Anna and the French Kiss

I just finished Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins last night after my friend Erika recommended it to me.  Well technically I finished it this morning, in the wee hours to be more precise.  I've been a bit sick and for some reason despite the fact that I am completely exhausted, I'm not sleeping very well.  So when I went to bed last night I thought I'd read for a while until I get sleepy.  You know how that usually works- just read a book while you're all snuggled  and cozy in bed and before too long you can hardly keep your eyes open.  Well in this case it did not work.  I started this book at about 11:30 pm and read and read and read.  And at about 2:45 am I looked at the clock, realized that I only had about a chapter left and still wasn't tired, so I just finished it.  Clearly I enjoyed the book since I read it straight through.  It was pretty fun.

It's the story of Anna, who is sent off to Paris by her author father for her Senior year of high school.  And how she goes from hating being there and missing her home, family, friends and crush back in the States to making new friends, falling in love with Paris and all it has to offer, and developing a new crush along the way.  Again a typical chick-lit-young-adult book.  But you know I like those.  In fact I liked it so much that I have already requested Perkins' next book Lola and the Boy Next Door.  Which apparently has Anna and her boyfriend in it as well as side characters - very excellent.  Can't wait to get it.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

Lisa chose The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart for our September book club and I adored it!  Frankie is hilarious.  In fact I think I have a bit of a girl crush on her.  I want to be just like her when I grow up!  What's that you say?  I'm technically already grown up?  Well then, I will instead pretend that I was just like Frankie when I was 16 years old and am now the woman that she would have grown up to be.  Oooh I feel cooler and more interesting already.  I also find myself suddenly craving cheese fries and strawberry Mentos.  Curiouser and curiouser.

Everyone at book club really enjoyed it as well.  Frankie's just so spunky how can you not love her?  Ultimately it's just a quick, fun read - but sometimes you just gotta give yourself a break and read some fluff!  At least I think so - and so does everyone in our book club.  It's the story of Frankie Landau-Banks (big surprise there) who grows up enough between 9th and 10th grade that she goes from a rather small ordinary slightly geeky girls to a tall curvy bombshell with attitude in one fell swoop.  And sets out with her new found self along with her quick wit and scheming mind and decides to make some changes at her elite boarding school.  Namely a secret society The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds.  So the point is if you want to read a good old young adult strong female lead type book this is the one for you!

Heart of the Matter

So I've read all (I think) of Emily Giffin's books, so I picked up Heart of the Matter the other day at the library while I was waiting for my requests to come in.  And I guess it had been a while since I read Giffin's other books, because I remember liking them.  I had vague memories of disliking a lot of her main characters - but I thought I always enjoyed the books themselves.  That being said I'm pretty sure I read all her other books when I was young(er) and single.  And now I am older and married and more judgmental I guess - cause let me tell you I was not impressed.  In fact about half way through the second chapter I told Mark the entire plot and the ending, and I was right.  That is not good if I can predict your entire story, including specific details at the very beginning.  I'm just saying.

I guess in the years since I read her other books, I forgot that they are all about cheating and affairs, etc.  So it will come as no surprise that this one it too.  And I am just frustrated with the idea that people have that all men will cheat.  The notion that if they haven't yet, they will, it is inevitable really ticks me off.  It is not true.  I won't believe it.  I do believe there are cheater - both male and female, but I do not believe it is an inevitability.  It is a choice - a bad one - made by one person that inflicts harm upon many.  And that's my soapbox for you.  Anyway I didn't actually hate this book, I did finish it after all.  Although I did put it down at least three times declaring I was done with it, only to pick it up again.  And I must admit that the main reason I always picked it up again was because I wanted to know if I was right.  And as I mentioned previously - I was.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

I just finished Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs and I really wanted to like this book.  Perhaps I went into it with my expectations too high?  I don't know.  What I do know is that I expected it to be the story of an adult - I had read a few things about it and knew it was about a boy hearing the fantastical stories of his grandpa's childhood on an island and then when he's grown he goes on an adventure looking for the island himself.  And for some reason I thought that meant he was going to be in his 20s or 30s.  But he's 16.  Which in and of itself is fine, it just takes the story on in a different way than it could have if he had been older.

