Driving Sideways by Jess Riley

If you're anything like me (female, cynical, longing to travel, but kind of boring) than you'll love this book, too. The main character Leigh is as described above with the added complication of Polycystic Kidney Disease, or, PKD. Also, her mom abandonded her family when she was young, and her dad committed suicide shortly after. So Leigh can be summed up as an extremely fragile 28 year-old, carrying around the kidney of a guy named Larry inside of her, who she tries to "channel" along her journey. Pretty interesting character, right?

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Leigh decides to go on a road trip to California shortly after receiving a kidney transplant and while taking a break from her dog-grooming job at Fuzzy Navels. Despite her older brother's objections, Leigh plans to drive cross-country (alone) to ultimately find their run-away mother. Along the way she picks up a 18-year-old girl abandoned by her psycho boyfriend at a rest stop, meets up with a "reformed" ex-boyfriend, visits two girlfriends from college, and meets Larry's family.

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Riley writes with a great sense of humor and illustrates her characters with richness. The journey along the way makes me miss the road and having the chance to visit new places. I am absolutely in love with traveling, so this book really did it for me. I highly recommend it as a good, relatable, female read. It's not chic-lit, even the protagonist is a girl; it's so much better because the characters aren't bubbly, stupid beauty queens going on female-liberating (feminist) adventures. However, the one problem I did have with this book was the many references to popular culture. I'm sorry, but you just don't make references to current reality shows or 15-minute fame celebrities in a novel. Ten years from now a lot of those things will be obsolete. Maybe even a few months from now! Anyhow, since that's the book's only weakness (which isn't even that bad) it's definitely worth checking out.

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

I had to read this book because Middlesex was just so incredible, and I'd seen "The Virgin Suicides" on VHS during a slumber party some years back when it first came out. I remember thinking Kirsten Dunst was a huge slut, but that was it. Oh. And there was this pretty graphic suicide scene at the beginning of the movie involving a virgin and an iron post fence. Yikes. But that's it. Truly.

Anyhow, I did enjoy this novel, though it wasn't quite as engaging as Middlesex. It might have to do with the fact that Suicides is narrated in the first person by a character retelling his memories of the girls, rather than getting a first person narration by the main character herself, as is done in Middlesex. It would have been nice to have gone inside the sisters' heads and better understand why the they wanted to die. But really, that's the whole point of the book. The entire small town is affected by this strange occurance, and they want to make sense of it. But nobody knows. So is it making a statement about depression? About broken homes and the problem with sheltering children? (They were Catholic in the 1970's.) Who knows?

I finished this one a couple months ago (I know, I'm way behind on my reviews), so it's hard to remember everything about the book. But basically, the story is about five beautiful sisters who end up killing themselves over a period of a few years. The girls keep to themselves at school, and their parents are crazy strict. They are obviously damaged. Most of the story comes from the accounts of a group of boys who admire the girls from a far. Sometimes they do not see the girls come out of their house for weeks and so they make speculations as to why. Sometimes they sneak into the girls' house or have sex on the roof with the slutty one (probably Kirsten Dunst), but there really is no plot, so you can't expect a page-turner. On the outside, Suicides is just an insight into the curious world of the Lisbon girls and their strange family. But looking deeper, there's plenty more to find. I may have benefited more if I'd read this book in a class or book club, because doing so on my own left me feeling a bit empty. Or maybe if I read it a second time everything would become illuminated. I think I was expecting something more like Middlesex, so I couldn't fully appreciate the book's structure on its own. But really, the two books are very different, and they really can't be compared. Both are good, but for their own reasons.

Quiet, Please. Dispatches from a Public Librarian by Scott Douglas

For a while I was considering going to school for a masters in library science after I graduated from UNC, so I picked up this memoir written by a Southern California public librarian for some insight. The book was only mildly entertaining and the characters were so exaggerated I had to stop every two pages and say out loud to myself: "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Wait just a second. You made ALL of that up. It's not even close to being believable. Not one bit. You are a liar, Mr. Douglas. A liar."

In fact, Douglas admits to embellishing many of his characters -- as well as the stories -- to make his book more "humorous," but I thought it made it even worse. Each character either falls under the category of complete idiot or a**hole. No inbetweens. Except maybe his girlfriend - she seemed nice, but boring.

Despite all the relatively negative thoughts, I am thankful for reading this memoir in its entirety. Now I know, FOR SURE, that I don't want to go to library school nor become a librarian. EVER. Not in a million years. Not if it means dealing with the ridiculous stuff this guy put up with, even if it was exaggerated for comical effect. Heck no.

The Labrador Pact by Matt Haig

I've never read a book before whose protagonist was a dog , so this was a new one on me. Please bare with the plot description if you find this concept just too obsurd.

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Prince is a young labrador living in Britain with his master and family. Under his mentor Henry, Prince learns how to carry out his duties as a part of the "Labrador Pact." The Pact states that labradors must watch over their human families becaues it is what their breed has been created for. The official motto is "Duty over all," which gets repeated constantly throughout the book.

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Complications arise when a woman enters the life of Prince's master and they seem to get on quite well. They begin meeting in the park regularly, which Prince sees as a threat to the family. In the meantime, his master's wife has also been acting suspicious and their two children are having problems in school and in their social lives. When a dog gets murdered in the park Prince realizes that something awful is going on that he might not be able to stop on his own. With the help of his mentor, Prince tries to protect his family at all costs. He must also avoid the the conniving breed of spaniels, as they are the labradors' worst enemy, and try to lead labradors away from their duties.

