

The story takes place in more than one time-frame, and the root of the problem easily crosses over decades.

Class. Race. Religion. Belief. Integrity. Family.

Read more about Magic Time here. I LOVED this book.

Favorite beach read 2010

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.

This book was very hard to put down. Krakauer's accounting of the disaster on Mt Everest in 1996 was heartbreaking, frustrating, exhilirating and terrifying all at the same time. I nearly came to tears at least a half-dozen times.

The quote by People magazine on the back of my copy is pretty perfect, "A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism."

The book is so well-written that I felt like I was there. I could almost feel the hurricane-force winds, the windchill of one hundred degrees below zero, the climbers' exhaustion as well as their fear and determination. I didn't realize there were photos in the book until I reached them over half-way through, and I was surprised to find that I had already pictured each of the climbers in my mind almost exactly as they appear in their photographs.

What I could not understand was how anyone would willfully expose themselves to such a grueling experience, much less pay someone $65,000 to guide them to the summit of Mt. Everest. (Bear in mind that many people who pay for such guidance do not successfully reach the summit. Among Krakauer's five teammates who made it to the top of the world, four of them never made it back down).

My inability to conceive of any rational person attempting to summit Mt. Everest was strengthened by the photos of the actual climb.




The introduction and the postscript provide further details surrounding the disaster. The postscript especially reveals Krakauer's survivor's guilt. The candor with which he describes his own lack of judgment and responsibility for the anguish caused by the losses on that fateful day in May of 1996 is indeed selfless and refreshing. I sincerely applaud his bravery and honesty in exposing himself to ridicule, although I feel any ridicule he has faced or may still face is misplaced.

The photos above were copied from this site. I believe the photos were taken from the illustrated edition of the book. The section on Into Thin Air also provides further details about the book and the 1996 disaster.

A Million Little Pieces

I finished this book last night with mixed emotions. It is widely known that Mr. Frey was accused of embellishing and/or fabricating many of the core details of his “memoir,” and I was aware of the controversy before I read the first page. Many other readers were not – they read every page believing it to be part of the actual harrowing truth of a drug-ravaged addict fighting for his life.

I still read the book with great interest and took it for what it has now been reported to be – a realistic depiction of what a near-death alcoholic and drug addict might go through in rehab.

I must not be alone, because after all the controversy regarding the truth of Frey’s account, the publisher offered to reimburse anyone who felt defrauded by the book’s categorization as a memoir. Although Random House set aside $2.35 million for lawsuits, only 1,729 readers came forward to receive a refund for the book. The refund offer was extended to anyone who had purchased the book prior to Frey disclosing the falsehoods therein. The total amount paid in refunds was $27,348.

My mixed emotions were the following:

1. Did I enjoy the book because I believed it to be a work of partial-fiction?

2. Would I have enjoyed the book more had I believed it to be non-fiction? (having no knowledge of the memoir controversy).


Fresh off of reading the book I’d say that I never would’ve believed it to be truly non-fiction in the first place. First off, and one of the issues openly admitted by Frey, is the issue of his hard-core toughness. Thankfully he acknowledged that he unrealistically built himself up to be “Mr. Badass,” because if he hadn’t I would be sincerely embarrassed for him.

Second, there were way to many holes in his recollections and WAY too many scenarios that only a complete idiot would accept as fact.

I’m having a hard time coming up with examples of his ridiculous tales, only because most of them are far too vulgar to post here. However, while I’m not male and haven’t been in many physical fights, I must say that if I were male, a 5’10” 150+ pound 23-year-old wouldn’t send me into panic mode. In fact, I don’t know if the aforementioned would send my 5’6” 122 pound female self into panic mode. It probably should, but I’m thinking nah.

Anyway, I enjoyed AMLP, but with a few aversions:

1. The writing style is TERRIBLE. Frey randomly capitalizes words inappropriately; the rules of punctuation are completely ignored; and run-on sentences are his bread and butter. Seriously, if you remotely lose your place you'd never know because most of his inner dialogue is repetitive gibberish.

2. The chapters are phenomenally long, and there are no "stopping places" to alleviate that fact. I don't have as much of a problem with that as some, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.

3. The back cover reads, "At the age of 23, James Frey woke up on a plane to find his four front teeth knocked out, his nose broken, and a hole through his cheek. He had no idea where the plane was headed or any recollection of the past two weeks..." Yet the cause of those injuries are never explained. They are vaguely alluded to after a conversation he has with a friend while in the treatment facility, but never explained. I realize that Frey may still have no memory of that incident, but I would've appreciated a more detailed acknowledgement of such lack of memory and/or further explanation of how he ended up in rehab. (Obviously he belonged in rehab, so I don't mean the no-brainer explanation. If he was truly as hard-core as he depicts himself, I would assume there was some kind of "defining" moment that lead him to rehab. The book doesn't explain that).

