Tag: Early Review

Beyond Belief

gr4c5Leave a comment

Hamilton, Josh. Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back. New York: Faith Words, 2008.

Do not expect Beyond Belief  to be eloquent or a great literary masterpiece. It is what it is – a straightforward, simple, eyt heartfelt account of one athlete’s fall from grace and subsequent redemption through religion. Drafted right out of high school and given a salary of 3.96 million, one can hardly anticipate fancy prose from Josh Hamilton. Instead, what lies in the 257 pages (with help from ESPN senior writer Tim Keown) is a humble account of his life as an athlete, drug addict, and finally, a man of faith.

Here are the lines I hope they keep, “in the vicious cycle of drug use, crack is the endgame. It eats you up from the inside out” (p 149), and “I understand that, and I expect that. My past invites that” (p225).

October Was…

gr4c5Leave a comment

October was dinner with a few good friends, a trip homehomehome, a walkathon, the decision to not care about you anymore, the Pumpkin Fest, a trip to the sugar shack, a Rock Band party, a Sex in the City night, a car accident, a dislocated arm, a marathon phone call which I needed desperately, the birth of Manorabug Spuke, a few anniversaries, cleaning house, setting up shop.


Here is October’s list of books:

  • Carry on, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse ~ delightfully English and silly
  • Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler ~ characters so real you could bump into them on the street.
  • Big If  by Mark Costello ~ probably the best book of the month, considering we are in an election year.
  • Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer ~ a book for kids but delightfully wicked for adults as well.
  • Dubliners by James Joyce ~ celebrating the best time to visit Ireland.
  • The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe ~ perfect for Halloween!
  • Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s & 40s (Contents selected and notes written by Robert Polito) ~ Reading this knocked three other Challenge books off my list!
  1. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
  2. They Shoot Horses Don’t They by Horace McCoy
  3. The big Clock by Kenneth Fearing

For the first time in a long time I didn’t get a Early Review book from LibraryThing. Odd thing is, I’m not disappointed. It was nice to not have to worry about how to squeeze it into an already packed reading schedule. It was nice not having to stress about writing the review “on time.” True, one could argue that there isn’t really strict deadline but I always feel obligated to get something written before the book goes on sale. Isn’t that the point? Having said all that, I will be requesting for October because well, the wait is half the fun!

October Is…

gr4c52 Comments

DSCN0205
October is Halloween! For anyone who knows me, Halloween starts on October 1st and runs for 31 days. This is the way it should be. I have a whole big box of Halloween stuff and every October 1st out it comes. Okay, so this year it was a little early. I bought a tiny skull completely off timeline, too! The skeltons, black cats, bats, witches, goblins, and of course, my fave – jack-o-laterns!
October is also another chance to slip away to Monhegan for a handful of days. Home Sweet Autumn Home. For music it’s Sean, of course. There are other trips, I’m sure. Just ask Joe.

For reading, here’s how it stacks up. For the Book Lust Challenge:

  • Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler ~ in honor of Anne’s birth month
  • Artimis Fowl by Eoin Colfer ~ in honor of National Fantasy Month
  • Big If by Mark Costello ~ October is the best time to visit New England
  • Carry On Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse ~ in honor of Wodehouse’s birth month
  • Crime Novels: American Noir of the 30’s and 40’s by Horace ~ in honor of Crime Novel month

That’s about it. Pumpkin Fest later. Big charity walk for breast cancer on the 26th. Natalie’s birthday…

Any Given Doomsday

gr4c5Leave a comment

Handeland, Lori. Any Given Doomsday. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008.

Any Given Sunday was a football movie. Any Given Thursday was a John Mayer dvd. Any Given Doomsday is my latest Early Review book for LibraryThing. I have to start off by saying this book was out of my comfort zone. On purpose. I don’t read traditional “chick lit” and I steer away from “fantasy” genre. Any Given Doomsday s eemed to be both. But, like with the Book Lust Challenge (which is teaching me to appreciate all styles of writing), I wanted to give this book, and myself, a chance. I’m sorry that I did.