Anyway without giving anything away, I will just say that there are several things that come up throughout the story that aren't ever explained that bother me.  Like how are they sending and receiving mail?  I'm just curious, because based on the story there is no way that they could be sending each other mail.  I've thought of several possible solutions to this (like a PO Box), but based on what we know of the island they don't make sense with the story.  (If you have any ideas, let me know!)  But the main issue I have is with one particular relationship - I spent most of the book trying not to think about it, because if I did then I found it rather disturbing.  I mean didn't an editor or someone along the way say, "Wait a minute, this is a little too weird.  Let's change it."  Apparently not.  My brother Mike read it a few weeks before me and he felt the same way - if not more so.  And of course it leaves the story hanging, so there's going to be a sequel.  Typical.  I don't think it was good enough to warrant a sequel (or heaven forbid a series!) I think it is a great idea that is a bit forced and not well executed.  I mean I didn't hate the book - I just thought it was OK, but I wanted to love it.  So in the end I am left a little annoyed and pretty sure that I won't be reading the next one.

Plum Wine

About 10 years ago I took a creative writing class at NCSU and my instructor was Angela Davis-Gardner.  At some point during the semester she brought in a box and as she carefully pulled a stack of papers tied together with twine out of it, she excitedly told us that she had finished her book Plum Wine.  After completing the class my mom gave me two of her other novels Felice and Forms of Shelter as a gift, which I read and enjoyed.  But over the passing years I had forgotten about Plum Wine.  When I was in the library last week, they had a section of NC authors and there it was, right in front of me, telling me to read it. So naturally I checked it out and started reading it as soon as I got home.

It is the story of Barbara a young American woman teaching Literature at a women's college in Tokyo, Japan in the 1960s, during the Vietnam War.  She inherits a tansu chest from another teacher and dear friend, Michi, who has recently passed away.  The chest if filled with bottles of homemade plum wine that Michi and her mother made, dating back to 1930.  But the real story begins when she realizes there are letters wrapped around each bottle telling the stories of Michi and her mother and grandmother - telling the stories of their family and their survival of Hiroshima.

It is a beautiful story of love and loss.  And an unusual point of view - because in a way it is the Japanese point of view of WWII and Hiroshima as well as Vietnam, but it is the Japanese point of view told through and American woman in Japan.  So it's very interesting and intricate.  I loved this story and found myself easily lost in it.  And while reading it, I often thought of the class I took with her 10 years ago and how this novel gave me a new perspective of her, even more so than her other novels.  And it really made me want to start writing again...

A Discovery of Witches

I picked up A Discovery of Witches by Deborah E. Harkness thinking that is was going to be a stand alone book.  But it is the first of a trilogy - the All Souls Trilogy to be exact.  And not that that's a bad thing - I love a good series.  But I was in fact in the mood for a single book, that actually had resolution at the end.  Oh well.

My brother Michael and I read this book at the same time and we both agreed that there are times in the book (a lot of times) that made us think Harkness had read Twilight and thought "I could do better."  But by the end it was enough different than Twilight that I really did enjoy it.  Though I will admit that when I was a little more than half way through it and realized that it was going to be a series I was annoyed.  And fortunately for her, she ended it in such a way that I found so interesting that I will be reading the next one (whenever that comes out).  Blast her!  Why did I have to read book 1 the year it came out?  I hate waiting for the rest of the series.  Especially when it is definitely not a midnight party Harry Potter type of book that is more than worth the wait.  I have a feeling this series is going to leave me disappointed.  Hmm, how's that for a rave review?!

More Than Human

A friend of mine loaned me More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon, telling me that it is a must-read for all sci-fi readers and that it inspired the comic X-Men.  So naturally I decided I had to read it.  It is amazing to me that Sturgeon wrote this book in the 1950s, despite being sci-fi which can really date itself, I found it to be somewhat timeless.  It had to have been so innovative when he wrote it.  Sturgeon definitely writes outside his time.  And I can absolutely see how it would have gone on to inspire stories like X-Men.