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Overall this was a decent book for entertainment. I read somewhere that it's supposed to mirror one of the Shakespeare plays, but I don't know which one. Matt Haig also wrote another book that is supposed to be a modern take on Hamlet, so you might check his work out if you're into Shakespeare-like stories. Not a bad read by any means unless you just can't get past the whole canine protagonist thing.

The Post Birthday World by Lionel Shriver

Of all the books I've read this year it's come down to either The Post Birthday World or Middlesex as my favorite. I picked this one up based on high praises given by Sarah Dessen (my favorite YA author) who is also the reason why I bought Middlesex. The way Sarah briefly explained things in her blog, just the idea of the book's structure got me interested. Even though I had high expectations from the beginning, I'd never imagined Birthday would end up so poignant and enjoyable.

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The plot of the book goes as follows: Irina lives in London with Lawrence, her 10 year partner; they have successful careers and a good relationship. Lawrence has a friend named Ramsey, famous for playing snooker (a competative sport resembling pool in Europe). Every year Lawrence and Irina go to dinner with Ramsey to celebrate his birthday. (Here's where the title of the book comes in... )

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This year Lawrence is out of town for Ramsey's birthday so Irina agrees to attend the celebration solo. That night Ramsey and Irina have a great time together at the restaurant, and she ends up (innocently) going back to his place for a tour of his mansion. As flirtatious chemistry begins to surge back and forth between them, Irina finds herself at a crossroads when they come at an important moment. Irina has to make a choice: To kiss Ramsey or not.

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In the first version of that night, Irina does not kiss Ramsey and they do not pursue a relationship. She returns home and continues life as usual with Lawrence. But then, Shriver opens the next chapter and we relive the say moment except with a different out come: Irina does kiss Ramsey and their lives are changed forever. It's a lot like the whole butterfly effect theory.

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For the remainder of the novel, Shriver channels back and forth between Irina's life as it would be with and without the kiss. Each chapter is doubled from that point on (i.e. 2 chapter fives, sixes, etc), and each pair takes place during the same time frame. It really is a fascinating structure and cleverly done. (Kind of reminds me of those "choose your own adventure books" from when I was a kid.) What's even more interesting is how distinct events seem to intersect the two versions of Irina's life. For example, we hear about Princess Diana's death as well as 9/11 in both of Irina's life paths, but from two very different perspectives. There are many more interesting intersections throughout the novel, but they would give too much away if I mentioned them.

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I just can't explain how compelling this book was for me. Once I got passed the set up and Irina's life gradually propelled itself into two different directions, I couldn't put it down. The message at the end of the novel also had a real affect on me. Though it wasn't a huge revolutionary thought, it still breathed such true knowledge about life. I wish I could talk about it, but again, I don't want to be a spoiler.

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Also, it's important to note that this book is not chic-lit material by any means. Lionel Shriver is a STUPENDOUS writer. In fact, the opening chapter intimidated me so much that I half considered putting the book down and cutting my losses. I'm so glad I didn't. In fact, I think I'll try reading it again someday soon because it was just that impressive.

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So check it out. And while you're at it, read Middlesex, too. Then we can discuss afterwards, which is the better novel.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

I only read this book because I made a deal with my roommate late last semester. We agreed that if she read the first Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book over the summer, I would finally try out Harry Potter. So, keeping up my end of the deal, I went through the first HP in three days. I would have finished sooner, but let's just say that Rowling's prose isn't exactly page-turning.

First thing that bothered me about this book: Wizards aren't real.

Second thing that bothered me about this book: Magic isn't real.

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This is a fine children's book, don't get me wrong. I just couldn't quite get into it. Magic and wizardy, if it actually were to exist, would be a very abstract and world-destroying concept. Magic = power, and people with power go mad with it. And I'm willing to bet it would be a large majority of those possessing such abilities who would attempt to destroy everything that got in the way of obtaining anything they wanted. And yet while magic seems to give the children a way out in every situation - making each danger seem that less dangerous (and less interesting) - it doesn't seem to be used in more commonsensical situations that would help to avoid trouble in the first place.

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There just isn't enough sound logic in this book amongst all the creativity and imaginiation. I like reading stories about real life. That's why I don't do fantasy or sci-fi or any of those "alternate world" books. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more as a kid, but even then I think I'd at least have the sense to question the point to all this witchery. Everyone keeps telling me you have to get to the fourth or fifth book before things "really pick up." My question to them is: What motivated you to get past the first book anyway if it was so bad?"

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Presently I have been listening to the second book on my mp3 player, and so far it's not very interesting. I'm only continuing with the series out of curiosity. Just like I was curious when all the world gave The DaVinci Code praise for being such an epic book *shudder*. Hopefully I won't be dissapointed with the next one.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Not knowing much about this book before I picked it up (only that the cover was cool, it won an award, and was about a hermaphrodite), I'm pleased to say that I loved everything about it. The narrator Calliope felt like a real person to me. It was as if I was reading a memoir most of the time. The one thing to remind me that this was not a work of non-fiction, was the fact that Calliope narrates three generations of her/his family. First his grandparents (they immigrate from Greece and carry a dark and taboo secret), then his parents (they are the typical middle class Americans living in Detroit), and finally his/her own upbringing, which we learn about until the age of 14.

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This book was long, at a whopping 525 pages (long for me, at least). And even though the first 2/3 of the book were dedicated not to Calliope, but to his relatives before him, I could hardly put the book down. Eugenides fleshes out his characters so well, I wanted to continue reading about their individual stories even after they were done. I also loved the employment of historical fiction to this novel, as Eugenides puts his characters through the Turkish Invasion, the Detroit Riots, and the hippie phenomenon of the sixties. I felt that I learned a lot about America's history just by reading about Calliope's fictional family's history.