Reading Any Given Doomsday was like trying to enjoy a decent omelet only to have it occasionally spoiled by the jarring crunch of a careless eggshell. The overall plot, monsters are going to take over the world, was thrilling but what was so unsettling was my dislike for the main character, Elizabeth Phoenix. There wasn’t enough character depth to make me appreciate her tough-as-nails attitude. Her strength definitely was a necessity to her position in life (seer, psychic, etc), but I tired quickly of her horny, yet angry mood swings. She was attracted to a few different monster/characters and for every sexy thought she had an equally violent one (clenching fists etc). When she finally “gave in” to having sex with that “must I?” attitude the seductions were weak and the sex was gratuitous and predictable because of Lizzie’s libido. Of course, the transfer of supernatural powers through intercourse made the graphic scenes easy to include.
All in all I thought Any Given Doomsday tried too hard to be over the top dramatic use of religion as an explanation for the plot, the use of sex as a vehicle for smut, and the shallow character development made

I’m not a big fan of stupid characters. Here’s a great example. Liz is raped by her exboyfriend turned monster. Afterwards he tells her she is to be his sex slave for life: never wear clothes and “give it to him” whenever and wherever he wants. She leaves to take a shower and is somehow shocked and offended to find her clothes missing when she gets out. Duh? She’s outraged despite the fact “the rules” were laid out for her. Insert eye roll here.

Completely off topic: the chick on the cover, who I am assuming is Elizabeth Phoenix, reminds me of a member of the Nashville, TN band called Jypsie. As a result, I kept wanting to put a Southern drawl in Liz’s mouth!

September Was…

gr4c5Leave a comment


September started with a heat wave and the ache of leaving home. School is back in session and I feel like I am trying to rein in wild horses. Here’s what I managed to read in this crazy, crazy month.

  • World’s Fair by E.L. Doctorow ~ yeah, yeah. Not on the original September list. So sue me.
  • The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh ~ really wild book. I discovered tow movies I want to see thanks to this book.
  • A Good Enough Parent by Bruno Bettelheim ~ indepth psychobabble (good for all those parents who realllly want to analyze their kids).
  • Far Side of Paradise: a Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald by Arthur Mizner ~ fascinating and funny.
  • The Diaries of Jane Somers by Doris Lessing ~ this one tricked me because when I first picked it up I thought it was going to be biographical nonfiction!
  • The Nowhere City by Alison Lurie ~ this should be a movie!
  • Pictures from an Institution by Randall Jarrell ~ technically I didn’t finish this one in time so it will be on the list again!

For LibraryThing’s Early Review program:

  • Emily Post by Laura Claridge ~ I have to admit, I wasn’t into this as much as I thought I would be.
  • Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland ~ I’m still struggling with the review for this one!
  • The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True Stories by Pagan Kennedy ~ Having forgot my last September challenge book, I tore through this one. My original plan was to save it for October but I couldn’t…it was that good.

For the hell of it:

  •  What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: a memoir by Haruki Murakami ~ totally off my Challenge radar, but I had to read it. It came highly, highly recommended so I jumped off the Challenge train and read about running. Totally worth it.
  • Under the Neon ~ a crazy book about the homeless who live in the storm drains underneath Vegas.
  • The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch ~ another book that came highly recommended. Sad, though!

Other than the books, it was a month for seeing good, good friends. Two friends from Colorado (haven’t seen them in four years!), a Rebecca Correia show (and 4.8 mi run with her!), the Big E with Jypsie and traffic, a good long conversation with one of my oldest and bestest friends in the whole wide world, and, and, and, a visit from my elusive, always on the go, friend SPB. I even got to have dinner with him! How lucky am I?
**personal note: thanks to everyone who helped me through this month. I’m out of the woods.

Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex

gr4c5Leave a comment


Kennedy, Pagan. The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True Stories. Santa Fe: Santa Fe Writers Project, 2008.

When I requested this book from LibraryThing’s Early Review program I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Sure, I had read the paragraph and *thought* I knew. It’s like when you think you know the way, and so for awhile you think you are going in the right direction, until you’re not. Then you realize you didn’t know the way and and still don’t; suddenly, there you aren’t. You are lost.

Pagan Kennedy’s Dangerous Joy is a series of nonfiction essays with two central themes: invention and humanity. You could call them short stories, mini biographies because each chapter focuses on the life of someone creative – ranging from Alex Comfort to Pagan’s own mother. As readers we are drawn into not only the science behind their inventions, but the personality behind the answer to why they did what they did. Every story is peppered with humor and science – an unlikely combination that works.
Kennedy’s first story is about Alex Comfort, the man behind The Joy of Sex. Who knew that Alex was a British biologist hell bent on reinventing orgies as the norm for sex? His story is compelling and completely tragic. Kennedy goes on to introduce us to Amy Smith, recipient of the MacArthur Foundation’s Genius award; Dr Irene Pepperberg, trainer of a brilliant African Grey parrot named Alex; Cheryl Haworth, Olympic weight lifter; and Conor Oberst, a tormented musician…just to name a few.

Emily Post

gr4c5Leave a comment

Claridge, Laura. Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners. New York: Random House, 2008.