I did enjoy it - though I must admit that I liked the 2nd and 3rd sections better than the first and read fast once I got beyond the 1st section.  Though I think part of it was more to do with my reading mood than actually the story.  I don't even want to explain the plot because I don't want to give anything away or ruin the story - but I think that saying it inspired X-Men is a great starting off point.  The point is, if you haven't read this yet - you definitely should.

The Story Sisters

I picked up The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman because I love a good book about sisters (having 2 fab sisters of my own).  And I wanted this to be a good book about sisters, and not that it wasn't good - it's just that it was different than I expected.  I think I went into it thinking Garden Spells, and it was much darker.  So it took me a bit to keep going once the tone shifted.

The lives and experiences of the three sisters, Elv, Claire and Meg, are hard and often heartbreaking.  There were times I wanted to yell at the girls 'just go tell your mom what happened and it will get better!'  But alas that is not the way it works in books - or life for that matter.  I definitely enjoyed the story of Claire the most, especially while she was in France.  But in the end I did enjoy the entire book - heartbreak and disappointment and all. 

Only the Good Spy Young

I just finished Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter, the 4th book in her Gallagher Girls series.  This is what I classify as my guilty-pleasure-flush-reading - so of course I enjoyed it.  For the most part it is more of the same, but the plot did take a few interesting twists that were exciting and really made me want the next book to come out so I could get some answers!  If you like a nice quick read of the young adult variety about a high school girl going to a secret spy school but still having to deal with the usual teen dramas, like gossip, boys, clothes, friends and lip-gloss - then this is the series for you!

The Final Summit

So my first BookSneeze book was The Final Summit: A Quest to Find the One Principle That Will Save Humanity by Andy Andrews.  It is the 'much awaited' follow up to The Traveler's Gift, continuing the story of David Ponder in a 'where is he now' kind of way.  David Ponder is quite a bit older and has lived his life trying to uphold and teach the lessons he learned as a traveler.  He has recently lost his wife and so despite his successes is feeling depressed and alone when the angel Gabriel (or should I say Archangel Gabriel) appears to him and tells him that they need him again.  There is to be a summit of travelers and so since David was the last traveler, and the only one still living, they need him there as the representative for earth and humanity.  So he climbs on Gabriel's back and is whisked away to a board room in heaven or somewhere similar, where he is to meet with other travelers and figure out the one principle that will save humanity.

As different travelers join him at the table, I was reminded once more of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure especially when Abraham Lincoln and Joan of Arc were at the table with him.  It's funny there's something about Andy Andrews' books that always make me think of other things...  Anyway overall I liked this book less than The Traveler's Gift, I found it similarly equal parts inspiring and cheesy.  Though actually I would say this one was more cheesy and predictable to me than the first.  I didn't think the message was as inspiring and it felt like he was trying too hard.  I don't know - it wasn't my favorite.

But I loved learning about Eric Ericson!  The story of how was a self-made spy during World War II.  He used his skills and education to infiltrate the Nazis, learn where their secret fuel sources were, and reported the information to Great Britain and America so that they could bomb them.  Amazing.  This is the kind of story I wish I had learned in school.  Learning about the individuals in history helps me remember the dates, times and places that are drilled into our heads in school.  Anyway basically I feel like the story of Eric Ericson was the best part of the book, and if you asked me right now what the one principle was I don't think I could tell you.  But I could definitely tell you, in detail, the story of Ericson.

Summer of Light

I was on Melissa's blog a few weeks ago and she was talking about summer reading and asked for suggestions.  Someone suggested 3 books - 2 I had read and loved (The Help and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society) - and 1 I had not, Summer of Light by W. Dale Cramer.  So I decided I had better read it.  And I'm glad I did, I really enjoyed it.  It made me laugh, it made me cry.  All around a great story of raising kids told from a different perspective - the dad's!  It's the story of Mick Brannigan, an iron-worker, who loses his job after a bizarre accident and ends up being a stay-at-home-dad for three kids.  In the middle of raising the kids and running the house he discovers he has an eye for photography, and with the encouragement of a neighbor he begins taking photos to enter into a local contest.