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The last third of the book, Calliope's story, is the most entralling. He/she is raised as a girl without feeling different or uncomfortable in her own skin until she hits the age of puberty and does not develop breasts or begin to menstruate. She develops an obsessive crush on "The Object" at school who is a girl left unnamed "in order to protect her identity". Calliope's feelings and experiences are almost unimaginable to ourselves, but entirely believable given her/his circumstance. I especially loved reading about the medical details of Calliope's condition, which were so interesting and different than I ever would have thought.

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After a number of confusing experiences, Calliope decides she is more a boy than a girl, and becomes Cal. Don't worry, this is not a spoiler, as the narrator himself tells the readers in the very first paragraph. And anyhow, it's not the big details that make this story, but the millions of little details that lead up to each event.

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Eugenides impressed me with his overall ability to write. Each sentence was written so precisely that it flowed perfectely into the next sentence or paragraph. The dialogue was real and amusing, and the first person narration came out brilliantly. Writing a book in the first person with multiple heads to get inside is a VERY difficult thing to pull off, and Eugenides accomplished this seamlessly.

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"Middlesex" deserves all the praise it has received and more. It's absolutely the best piece of modern literature I've read in a very long time.

What Happens Here by Tara Altebrando

Altebrando's debut YA novel The Pursuit of Happiness came out a few years ago, which I loved. Part of me thought I may have had stumbled upon the next Sarah Dessen. After reading this second novel and feeling equally satisfied, I'm now positive Altebrando is going to be the next big thing.

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Despite what its commerically decorated cover seems to imply, What Happens Here is not just about the crazy shenanigans of two best friends living in Las Vegas. It's about the closeness of friendship and how something unexpected and terrible can tear it apart. It's about dreams and how life sometimes makes them impossible to achieve. It's about falling in love and growing up. It's about moving on learning to heal.

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This book is about Chloe who has grown up with her best friend Lindsay her entire life. She and Lindsay are next door neighbors just outside of Vegas, and have big dreams to someday travel the world. Inseperatable and as close as best friends get, they talk about everything together. While Chloe has regretfully "gone to Vegas" already (that's their code for having lost their virginity), Lindsay is thinking about "getting it over with." Chloe tries to explain how Lindsay will regret it if she does, but in the end has no say over the matter. Leaving Lindsay angry and left behind, Chloe vacations in Europe for two weeks with her parents with limited home contact. There she she meets a boy and has the time of her life. Then, something terrible happens, changing Chloe and Lindsay's friendship forever.

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Some of the reviews I've read of this book give away the "shocker" of the story, so be careful while searching for more information. I don't want to give away what happens, so I'll only say so much here.

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Basically, I loved this book. Part of it took place in Europe, which was awesome. I felt like I was there in each city as Chloe hopped from one country to the next. The descriptions were vivid and non-typical, which made Chloe's experiences feel that much more authentic. Sometimes I even felt jealous of her from a teenager's point of view. For example: When Chloe meets a cute boy on her tour and ends up kissing him atop the Eiffel Tower. Can you imagine doing anything more romantic at sixteen? I can't! And the book is all written in first person, so you're inside Chloe's head the whole way through.

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I just really loved this book. If you're fond of Sarah Dessen's writing or YA literature in general, check out Tara Altebrando. She deserves more readers!

Oblivion Road by Alex McAulay

Having read Alex's two previous thrillers, I am somewhat disappointed with this one. Unlike his other novels, "Oblivion Road" lacks character development -- something I need in my reading materials to keep me happy.

This book reads just as a scary movie: it relies on plot and suspense to keep the audience entertained without much else. The beginning of the book jumps head first into action as a group of friends get into a car accident on their way home from a skiing trip. With one of the teenagers terribly wounded and the others in not-so-great condition, Courtney and her friends are forced to go off into the snowy oblivion to search for help. To make matters worse, an escape convict named Leonard is running lose in the woods. He's already murdered his family and eaten his own sister -- pretty morbid stuff. And trust me, true to a good horror flick, this book gets gross. Don't say I didn't warn you when you find out what I'm talking about. McAulay is great with descriptions. It's just the characters themselves I'm less than crazy about.

While Courtney, the main character, is nice, I feel like I hardly know her. And I don't understand why she is best friends with self-centered Reyna, who is the stock character of a bitchy controlling friend needing to be put in her place. Then there's Jeremy, the guy stuck on the corner of a love triangle, who slowly goes insane. I think I would have enjoyed a few flashbacks here and there -"Lost" style - to get a better idea of the characters. That way I may have been more invested in the value of their lives, rather than feeling apathetic over whether or not they all died.

Lack of character development aside, I was impressed with McAulay's ability to thrill and chill. I was compelled to keep reading after every page, and got scared at night when engrossed in the truly horrifying passages. It's a quick read that is sure to entertain, as long as you're into the thriller/suspense genre. I recommend it between literary classics or as a plane ride companion. Just think of it as a scary movie, and you can't be dissapointed.

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

I really enjoyed this book. Probably just as much as I enjoyed the movie, as they are almost exactly the same thing. If you haven't seen the Cohen Brothers film yet (provided that you're interested), I highly recommend reading the book first. That way you'll have a better understanding of the story's central meaning. At any rate, it's short. It should only take you about an hour or two longer to read than it would to watch the film. What could it hurt?