Let me start by saying I love biographies. When I requested Emily Post as a July bonus book from LibraryThing’s Early Review program I really didn’t think I had a chance of getting it. After all, this would be my 18th ER book if chosen. Crazy. But, there is was, on my doorstep, without fanfare on Friday. No notification, no nothing. Just a hit and run from Mr. UPS man.

Because it came so late and unannounced I couldn’t fit it into my August list. The July bonus book became a September review just like that.

Emily Post is a biography laden with details – chock full of history and background. Reading it was like wallowing in words, almost too many words. At times I got bogged down by the excessive descriptive narrative while other times it helped explain Emily’s reactions to the lap of luxury world around her. This biography is not limited to Emily’s life but extends, in detail, to the people around her. What is important to note is Claridge’s exhaustive research into not only the history of Emily’s era, but the political and cultural climate of her time thus drawing a complete and compelling picture of Emily Post beyond etiquette.

Admitting Defeat

gr4c58 Comments

Forgive me, but I can’t get into The Far Field: a novel of Ceylon by Edie Meidav. I feel like a failure because she has been compared to my all time favorite author, Barbara Kingsolver. That should afford me some loyalty. And yet, yet I can’t wrap my brain around this 600 page novel. Not at this time. It’s not that I find it boring. It’s not that I find it difficult. It’s neither of those things and nothing like that. I think in my twisted sense of summer it’s not entertaining enough for the dying days of August. It’s not a fun in the sun, beachy kind of read. Not right now. Never mind the fact I haven’t been to any beach since June. Never mind that I haven’t seen the sun for days and days.
So, I am admitting defeat and putting down Far Field… for now. Sorry.

In the meantime, I got two Early Review books (one already finished & reviewed – in the bag, as they say). I’m saving Emily Post’s biography for September to even out the reading just a little. I want to get through Egger’s The Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius if nothing else.

ps~ I have decided to take all my “attempted” books back and give them all second chances. It slows the BL challenge down a little, but everyone deserves a second chance. Right? Of course I’m setting myself up to feel like sh!t if I can’t finish something for a second time!

Blackbird, Farewell

gr4c5Leave a comment

Greer, Robert. Blackbird, Farewell. Berkley: Frog Books, 2008.

I took a chance requesting Blackbird, Farewell for the Early Review program. For one thing, I don’t know that much about basketball (the little I do know I learned this season from watching the Celtics win the championship this year). For another, I have never read a CJ Floyd novel. I didn’t want to make comparisons or see how it stacked up against to other CJ Floyd books. None of that really mattered when I got down to the serious reading.

Blackbird, Farewell starts out a little rough. It begins with Shandell “Blackbird” Bird going to make a deposit at a bank. Within 27 pages he is dead. Leading up to his murder Bird is described as “having a problem”, jittery, frustrated, sad, mechanical, dismissive and blank. It seems excessive considering the reader already knows he is to die. The cliches did little to pique my interest as to what was really wrong with Bird or care when he was killed.

When Bird’s best friend and college teammate, Damion “Blood” Madrid decides he needs to solve the murder the plot of Blackbird, Farewell  picks up. Madrid is the godson of famed CJ Floyd, a Denver, Colorado bail bondsman. While rough around the edges Madrid does a good job tracking down key players in the mystery. Of course he has his beautiful girlfriend, Niki, for a sidekick as well as the mafia, a hitman, and a Persian Gulf war vet (flora Jean Benson, CJ’s partner). Blackbird has enough drama (violence & sex) to make it interesting but not overly stereotypical of murder mysteries. The streets of Denver, as well as surrounding towns of Fort Collins and Boulder serve as an accurate and appealing backdrop for Greer’s mystery to play itself out.

Final thought: If Greer is trying to sell Blackbird, Farewell on the popularity of other CJ Floyd mysteries he shouldn’t. CJ Floyd doesn’t even enter the picture until the final 20 pages of the book. It is misleading to lure readers in by saying CJ Floyd is there to watch Madrid’s back (back cover) when he isn’t even in the book until the very end. Floyd fans are sure to be disappointed. Blackbird, Farewell stands alone a fun read apart from the CJ Floyd series.

Edited to add: If I were Greer’s editor I would have asked him to change Flora Jean’s “gasket popping” comment to something else, especially since not even five pages later a completely differently character is using a very similar gasket phrase.

What We All Long For

gr4c5Leave a comment

Brand, Dionne. What We All Long For: a Novel. Toronto: First St. Martin (Griffin edition), 2008.