There was something so sweet and fun about Mick and his child-rearing.  He was always doing unexpected things, things that most stay-at-home mom's would never do (mainly because they could be extremely dangerous), but he does it in a way that works.  I still laugh thinking about that zip-line and the quotes from that video game that the kids shout all the time...   And once Mick starts taking photos everywhere they go, the story got even more interesting for me - because of where the photography leads him.  It reminds me a little bit of urban exploration at points, which is fascinating to me - but I'm a little too chicken to get out there and do it, so I am happy to enjoy others' photography of it.  Like Avius Quovis - amazing, so cool and I know him!  Which reminds me of the new book Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, he incorporates eerie vintage photos into the story and I really want to read it.  Also there is a really cool making of the book trailer for that book, where he goes with an urban explorer and it is beautiful and haunting - you should definitely go watch it here.  OK back to Summer of Light, the point is I really enjoyed it, I found it entertaining and uplifting.  The characters are very interesting and real - and I think I have a bit of a crush of Mick Brannigan actually.

The Traveler's Gift

My first BookSneeze book is The Final Summit by Andy Andrews, which is a follow up to The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success.  So I decided I better read that one first.  And for the most part I enjoyed it.  It's a pretty quick read with some good lessons in it.  It's the story of David Ponder a man who loses everything he deems of value and in turn loses his will to live.  In an It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol sort of way, while unconscious he visits seven historical figures that each teach him the lessons he needs to learn to live a better, more fulfilling, and ultimately successful life.  As I was reading I kept thinking of the book The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom - it had a very similar feel to me.  With moments that are very inspirational and motivating and others that I just found kind of corny.  And even though I did not read any reviews or really anything about this book other than that it is the first David Ponder book, I found it somewhat predictable.  Once he met the first person - President Truman - and learns that he was going to visit six other people at key points in history that will each have a lesson for him; as soon as he arrives at the next place I knew exactly where he was and usually who he was there to meet.  Though I never knew the lesson he would learn from each person...  So my knowing where he was didn't make the story less effective - I just found it funny that I kept guessing right.  There were things that I didn't like about the story, but all in all I found the seven lessons themselves to be great.  And in some ways just what I needed to hear.  I don't think I'm going to be running around telling everyone that they have to read this book - but I did enjoy it, and am looking forward to reading The Final Summit.  Probably the main thing, other than the lessons, that stuck with me was how he traveled through time meeting people which basically just made me think about Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and really made me want to watch that movie!  So I did and it was hilarious.  Hadn't seen it in years, so it was really fun to watch it again - it is definitely a classic.  Also made me want to read The Diary of Anne Frank,  can you believe I've never read that?  Me either.  Somehow I never had to read it in school and since I knew it was going to be sad, I just never read it on my own.  But now I've decided that I'm going to do it, already requested it from the library and everything.  (Hmm, this book really made me think about a lot of other books and movies...  Can't wait to see what The Final Summit will make me want to watch and read.  Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey perhaps?  Only if I'm super lucky.)

The Kitchen God's Wife

Erika chose The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan for book club this month.  It is the story of Winnie, a Chinese born woman, as she tells it to her American-born daughter Pearl of her life in China in the 1930s and 40s.  It is wonderful and heartbreaking all at the same time.  Another story of the oppression of women for our book club, but this one, at least to me, was so much more terrible.  The things that Winnie lived through and overcame are both amazing and horrifying.  Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, it did.  But as she tells the story she warns Pearl that it will get worse, so although you are prepared - it's still terrible.  But among the tragedy there is such a sweet love story between Winnie and Pearl's father Jimmy - when you finally get to it.  As well as the bond between mother and daughter, that grows through the telling of the story.