"No Country" takes place in a small town of Texas circa 1980. A sociopath killer has just escaped from jail named Anton Chigurh (Sugar?/ No. Chigurh), and Sheriff Bell is loosing faith in his deteriorating county. One night Llewellyn Moss, a married hunter, stumbles upon a drug trade site in the middle of the country to find several dead bodies, a truck bed of cocaine, and one suitcase full of money. Moss decides to take the suitcase, which in turn sparks a main conflict: Anton Chigurh is linked to the money, and he wants it back. A bloody and thrilling chase ensues.

One of the things I enjoyed about this novel was McCarthy's deadpan, simplistic writing style. Much akin to Hemingway, McCarthy writes with as little detail as needed. Along the same lines, McCarthy creates realistic dialogue between his characters that would otherwise be considered repetitious and dull in most literature. Also to be noted: he does not use quotations or apostrophes ('cant' instead of "can't") in dialogue. While I didn't quite enjoy this element of his style, I was surprised to find it less distracting than anticipated.

The real protagonist, Sheriff Bell, is the deepest character of the book. He has his own monologue after every chapter to discuss. He talks about his family, his thoughts on the county, and the ugly evolution of mankind. Bell feels that the times are passing him with a darker breed of human that cannot be helped by his authority of the law. His message seems to be one of hopelessness. It's sad, but I could definitely sympathize with his thoughts.

"No Country" turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Before reading the book and after having seen the film, I was expecting just an entertaining and superficial thriller. McCarthy really surprised me. I look forward to delving into his award-winner "The Road" before summer ends.

Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin

I give this one a B- , the type of grade you would give to a student who wanted to do well in the class, but who didn't have enough motivation or interest in the material to produce good quality work. .

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First of all, the description of the book, as well as the first chapter, was a little misleading to me. I thought the story would be about a married woman whose former "true love" returns, then which causes her to betray her husband and rethink what true love really is. In a sense, this does occur in the book, just not in a way I'd expected..

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Former lover Leo appears in the first few pages, 10 years after leaving the protagonist Ellen. Right off the bat he seems like a slime ball of a bad-boy who wants Ellen and has no respect for the fact that she is married. For the next 90 or so pages Ellen explains her past and how she ended up where she is today: married to her best friend's brother Andy. I felt this setup was a bit long and boring. I wanted to hurry up and get into the real plot of the story already.

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Most of the novel is spent inside Ellen's head. She secretly lusting over Leo and their past, all the while wondering if she should call him or not. The core problem seems to be Ellen's rethinking of her current life and whether or not she likes it. On the one hand she has sweet, two-dimensional Andy. Perfect in most ways, yet not that exciting. With Andy she lives the prized life of Southern yuppydom without the need to work another day of her life.

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On the other hand there is Leo. Basically the complete opposite of Andy.

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I was dissapointed to find that while I liked Andy, there wasn't a very tangible connection between him and Ellen on the pages. He was definitely the better guy between him and Leo though, so I wasn't very conflicted with who I wanted Ellen to end up with. Not much even happens plot-wise. Leo is hardly in the book at all. Ellen sees him maybe three times total, sends him a few e-mails, and that's that. Pretty boring stuff. I sniffed the ending from 100 miles away, and even then it wasn't entirely believable.

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Giffin had a good idea with this book, but ruined it by spending too much time in Ellen's head instead of making anything happen. Also, the other characters in the story deserved way more development than they got. This book is definitely my least favorite of Giffin's four works. Something Borrowed and Something Blue are far better. I recommend reading those instead, especially for a good summer read.

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

"Lock and Key" is the first young adult (YA) novel I have read all year and I am happy to say that going back to my roots (I've always particularly enjoyed YA fiction, especially Sarah Dessen's) was a smart and satisfying move. Even though I am 22 years old and well out of my teenage/high school years, this novel spoke to me in a way I could still relate to. Who hasn't questioned the meaning of family and relationships or felt compelled to help someone who didn't want it? How about feeling like an outsider in a new and foreign place?

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This little gem, Dessen's eighth novel, tells the story of Ruby: A seventeen-year-old girl who has been raised by a neglectful mother for the past ten years, alone. When her mother finally leaves one day and doesn't return, Ruby is forced to live with her long lost sister Cora, who is wealthy, married, and trying to get pregnant.

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Despite her resistant attitude, Ruby is forced to switch schools, make friends with the cute boy-next-door Nate, and spend time with her brother-in-law Jamie, an overly-optimistic entrepreuner who happens to be my favorite character. Ruby's relationship with Nate unfolds as they commute to school together each day, providing the fundamental romance element in Dessen's story. We also learn that Nate has a dark secret, something that Ruby has trouble responding to throughout the novel.

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"Lock and Key" is both heart-warming and raw; unique and believable. Every character has his or her own quirks, adding humor and playfulness throughout the plot. Gervais is the obnoxious twelve-year-old whiz kid in high school; Harriet is Ruby's coffee-downing, control freak of an employer; and Olivia is Ruby's talkative and outspoken classmate at her new private school.

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As Ruby gets to know the new people in her life, she begins to reexamine the meaning of family, and rethink the one thing she's always desired most: Complete independence.

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What I love about this novel is the natural progression of Ruby's metamorphasis from troubled independent bad-girl, to mature young adult. Dessen has always had such a strong gift for creating genuine characters; I feel as if I could look up Ruby's name in a phone book and find her living still today.

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I recommend "Lock and Key" to teens and adults alike. In fact, just about every Sarah Dessen novel is well worth its cover price. I haven't met a person yet who doesn't absolutely love her books, regardless of age. Contrary to other current YA novels on today's market, "Lock and Key" -- along with Dessen's other books -- will undoubtedly become a timeless classic that I someday hope to share with my own children.

Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel

So here's the skinny on "Prozac Nation": It's long, depressing, lacks a specific plot, and is basically just a bunch of whining from a pretty fortunate kid.

People who have already read and hated this bestselling memoir would probably agree with the above statement. Right now they're nodding their heads, happy to have found that one more person has realized the ridiculousness in Wurtzel's memoir about "struggling" with "depression".

I, on the other hand, have chosen not to look at this very personal piece in such a negative light, though it would be easy to dimiss Wurtzel's problems for teenage angst, self-centeredness, and an overall unjustified disatisfaction with her many privileges.

Personally I do not have clinical depression, so I cannot likely understand how it feels or why it's so difficult to get out of. But Wurtzel's memoir tries to describe depression to her readers in a way that they can understand. By midway, it becomes very clear that she is depressed and that nothing can get her out of it except medication. It is unfair to label her as an immature whiner just because of the fact that it seems she has "so many things to be happy about." Wurtzel is obviously well aware of what she has and yet it isn't enough to fix it. I think this is the point of her depression.

Wurtzel begins her story at early childhood, detailing her relationship with her parents as well as their problems. Her family life was not as great as many, but also not as bad as others I have known about. Later she gets into drugs, gets into Harvard, and gets into boys -- or rather, they get into her (sorry, couldn't help myself). She goes to a regular therapist while struggling to keep up her grades and force herself out of bed each day. She even ends up finding an awesome journalist position in Texas, but it's not enough to make her happy.

This book is probably the closest I will ever get to understanding what it's like to live with real depression. To some degree Wurtzel's memoir is probably relatable to everyone, as we've all been depressed at one point or another. To others her experience may seem completely foreign, and to more it could be frighteningly dead on. In any case, if you're interested in hearing a first hand experience of living with depression, "Prozac Nation" will surely show you the way, whether you like it or not.

Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

I read Alice Sebold's first novel The Lovely Bones about four years ago. The plot was rivetting, the characters were relatable, and the emotions ran high. After having so much success with Bones, I think that fans were expecting Sebold to have written a similarly great, if not better, novel. I must admit, my expectations for Moon were initally high, but it wasn't until I'd read a good number of the seemingly endless bad reviews on Amazon.com, that I decided to proceed reading with caution.

The Almost Moon is dark, disturbing, and destructional to its core. The opening pulls you in immediately, detailing the action of Helen - our mentally disturbed heroine - murdering her own mother. The given images throughout Helen's attempt to cover up her crime are graphic and unpleasant; sometimes downwrite vile. This isn't a revel read you want to curl up with before bed with a warm cup of milk. It makes you think and it forces you to consider some of the underlining motivations of mental illness.

I think that if Alice Sebold had not gained such a strong sole base of fans from her first novel, The Almost Moon would have undoubtabley received more positive attention. Because it focuses only on the thoughts of a single character, Moon reflects a much more psychological piece of work, than a novel story. The entire book spans just over the length of a single day, filled with snips of Helen's difficult family past, while counting down the tocks of her present clock. Will Helen be caught for her peccancy? Will another suspect take the blame? Will her two daughters find out the truth of their grandmother's death? And will Helen's supportive ex-husband be penalized for trying to help her?

The Almost Moon took on two interesting topics that aren't easily ignorable in our present society: Mental illness and family dysfunction. I fully commend her for exploring such difficult subject matter, as it could not have been an easy book to write. Perhaps the author was going through a dark-phase herself, or had experienced similar trepidations she wanted to use as a jumping board for serious writing. Whatever the reason, I'm giving her praise where she deserves it... because too many people have condemned this book by comparing it to her first novel, which isn't fair at all.

Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

If you haven't already read Jennifer Weiner's debut novel Good In Bed, I highly recommend that you do. Jennifer Weiner is the queen of all 'Chic Lit'; while her prose easily qualifies as the best of her genre, Weiner never fails to create the most realistic and relatable protagonists for her stories.

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Certain Girls picks up almost a decade and a half post Good in Bed with the lovably large protagonist Cannie Shapiro. In this continuation of her life, Cannie is married and learning to raise her pre-pubescent daughter Joy. Together, Joy and Cannie learn the difficulties and strains of a mother-daughter relationship.

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The planning of Joy's upcoming Bat Mitzvah becomes one of the main sources of conflict between Joy and her mother. As Joy deals with the pressures of fitting in with the popular crowd at school, Cannie tries to keep her daughter young, innocent, and safe from the cruelties experienced during her own childhood. For example, Joy wants a big pink dress with with thin straps and lots of sparkles. Cannie thinks this ensemble is too "adult" for her daughter as well as innappriate for such a relgious rite of passage. As expected from a 'tween', Joy becomes infuriated with her mother and begins to rebel out of her perfect daughter role.

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What I enjoyed most about this book was the alternating view points from chapter to chapter. We get to see into both Joy's head and her mother's at different times. I was especially impressed with Weiner's ability to write Joy's character who thinks and acts just like a pre-teen ought to. It was also fun to watch as Joy got away with things her mother never even found out about, because they're telling the same story.

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Though Good in Bed was, in many ways, much more trivial, emotional, and enchanting, I was satisfied with the second coming of Cannie in Certain Girls. As readers its important to understand that Cannie is not only older, but in a better place than she was in her first story. As a result, Cannie's character is much more mature, and most of the novels' themes are different.

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The ending is the most controversial thing about the book. I was both in shock and disbelief until the very last chapter when it finally ended. In a way, though, I feel that it added some level of realtiy to Cannie's story -- and it certainly didn't tie in with the stereotypical "happy ending" carried by all chic lit novels.