4. Several passages made me truly sick to my stomach, examples follow:

a. I'd like to believe that the root canal procedure with no anesthesia was fabricated (I can't imagine either my father or brother - both dentists - ever doing anything so barbaric no matter the circumstances).

b. One of Frey's repetitive self-punishments involved him ripping off one of his toenails. I skipped more than three pages due to their gory description of his self-mutilation. I was gagging on the elliptical machine. There is absolutely no convincing argument I can imagine for including such a painstakingly detailed account of one's removal of a completely intact toenail by an obviously sick individual.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. I enjoyed it. As I said earlier, I don't know how I would feel had I believed it to be complete non-fiction. Nonetheless, the story is truly sad and surprisingly uplifting. I particularly respect Frey's adamant refusal to adopt "the 12 steps." He rebelled against the norm and found his own path to healing.

James Frey has reportedly never relapsed.

Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants is a great read. I laughed out loud often, felt dreadfully sorrowful more than once and remained intrigued throughout the entire tale.

The book is narrated by the main character, Jacob Jankowski, and oscillates between present day where he is in his early nineties and the era of the Great Depression when he was in his early twenties. The story is largely narrated by the younger Jankowski, but the parts narrated by his older counterpart are a delightful "break" from the central plot.

It's a whirlwind story - Jankowski's life is turned on its head when his parents are killed in a car accident. Afterwards, he is informed that they were broke due to their financing his Ivy League education and his father's willingness to trade his services for things like eggs or milk. His father owned his own veterinary practice, and he and Jacob were supposed to go into business together after he received his DVM degree.

Jacob fails to cope with his loss, runs out on his final boards, and ends up on a train that just happens to be that of a traveling circus.

Jacob manages to make a place for himself on the circus detail and then the peaks and valleys of such a life begin, but he eventually becomes the official staff veterinarian, which allows him to infiltrate the privileged world of those on top of the circus. He falls in love with the woman of his dreams as well as the animals in his care - Rosie the elephant in particular.

Jacob makes many unlikely allies along the way. Perhaps my favorite is Walter (Kinko to most, Walter to only his friends). Walter's terrier Queenie is certainly my favorite silent character, along with Rosie. Queenie reminds me a lot of Zoe!

I read that Gruen did a great deal of research on circuses before writing this book and it shows. Again I say, great read. Highly recommended!

A Thousand Splendid Suns

I finished this book last night and absolutely loved it. I enjoyed The Kite Runner, but I LOVED this book.

After forcing myself to make it through My Life as a Traitor, I had to distance myself from tales of political unrest, war and cruelty. I indulged myself with the Twilight series, Charlaine Harris' books and the Ghostgirl books and then finally came back to a serious read.

A Thousand Splendid Suns spans over more than 40 years, and tells the story of two (maybe three) families, eventually intertwined by both love and tragedy. A boiled-down synopsis might describe it as a modern-day history of Afghanistan told from a woman's perspective.

I completely disagree with the reviews online that state that the characters lack depth. I easily envisioned each of them while reading: Mariam, Laila, Tariq, Rasheed, Aziza, Jalil and Zalmai.

In fact, for some inexplicable reason, I pictured Zalmai as the little boy in "Thirteen Ghosts," which is a terrible movie and shouldn't have been memorable in any way, but there you have it. Oh, and I pictured Mullah Faizullah as somewhat Gandalf-like. I do NOT mean that as even the slightest insult. I adore both Mullah Faizullah and Gandalf.

A Thousand Splendid Suns begins with scandal and lost-youth, moves forward all the while with non-fictional war-related details, and by the end tells the heartbreaking story of an unlikely yet fiercely faithful friendship. The history behind the scenes never overshadows the central story, but instead makes it all the more powerful.

I highly recommend this book. It is beautifully-written and surprisingly suspenseful - a story expertly executed.

I had a good cry when I was finished - largely in part because I'd reached the end.

ghostgirl: sincerely light reading

My dear friend Jen loaned both of these books to me: ghostgirl and ghostgirl: homecoming. While both are a bit over-the-top dramatic, I enjoyed reading them. When I first started ghostgirl, I thought, "Wow, Abby would really like this cute book." But after the initial "cute" death of the heroine - she chokes to death on a gummy bear in physics class - the plot turns down a few too many inappropriate corners for an eight-year-old.