Everyone in the book club enjoyed it and we talked a lot about the hardships they experienced, and how eye-opening it was read about the war from the Chinese perspective.  I also found this book interesting because I had read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See which is about women in 19th century China, when girl's feet were bound and feudal marriages where the only way.  And then comparing that to The Kitchen God's Wife and how they were moving away from feudal marriages especially after the war, and then on to thinking about how China is today.  It's just fascinating to me to think about so much change in a relatively short amount of time.  But despite the changes, and despite the fact that Winnie was a radical in so many ways, she still loves and embraces her customs and culture and teaches them to her children.

Although I struggled through the first chapter that was in Pearl's point of view, as soon as Winnie was telling her story I was hooked and I really enjoyed the rest of the book.  And in the end when the book returns to Pearl's point of view I liked her better, because I think hearing her mother's story made her a more likable, relatable person.  I think it was a great book for book club and would readily recommend it to others.  I haven't read anything else by Amy Tan but I heard that The Joy Luck Club is better, so I will have to read that one sometime.

Garden Spells

I would have to say that Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen is quite possibly my favorite book of all time.  If I could have written a perfect book for myself - this would have been it.  A story about sisters with great food, a little romance, a little suspense and some magic thrown in.  I've read it four times now and just thinking about it makes me want to read it again.  (Can you tell I love this book?)

Garden Spells is, as I said, a story about sisters, Claire and Sydney Waverley.  They grew in a fictional NC town, Bascom, where the entire town knows of their Waverly magic.  This magic is in the apple tree in their yard as well as in the Waverly women, whether they like it or not.  Claire embraces her 'magic' and hides from life in Bascom thinking she is content there.  Whereas Sydney runs from Bascom and the Waverly name and all its attachments and chases after life thinking that she will find happiness anywhere else.  Through a number a events Claire and Sydney are reunited in their home in Bascom and together they discover that Bascom has more magic than just their family as wells as learning what it means to be a sister and a Waverly.  And then of course there's Evanelle, who is quite possibly my favorite character, she is a distant relative - a second, third, or fourth cousin - and she too has the Waverly magic and she cracks me up! 

Basically if you have not yet read this book - you need to immediately.  And if you have not read this book, I am jealous of you because you will get to read it for the first time.  There's something about reading a great book for the first time that is like a first kiss - you only get it once but when it's a good one... oh yeah!  I love Allen's writing style so much I've learned to just buy her books and not bother waiting for them from the library, because I love them.  Garden Spells and Sugar Queen are my favorites, but The Girl Who Chased the Moon is a really good one too...  Can you tell I love these books?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson last night.  My mother-in-law loaned the series to me and when she did, she said, "you're going to be thinking my mother-in-law told me to read this?"  I was half way through the book thinking I don't know what she's worried about, there's nothing in this book.  But did I ever find out.  Although I haven't read the other two yet - this series is not for the faint of heart.  It is definitely a psychological thriller, and in a pretty dark way.  I have a pretty vivid imagination, but I don't have an especially visual mind, so I don't always see images in my head when I hear or read something.  Which worked in my favor for this story - so I don't think I'll ever watch the movie, because I don't think I could handle it.  It took me until about a fourth of the way into the book before I was really hooked and then I read the rest of it in a day and a half.  It's pretty hard to put down, and very intense.  The story is about Mikael Blomkvist, a financial journalist and co-owner of the  magazine Millennium.  The story begins just as Blomkvist receives a guilty verdict in a case of libel against Wennerstrom, the owner of a large company of the same name.  But just when he Blomkvist thinks he's going to have to quit the magazine, sell everything and head off to prison, he is presented with an interesting offer to spend a year on the island of Hedeby and write the autobiography of Henrik Vangar - but more importantly solve the murder of his niece Harriet Vangar, which occurred more than 50 years ago.   With few other options, he accepts the 'job' thinking there is no hope of ever solving the case, but after only a few short months he discovers new evidence.  As he tries to get closer to an answer he realizes that he needs help and so he hires Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius who also happens to be the girl with the dragon tattoo.  And together they solve more than one mystery - resulting in resolution one way or another for the Vangar family, as well as for Blomkvist and Wennerstrom.