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Again, if you choose to read Certain Girls, finish Good in Bed first. It's one of my favorite books of all time, so you practically HAVE to love it. That is, if you're a girl.

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

I was excited about this coming out after listening to two other Kinsella novels last semester via audiobook. While certainly not to be considered highly praised literature, Can You Keep a Secret? and The Undomestic Goddess were delightfully fun. I use the term delightfully in honor of Kinsella who is a native of England. The English enjoy using frilly words such as delightful and lovely.

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Anyhow, to say the least, I was dissapointed with Remember Me? While I knew I wanted to finish it just to see how it ended (Why not skip ahead? I don't know), part of me really didn't care all that much. The main character was rather stereotypical to the Chic-Lit genre: stupid, materialistic, wild about dancing, obsessed with cocktails, etc etc. And even besides her, there were no lovable characters throughout the whole story. Not to mention the plot was fairly unrealistic in my opinion... I just kept thinking Back to the Future the entire time, rather than amnesia-stricken woman.

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Remember Me? is about Lexi, a girl who got into a car accident at 28 years old and awoke to find the last three years of her life completely missing from her memory. Not only that, but her life has completely turned around. Lexi finds out that she is married to a rich and handsome man (go figure), finally has a driver's license, is two sizes smaller (due to a strict "no carb" diet), has new (and even more shallow) friends, and is a very important figure at her previous company making the big bucks. Everything, in a nutshell, is perfect when she first wakes up.

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BUT THEN

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...she finds out nothing is as it seems. Her marriage sucks, her best friend hates her, her little sister is a crazy juvenile delinquent, and she's not allowed to eat any toast or chocolate.

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What really does this book in is the unrealistic plot and lack of likable characters. These two factors together make it difficult to put a whole heart into reading it. I did finish it quickly, however. Due to its high demand at the library, I decided to read and return it ASAP for the next sucker who wanted to check it out.

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On the bright side, Remember Me? is some what entertaining and not entirely predictable (though partially). It's also light and fast - just like a good beach read oughta be. So while it itsn't that bad, it isn't that good either. It's sort of a hit or miss. So you could take your chances... or not.

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

I know. I wouldn't think I'd read a book with a cover like this either. Alas.

To be completely fair, I didn't actually read this book - I listened to it. (Ah, the joys of the UNC library collection of audiobooks!) And despite the overarching theme of the supernatural, I found it pretty interesting. I'll go ahead and get to its main premise:

Charlie Asher is our main character; a new father and erratic secondhand store owner living in San Francisco. After a series of strange events, most of them involving death, Charlie finds out that he has fell upon a new job position: Death merchant.

This information is passed onto Charlie by a strange, tall, black man wearing a mint green jacket. Asher learns that this man (interestly named "Minty Fresh") is also a death merchant. Minty essentially becomes Charlie's mentor, explaining both their responsibilities and the consequences of not finishing every assignment. A "death merchant" is basically somone who must find artifacts containing people's souls (they glow red, which is how they are recognized) so that the nearly deceased can pass on to the next life (death) without falling into the hands of "the darkness". If said souls are not found in time, bad things happen. Really bad things. Make sense?

I think that if I had actually tried to read this - and I mean really read it, not listened to - I probably wouldn't have finished it. But that's only because I'm not a particularly big fan of supernatural literature. If there is such a thing.

Despite all that, I still enjoyed listening to Moore's macabre novel as I made photo copies and opened mail during work . Audiobooks are really a wonderful thing. So are mp3 players. I highly recommend the two together.

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

If anyone else reads a lot of Nicholas Sparks books like I do, you already know the basic premise of every plot:

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Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Problem ensues, making it difficult for boy and girl to be together.

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The Choice is no exception.

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Travis Parker lives the perfect single life as a small town North Carolinian vet, until a pretty redhead named Gabby moves in next door. The two meet one day by chance that Gabby's dog has sudden complications with its pregnancy (after all, Travis is a verterinarian - who better to save the day?!). Despite the fact that Gabby is engaged (her fiance is out of town, or something), Travis repeatedly insists that Gabby hang out with him and his many family members and friends who come by for big outings quite often. Of course, after just a few short days (or maybe a week), Gabby and Travis fall in love. But what about her fiance?

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Nicholas Sparks says: Who gives a f***.

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There are several times throughout the book, you think, as a reader, Aw yes, that's "the choice" the title is referring to. But then a choice is made and the novel progresses. The more you think you know what exactly "The Choice" is, the farther away you are from the true obstacle of this novel. And you don't even get it until, like, the last 1/5 of the book.

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In fact, about 2/3 of this book deals with the short period of time in which Travis and Gabby fall in love. The second part (as Sparks so kindly labels "Part Two") flashes forward ELEVEN YEARS where the reader is slewn into the middle of a new, or rather, futuristic problem.

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Let's just say, I did not like this. At ALL. I already knew the couple would fall in love, but did he have to spend more than half of the novel showing us that? I wasn't even fully convinced, to be quite honest. I mean, can you really love someone after spending only a few days with them? Of course, Nicholas Sparks does live in a completely different world than us - his is perfect.

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Though the ending to this book was nice - and typical of Sparks - I felt the overall structure was very badly done. I'm not sure if I would have liked to see more pages to fill out the middle area that got skipped, or just less of the beginning. It was a fairly short novel in itself. Something tells me Sparks was feeling rushed with this one. That, or his 5 kids were driving him so bonkers that he couldn't think straight enough to write a coherently structured book.