My best description of the first book is Beetle Juice meets Heathers. Quirky outcast Charlotte Usher longs to be part of the in-crowd - Petula and the Wendys - and to be with her dream-man, Damen, who happens to be Petula's boyfriend. When Charlotte is matched up with Damen as a physics lab partner (book published in 2008, anyone smell a Twilight rip-off?!) she thinks her dreams have come true. Too bad their first class ends with her meeting the reaper via gelatinous candy.

Charlotte attends "Dead Ed," and learns a bit about the afterlife and her former life a little too late. Chock full of references to popular culture and a killer graduation much like the finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3, ghostgirl made me laugh, reminisce and thank my lucky stars that I'm done with high school.

ghostgirl: homecoming read like a soap opera on overdrive. The cultural references were dripping with an effort at humor; and the plot, which never came around to making any sense, was all over the place. Therefore, I'm sure I'd be no good at trying to describe the story because I'm not even sure what it was.

What's more disturbing is that the second book ended the same as the first - with a strong suggestion that a third book will follow. It shouldn't. I realize I said I enjoyed reading it, but I read it on an elliptical machine for the most part - a place where reading advanced physics is more enjoyable than concentrating on the minutes left in my workout.

I started A Thousand Splendid Suns on Sunday and it is thus far a phenomenally huge step up - at least intellectually - from ghostgirl. Happy reading!

The Weight of Silence

A brief portion from the description on the back of the book:

“It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn’s shimmering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night.

Seven-year-old Callie Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by tragedy that pulled her deep into silence as a toddler.

Petra Gregory is Callie’s best friend, her soul mate and her voice. But neither Petra nor Callie has been heard from since their disappearance was discovered.

Now these families are tied by the question of what happened to their children. And the answer is trapped in the silence of unspoken family secrets.”

The book was a good read, but given my friend’s enthusiastic proclamation of her absolute love for it, I found it rather anti-climactic. While not necessarily predictable, the story of exactly what happened to the girls just seemed sort of thrown together amidst the many, many other details that wove all of the characters together. I also felt like Petra seemed more like an empty shell of a character, in desperate need of more careful development.

The story is told, chapter-by-chapter, in turns by six of the characters in the book in no particular order. The voices include: Calli (the only voice read in the 3rd person), Petra, Antonia (Callie’s mother), Ben (Callie’s brother), Martin (Petra’s father) and Deputy Sheriff Louis (Antonia’s childhood best friend and obviously, the Sheriff).

I did not mind this method of storytelling in one of my favorite books – Sight Hound by Pam Houston – but in TWofS there was a touch too much repetition across characters, especially during parts meant to build suspense. I almost felt as if the writer was intentionally (and irritatingly) drawing everything out for just a few more pages by repeating the same scenarios from varying points of view. Had any of those points of view really differed or offered some additional insight into the situation it might have been okay, but that was absolutely not the case.

I found myself most drawn to Ben’s chapters. Although his character was only twelve-years-old, he seemed to be wise beyond his chronological years. He loved his sister fiercely and – despite his boyhood pride – would easily have done anything for her. His descriptions of their relationship and past interactions were so vivid and touching that I felt he was real. He was the only character that lifted right off the page – the only character I truly liked and/or cared about in the end.

For me, the epilogue saved the book. Actually the last couple of paragraphs are what saved the book for me. In other words, the ending is pretty great.

As an endnote I must say that one of the things that bothered me the most was that the alternative of Callie communicating via writing was never addressed. Since my niece has been very capable of writing since she was about 5-years-old, I find the ignorance of writing as a mode of communication for a 7-year-old a bit unbelievable. Oh well, it is fiction after all, right?

Bottom line: easy read, decent plot, poor character development, minor profanity, very minimal description of graphic violence.

The Girl Who Played With Fire

Stieg Larsson's follow-up to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a good read. However, unlike many reviewers of both books, I preferred the first book.

The Girl who Played with Fire was, for me, quite a bit different. In "Fire" there were far more characters, spread across/between numerous factions/organizations. Dozens of Swedish/German/Russian names made for a slightly difficult plot to follow.

Confusion tended to prevail, so "Fire" became very convoluted.

Read more about The Girl who Played with Fire here.

Readers of "Tattoo" will be enlightened a bit by "Fire" in that they will discover Lisbeth Salander's history and why she's become the person she is.

"The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest", the third book in the trilogy, should be available in the U.S. in the next year or so and I'm looking forward to it.

It's certainly a tragedy that Mr. Larsson died just after completing the manuscripts for this trilogy. I truly believe Lisbeth Salander could've become a prominent heroine in popular fiction had Larsson not left this world so prematurely. He died in 2004 at the age of 50.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Has anyone read this?

I'm barely into it, and while the first 15-20 pages made me want to run for my migraine pills the following 20 pages began to rope me in, but I'm still harboring a bit of resistance.