From the very beginning I thought this book looked interesting. Originally published in 2005 I had heard that it had even been used in university Lit classes. Upon knowing that tidbit I assumed a level of complication with the characters and a deeper depth of plot. Here is what I came away with: complicated characters that all want something (parallel to the title). Their relationships to one another go around and around – always circling one another – but really, going nowhere. This is where the plot came up short. That sense of longing hums along the fine lines of each relationship, and there is a common theme of boundaries but beyond those connections each character is lost. Tuyen is a lesbian in love with her straight best friend. Longing for someone she can’t have, sexual preference is Tuyen’s barrier. Carla is the biracial bike messenger Tuyen is in love with. Carla has a troubled brother. Longing to steer her brother straight, lack of money is Carla’s barrier to helping him. Oku is a music-loving college drop-out of Jamaican decent. His unrequited love for Jackie is his longing while her boyfriend is the barrier. Jackie longs for simplicity. Her barrier is being attracted to more than one man.

Oddly enough, the linear, uncomplicated character of the story (told in first person) is the one with the most depth and more intriguing story. Quy is the brother of Tuyen. He was separated from his parents in Vietnam as a very young child and has been lost to them ever since. His story is how her survived refugee camps in Thailand and how eventually, he made his way back to Tuyen and her family. Tuyen has never met this long-lost brother so when he reunites with his parents life changes for Tuyen.

The last character in What We All Long For is probably Brand’s most complex and mysterious: the city of Toronto itself. As the characters move in and out of its restaurants, nightclubs, streetcars, and alleys the city responds. It lives and breathes and entices just like its human counterparts.

Tomato Girl

gr4c51 Comment

Pupek, Jayne. Tomato Girl. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 2008.

What a beautifully written, tragic first book! The characters are so true to life and so compelling I was picturing them in a movie. It’s told in first person from the point of view of 11 year old Ellie. With the help of a series of seamless recollections Ellie recounts her life with a mentally ill mother and a cheating father. Ellie’s father is taken with, and soon overcome by, a teenage girl who delivers tomatoes to the store he manages. From the moment the “tomato girl” comes into Ellie’s life every day is stacked with another unbelievable tragedy, a level of sadness leading to horror much deeper than the one before. It is hard to imagine the amount of pain this child has to endure at such a tender age. Pupek writes with sentences full of foreshadowing. They hang heavy like dark clouds, bloated with the storm that will erupt any minute.
My only complaint is absence of addressing molestation. Ellie is “grabbed” by boy hard enough to leave a bruise. At the same time her period has started (her first). When Sherrif Rhodes discovers the blood, and Ellie tells him of the rough boy, the Sheriff doesn’t take Ellie to a hospital to be examined by a real doctor. She is brought to a black woman who practices witchcraft. Because the story is set in the late 60’s and racism is hinted at I was surprised Sherriff Rhodes would bring a child to her rather than the local hospital. This is the only part I wish was explained better.

ps~ there are a ton of those “gotcha” sentences that I love so much. Too many to mention.

 

Home Girl

gr4c5Leave a comment

Matloff, Judith. Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block. New York: Random House, 2008.

I could not put this book down. From start to finish it had me looking to answer that What Happened Next? question.
Matloff trades in one adventurous life (as a foreign correspondent) for another (home owner and wife in New York City). The exchange seems benign until the reader (and Matloff herself) realizes the Victorian she is buying is decrepit; in need of repair in every possible way, the new neighborhood is a one of the biggest drug zones in the country, and on a daily basis she must protect her property from the addicts who have called it home. If that wasn’t enough, Matloffmust walk a fine line of graceful respect and distance with the dealers on the street while becoming a mother, a crime fighter and witness to the tragedies of September 11th. Throughout it all, Matloff remains humbled and humorous.

Other observations: The picture on the inside cover indicates the title would have been Home Girl: Building a Dream Home in a Drug Zone. Not sure what I think about that.
I hope they keep the author’s note. Matloff’s sentiment about wishing the events weren’t true really intrigued me…really made me want to read the book.
Of course, there were quotes I absolutely loved, but I’ll keep them to myself until the book is published.

Best Girlfriends Getaways

gr4c5Leave a comment

Bond, Marybeth. Best Girlfriends Getaways Worldwide. Washington, DC: National Geographic, 2008.