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Ah, well. At least there's comfort in knowing Sparks will be releasing another novel some time this fall; and hopefully he'll have had a little more time to flesh this one out. We can only hope.

Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot

Cute! Cute! CUTE!

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That just about sums up this book. It took me about three nights to finish and I was soo dissapointed when I got to the last page. But not because the ending sucked; because I couldn't read anymore! Lucky for me, the next book comes out this summer. I really can't wait... But wait! Don't look up the next book yet, because the title will definitely RUIN the ending to this one, and no one likes a spoiler.

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I read the first book from this series last summer over a a good tanning session in my backyard. It was such a fun piece of chic-lit (a.k.a. chic literature); I knew I had to get the next one when it came out. So I put it on my Christmas list and my sister tried to find it for me, but none of the local bookshops had any copies. So I ended up looking it up on our campus library system once I got back to North Carolina in January, and low and behold: they had a copy.

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QB in the Big City begins with the lovable 23-year-old heroine, Lizzie. And seriously, you can't help but simply adore her to pieces. She's young and naive and has such a good heart, but somehow always opens her big mouth at the wrong times and gets herself into trouble. I mean it's all classic silly stuff, but makes the book oh so hard to put down.

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I'll try not to give too much of the plot away, but in the first 10 or so pages, Lizzie moves in with her boyfriend who has an apartment in NYC. At the same time she's freaked out about finding a job (she's a recent college graduate with a B.A. in the history of fashion, go figure) and her best friend seems to be having some sort of crisis with her long time boyfriend Chaz, which she refuses to talk about. But this is all just the basic premise here. There's actually so much more going on within each plot level, but saying more would give too much away.

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To put it frank: If you're like me, someone who can't help but eat up these girly little beach reads in one or two sittings, the Queen of Babble series is a MUST for you. But obviously read this book after Queen of Babble, since this is Cabot's sophmore release of the series. And while these books aren't going to stay with you for 50 years, or maybe even five, they're definitely worth it for the present-moment satisfaction they will bring -- But, (to quote a certain Reading Rainbow host) don't take my word for it.

Ray in Reverse by Daniel Wallace

I have to start off first by admitting that this review is going to be fairly biased. You might be interested to know that I am currently taking a creative writing course with Daniel Wallace at UNC-CH. For those of you who don't know, Wallace is the author of Big Fish, which was made into a movie by Tim Burton a few years back. I happen to think he's an awesome guy, fun teacher, and great writer. So now that you are aware of my personal bias, I will continue on with the review...
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This book is more a collection of stories than it is the standard novel. However, each chapter (or story) reveals a different period in the main character, Ray's life. We start off in Heaven and end in Heaven, but the middle sections go from Ray's later days down to his early childhood. I felt that the latest chapters of his life (in the beginning of the book) were the most emotional and touching. They provide a glimpse of the relationship Ray has with his wife after years of struggle. Even though we don't know what's happened between them at this point, Wallace does a great job at evincing the strain and bittersweetness between the couple. From there the stories travel back in time revealing bits and pieces of the past to help the reader understand how Ray got to be the person he is at the end of his life.
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I found that I really loved most of the stories. Some of them were sad, others hilarious, and one or two of them were a little slow, but necessary to understand the rest of the book. By the end I felt a real sense of closure, a full circle of Ray's life, if you will. Daniel Wallace conveyed that very well. In all honesty, I was pretty surprised by how much I enjoyed this book; seeing as I wasn't extremely wild about Big Fish, which I read over this past Christmas break. Both books were fairly short reads, as are the rest of Wallace's publishings. Usually they round out to be no more than 230 pages or so. .
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Ray in Reverse was definitely a good find. It's rare to come across, though, due to its being published by a small company in Chapel Hill. I know copies can found used at Amazon.com, though, as well as at UNC's main library -- though that probably won't help most of you. But I've already checked out another one of Wallace's books and am looking forward to reading even more of them down the road - as well as telling him what I think about his work : )

I Just Want My Pants Back by David J. Rosen

Now that I'm done with this semester's two first midterms and its the weekend, I finally have the time to write the review of a book I finished about a week ago.

To say what this novel is about, is kind of hard. Mostly because it doesn't exactly have a real plot. The main character is a 20 something year old guy named Jason who lives in NY, and is kind of a loser (my idea of a loser, anyway). We get to see a few months of his life. Maybe a year, I'm not sure. But it's basically all the same: Get up. Get high. Go to work. Talk to sarcastic and witty friend Tina online. Go home. Get high. Go to bar. Get drunk. Hook up with super hot (and usually FREAKY) chic. Get high again. Repeat.

That's the basic formula. But I'll admit, I was entertained the entire way through. And actually, there is a slight plot that really has nothing to do with Jason's pants at all (well, a girl does "borrow" his favorite Dickies, and then never returns his calls when Jason wants them back, but tha'ts not important). It's basically that his life revolves around the things I've mentioned above, plus he's supposed to be the rabbi (everyone's Jewish in this novel... what's up with Jews always making everyone else Jewish in there books and movies?) of his best friend's wedding. Oh, and a few crappy things happen along the way, of course. Without a few bumps in the road there would be no story.

But let me assure you, the things this kid gets into are very... interesting. And Rosen is absolutely hilarious. Every other sentence almost makes me want to laugh out loud (I never laugh out loud unless I'm watching a movie and someone else laughs first). Just flip through to a random page, read a couple sentences and they will probably make you smirk. Watch, I'll do it right now...