Amongst the many magazines I sifted through in early August, there was a review of "Dragon Tattoo's" follow-up, "The Girl Who Played with FIre". The review of that book was amazing, but failed to offer promise for the nearly 500-page book that I'm going to have to suffer through in order to get to it.

Basically, according to many reviewers, "Dragon Tattoo" is an easily forgettable yarn while the follow up is a sincere prize.

With a library deadline over my head - apparently there are many many others out there who are dying to suffer through "Dragon Tattoo," I am going to have to make the completion of the novel a priority. T-minus 13 days and counting.

Currently not even to page 40 - we'll see...

Best Friends Forever

Despite the cheesy title, I can confidently give this book an enthusiastic two thumbs up. I laughed out loud often and found the story engaging and heartbreakingly honest.

The plot of the story can be summarized as that of two best friends who find, sadly, that their lives beyond the age of 14 are completely irreconcilable.

Most of the novel, told in the first-person narrative by the central character, Addie Downs, takes place in the present day (likely around 2005 for these characters).

But the history began with nine-year-old Addie, who thought she'd never find a true friend, yet was blessed when Val and her mom moved into the house across the street. The two girls became inseparable - meaning that Val became a surrogate fixture at the Downs' dining room table; Val became a stow-away guest at the neighborhood pool; and to Addie's sheer delight, Addie became a guest in the seemingly carefree existence of Val and her mother.

The present-day story involves a crime scene at the girls' high school reunion, which strangely brings the girls together, rocketing back to days they'd rather forget with loads of secretive history to boot. The "crime" isn't one to be easily solved, nor is the damage done to Addie and Val's long-since broken friendship.

I loved Good in Bed by the same author. Great stuff. For info on Best Friends Forever at Amazon, see here.

This book reminded me how lucky I am to have one of the most genuine souls in the world as my dearest friend - Kerry. You are so loved and appreciated! XOXO

Shared (Great) reads

Have you ever read a book and loved it so much that you wanted to pass it on to your friends in the hopes that they would love it just as much as you did?

During last week's vacation I watched my family open their hearts to some amazing characters:

• Enzo, the faithful and elderly lab mix from The Art of Racing in the Rain

• Augusten Burroughs, the quick-witted alcoholic from Dry

• Randy Pausch, father of three young children who fought and lost the battle against pancreatic cancer. He left a remarkable legacy via The Last Lecture.

I don't think of myself as one who needs positive reinforcement for the books I choose to read, but I admit feeling very pleased that Lisa, my friend's wife, loved The Art of Racing in the Rain.

Then at the beach, my brother held up the same book and asked me if I'd read it. I said, "YES!" and I was so excited for him to read it.

He loved it and passed it on to my mother who couldn't put it down. She adored Enzo - as we all should! Maria will follow shortly.

My mother, my brother and my sister all read The Last Lecture.

There are so many quotes from the The Last Lecture that touched my heart, but one of my favorites follows:

When you're frustrated with people, when they've made you angry, it just may be because you haven't given them enough time. But in the end, people will show you their good side. Almost everybody has a good side. Just keep waiting. It will come out."

I had a hard time taking this to heart last night when on my way home - through a sea of non-functioning traffic lights - I had to cut in front of a car on 751 (mind you, I used my turn signal and ample room was available for my merge). The driver behind me made an extravagant display of her middle finger for at least a full 3 minutes. I'm not afraid to say that I stared her down in my rearview mirror (left door mirror) and waved my heart out. I gave the driver just ahead of me a hearty giggle, but all I could think was, Really?! Seriously life is too short for that kind of white trash, redneck immature gesturing. All I could do was shake my head and hope said driver finds herself in a somewhat similar situation someday soon so that her idiocy is blatantly and brightly pointed out to her. Gee-freakin-whiz.

One of my brother's favorite quotes from Dry:

"Ad people don't care where you came from, who your parents were. It doesn't matter. You could have a crawl space under your kitchen floor filled with little girls' bones and as long as you can dream up a better Chuck Wagon commercial, you're in."

When I asked Maria about Todd's impression of Dry, she said, "He thought the beginning of the book was much funnier."

Of course it was - Augusten was still a belligerently drunk idiot. But I truly believe that the perseverance, subsequent failing, and rebound are what truly make Mr. Burroughs a hero to be admired.

Oh. And he's DAMN funny.

While my family was enjoying my earlier reads, I struggled through Angela's Ashes.

It wasn't that I didn't like the book, but the Irish dialect required a bit more concentration than what I hoped for in a beach read. Depressing? YES. But I still recommend the book.

Seriously, The Last Lecture and The Art of Racing in the Rain should not be missed.