I am thrilled I got this book to review. Not because I plan to jet off to Africa next week (because I’m not), and not because I even remotely consider myself a worldly traveler (definitely not), but because this book allowed me to imagine the possibilities. Written in such a style that seem to say go for it! Written in such a way that I started imagining some of my best female friends on such adventures with me. All of the information zeros in on what women would find interesting and worthwhile without making it seem too Sex in the City and cliche.
If I were to complain about any one aspect of Best Girlfriends it would be the organization of information. While I loved having such chapters as “Cosmopolitan Cities” (p 39) and “Floating Fantasies” (p 191) I would have loved all things France in one chapter, all things Spain in another. It’s one of those chicken-egg questions. Which comes first when it comes to travel, the location or the activity? I don’t know many people who chose their garden walk (p 211) before the country they would travel to.
Probably the best feature to Best Girlfriends is the wealth of information. Each chapter is organized into where to eat, where to stay, how to get there, points of interest, how to prepare for the trip, even events to fly in for. So much information on every page and not just about the destination, either. Tips on what to pack, how to stay safe, different aromatherapy oils, best luggage options, to name a few.
In addition to having interesting chapters Bond includes great first hand accounts of other women and their travels. Those stories were what really got me thinking about a trip with my mother, my oldest friend. The only information I would not heed is prices. What Bond quotes today might be completely different tomorrow. It is in her best interest to leave that information out and let the travelers research that when it’s time to get away.

Franklin And Lucy

gr4c52 Comments

Persico, Joseph E. Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life. New York: Random House, 2008.

Here’s what went on LibraryThing:
When I finally finished the last page of Franklin and Lucy I had two very different thoughts. The first was this was a well written, very thorough biography of the social side of the Roosevelts. It was written in an easy, conversational style that, at times, was hard to put down. The detail given to who, what, where, when, and why made you feel as though you were experiencing every aspect of the era. My second thought was it was an unfortunate title for a work comprised of so much more than just the relationships of Franklin D. Roosevelt. A more accurate title would have included Eleanor. A possible option could have been Franklin and Eleanor: Mrs Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in their lives. Another option would be to remove any section dealing with Eleanor that didn’t include her husband’s involvement and focus solely on Franklin.
The other detraction from the book was Perisco’s almost obsessive need to repeatedly include Lucy Rutherfurd’s physical description in such flowery detail. While Franklin’s oft repeated “barrel chested” description was needed to stress his need to hide his disability (and to emphasize his physical decline before his death), and Eleanor’s lack of beauty was important in context to her character as being tragic and unlovable, they were not mentioned nearly as often as Lucy’s exquisiteness.

As an aside (something that didn’t go on LibraryThing), how awful is this? I kept comparing myself to Eleanor! Before you think I’ve gone crazy, hear me out: Perisco described Eleanor as:

  • when stressed Eleanor’s voice grew shrill
  • was insecure
  • was earnest instead of vivacious
  • “schoolmarm air about her”
  • Eleanor failed to recognize humor
  • oblivious to fashion, often choosing sensible over stylish
  • overwhelmed by children
  • suspicious about kindness
  • fought for the underdog

OKay, so I will never go onto greatness and my marriage is a thousand million trillion times better, but the other stuff fits. Kinda sorta maybe.

Jerusalem Diet

gr4c5Leave a comment

Besserman, Judith and Emily Budick. The Jerusalem Diet: Guided Imagery and Personal Path to Weight Control. Jerusalem: Green Publishing, 2007.

The very first thing I liked about this book was the statement that it is not a conventional “diet” book. Yay for that! It’s a book about making choices. Sometimes, in the world of nutrition and eating better, it is better to not think in terms of dieting; instead think in terms of getting healthier. Period.
The second thing I liked about this book is the disclaimer about gender. Right in the introduction the subject of why women are ‘targeted’ is addressed. The authors are quick to point out that while men have benefited from their methods, the conversation of this book is directed toward women because a woman’s reasons for dieting differ from a man’s.
Other points made in The Jerusalem Diet seemed to be common sense. A lot of conversation covers emotional eating and how food takes the place of other wants and desires. This is something any dieter has definitely heard before. The recommendation to start a food diary seems commonplace as well. Doesn’t Weight Watchers encourage the same awareness of dietary intake?
The main focus of The Jerusalem Diet is the use of imagery, or guided visualization. Throughout the book there are 43 different imagery exercises to be practiced during both the dieting and maintaining stage of weight loss. The exercises are conveniently indexed in the back as well. There is a pleasant mix of “lecture” and storytelling between exercises. Besserman and Budick share the experiences of their patients, which results in personalizing the “how to-ness” of the rest of the book.
One final addition to the book is a list of soup recipes designed to promote weight loss. It isn’t clear why the program is called the Jerusalem Diet other than the fact Besserman practices in Jerusalem and Budick teaches at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

*Disclaimer: while reading The Jerusalem Diet for review I also practiced what it preached to see how effective it was in helping me with my dietary concerns. Stay tuned because I’m still working on it!