"He resembled Jeff Foxworthy. I felt like saying to him, "If two girls are ignoring you for this long and you're still harassing them, you might be a redneck. Or, possibly... an asshole."

Makes you chuckle a little, no? Or how about:

"You have to be seriously committed to be goth in the summer."

Because it's so true, right? Well I thought it was funny. Anyway, this book was a quick, fun, sometimes strange little ride. Probably more of a guy's book though, despite me (a girl, as you all know) having a vast appreciation for his humor.

Bottom line: I Just Want My Pants Back is hilarious and orginal. You could read it in one sitting. I don't think I'd tell anyone no, it totally blowed, but it also was no Hemingway.

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

At first I had a lot of mixed feelings about this book. In fact, I think that by the end of the novel I was more unsure of what I felt about it than I initially was in the beginning. But after letting it set in for a few days, I decided that I really did enjoy it as a whole. This book, quite frankly, is a giant roller coaster for the main character, that has way more 100 foot, 180 degree drops than slow yet sure trudges upward.

The main character, Dolores, is born in the 60's, her parents are messed up and she also hates her grandmother. As she gets older, kids make fun of her for no apparent reason, her parents drag her through a real tough time, and a man does something not-so-nice against her will. Slowly she begins to search out comfort in food, which quickly becomes apparent on her body. The back of the book says:

"When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder."

This sort of leads you to believe that this book is all about a young woman who is over weight and dealing with the trials it comes with. In reality, this is only one smallish portion of the book. The rest goes on to cover a rather huge chunk of her life where things "get better" in about 2 second intervals due to both Dolore's ignorance and a few things beyond her control. But I mostly belive she puts a lot of the things she goes through on herself. That is, only once she's out of her teens does she seem to refuse any responsibility for herself and claim the "woe is me" title.

Something that really irked me about this novel was the fact that everyone and their mom seemed to have a personal vendetta against overweight people. Now, I see this happening a lot with younger children, especially in elementary and middle schools (as the saying goes, kids can be cruel), but not really beyond that. By late high school I think more people choose not to even mention the fact that someone is overweight, much less look at them with disgust. Two-hundred and and fifty-seven pounds is big for someone who is 5'6", but not exactly that uncommon. Maybe it was in the 60's, I don't know. Or maybe because I've never weighed that much, I don't know. I could be the ignorant fool. But in any case, I felt that the discrimination was a little much, just about to the point of being unrealistic.

Besides those minor discrepencies, I did enjoy this book. It took me about a week and a half to read the 464 pages, but I had fun with it. Well, not so much fun (as it could be very depressing), but I was thoroughly engaged throughout its entirety. Though I couldn't really relate to the character, I did like watching her crazy (and there is some weird stuff in this book) life unfold, as well as see her self-growth. There was a lot of humor I enjoyed as well. While Dolores can be a brat and down right bitchy at times, it's also amusing. Her early snarkiness also allows us to see her in a more refreshing light as she gets older and has unconciously changed.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an intensely deep coming of age story. It definitely pulls you into a lot different heavy emotions.

If on the other hand you want something more fresh, fun, and fast, I'd say head in another direction. Or just wait for my next post.

Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty

The funny thing about this book is that it is the latest in a 4-novel series; one in which I completely trashed two years ago in my myspace blog. I went off about the main character's overall bashing of morals, Republicans, and religion. I felt insulted throughout all of the first three books, was more than unimpressed with the author's writing, and yet I went ahead and checked out the fourth installment from our library. I must have been thinking maybe this will be the book that shows some growth in the main character, now that she has graduated from college. Maybe she'll realize the importance of values and the fact that she has been very immature for the past six years of "her life". I was hoping to see change. I did not get this at all.

Fourth Comings opens with the main character Jessica Darling, who is about to break up with her long time on-again off-again boyfriend. The first thirty pages are very entertaining and sometimes a little heart-breaking. I was on the edge of my seat. Or, bed. Then Jessica's boyfriend asks her to marry him instead of break up. Jessica tries to stay true to her original intention of seeing him, but her boyfriend insists that she take one week to think about the proposal and return again with an answer.

So the whole basis of the book is: Which will she choose?

The entire novel leans towards one answer. I won't tell you which, though, because no fair in me spoiling it. I will admit, some of McCafferty's novel has its amusing points. The author makes a lot of witty remarks, but unfortunately her characters go little beyond that. Everyone in the book is either immature, real annoying, or completely insane. Jessica never grows up, never evolves in this book. She simply comes to a conclusion that I had predicted at the beginning, and it literally ends with it. Not even an afterward.

Do I smell another sequel?

Hopefully I'll know better the next time her new book hits the shelves.

Greetings

Whether on purpose, or not, you have stumbled upon my newest blog, purely devoted to the books I'll be reading over the next three-hundred and fifty-something days.

Recently I thought it might be fun to keep track of how many novels I read in a year, and then I thought it would be even more fun to write about them, too. That way I could share my opinions on books in a more appropriate space than my myspace blog, and not bore people to death who aren't really interested in the first place.

Currently I am reading a couple of books... one I should finish tonight, and then I'm picking up another right after. Ideally, I'll have my first review up tomorrow, so WATCH OUT! for that : )

Anyhow, I'm not sure how this thing is really going to go, or even if more than 3 people will ever read my posts, but I'll try to keep it interesting. I'm hoping to write at least twice a month during school semesters, and much more often during the summer.

Also, I'm open to all book suggestions if you ever read a review and think, oh, I think she would really like blank blank! Seriously, I need more diversity in my life. So thanks in advance to my fellow literature junkies, and hopefully I'll be writing here again real soon.

- Mel