I got so wrapped up in the Vangar family mystery that I kind of forgot about the Wennerstrom part of the story.  So once the story was settled for the Vangars I was thinking why is there still nearly 100 pages left.  But I quickly got into it and the resolution for Millennium and Wennerstrom was extremely interesting and somehow rewarding after all the darkness involved with the Vangars.  All in all I enjoyed it, though I am going to read a few other books before I pick up The Girl Who Played with Fire.  Larsson writes an intense story and I need a little fluff in between.

Like Water for Chocolate

In May my book club read Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances,and Home Remedies by Laura Esquivel. I was actually the one who chose the book this month - since I had never read it, but always wanted to, I picked it. Every month people joke that they are sure that when it's their turn to pick the book they are going to pick the 'sex' book. But have no fear ladies because I picked the sex book! Well to be honest, although it was very much about sex, I think it was more about passion and repression. Set in turn-of-the-century Mexico Like Water for Chocolate tells the story of Tita, the youngest daughter of Mama Elena, owner of the de la Garza ranch. Tita falls in love with Pedro, but Mama Elena will not allow them to marry, since family tradition dictates that the youngest daughter remain at home to care for her mother. Instead, Mama Elena orchestrates the marriage of Pedro to Tita's eldest sister Rosaura. Tita is forced to make the wedding dinner and the cake for her sister's wedding, and she pours her emotions into the task. And so as the guests eat the cake they are filled with her sorrow and all burst into tears. As the story goes on Tita continues to cook her emotions into the food - resulting in a lot of mayhem. Including her sister Gertrudis being so filled with a hot passion and desire that she evaporates water, sets the shower stall on fire, and ends up working in a brothel just to quench the passion Tita's food ignited. Tita's unrequited love for Pedro survives the Mexican Revolution, the births of Rosaura and Pedro's children, even a proposal of marriage from Dr. John.
 

It was interesting discussing this book at book club, as I was reading it at first I wasn't sure if there would be that much to talk about. But there really was a lot of depth to the characters and the story. In general, I think, we all liked it. I would recommend it to others for their book clubs. But it definitely isn't a book that I will reread. I think I just find the story too frustrating! I take for granted the freedoms I have as a woman in this day and age and so it's hard to tolerate reading about such a level of repression. But not only that - just stupid decisions! I think Pedro was an idiot and he never should have agreed to marry Rosaura, even if he saw it as his only way to stay close to Tita. I'm sorry but marrying my sister is not that way to stay close to me. And Rosaura! What kind of sister are you knowingly marrying your sister's love?? I know that it was a different time and they were all trying to do what their parents and tradition expected of them. But wouldn't it have been better if Pedro had a little more backbone and just took Tita off and eloped? I know that when Gertrudis ran off Mama Elena disowned her and said that she was dead. But who cares about that. Mama Elena was a two-faced beast - especially once we found out her shady back story, you'd think she would have more compassion. Ultimately of the three sisters Gertrudis was my favorite. Despite the fact that she broke tradition and was disowned, she seemed to have an amazing life. She married the man she loved and she was a strong, powerful woman in a time that women were extremely oppressed. Everyone in my book club loved Gertrudis. She was such a renegade.

In the end, Tita does manage to break the bonds of tradition, if not for herself, then for future generations. However I found the ending slightly unsettling, especially when she was eating the candles to capture the heat. It was a very Romeo and Juliet sort of ending. And the last chapter skipped so far ahead in the story that it threw me off for a minute. But I did love that Rosaura's daughter, Esperenza was able to get married despite the tradition of youngest daughters taking care of their mothers, and in fact she married Dr. John's son. I really did love Dr. John and although I knew that Tita had all that passion for Pedro, I couldn't help pulling for Dr. John. I loved how he saved her and brought her calm, and I wanted her to want that for herself. But that's life, we don't always get what we want. And that's pretty much how this story went. Though it had a warning to all - once you do get what you want be careful not to let it take you over.