When I was in high school, in chemistry, no less, I sat at a desk in the back corner of the room abutting a chalkboard. One day, bored, I wrote "Hi!" on the chalkboard. The next day, there was a return greeting. My mystery chalkboard pal and I advanced to some other greetings. After just a week or so, though, I discovered that I was communicating with my best friend who sat in the same seat in her chemistry class during a different period. She was a little bummed because she thought she'd been making a new friend, but I was sort of delighted. We progressed to leaving notes for each other in the chalk bin. Once I thoughtlessly wrote the name of her crush on our note. The next day, the note was there with a strongly worded admonishment to "Never use names here! Anyone could read this!" We kept it up all year. Anyway, with this sort of backstory (not to mention some Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda love), I was fairly excited to pick up P.S. I Like You.
This book is about Lily who, in chemistry, writes part of the lyrics of her favorite song on her desk. When she goes back to class, more lyrics have been filled in. Thus starts an in-depth pen pal-ship where romantic feelings also grow. Lily also juggles her large, boisterous family, a best friend, an ambition to become a song writer and a mortal enemy who is a fellow student.
My high expectations were not met by P.S. I Like You. Though it was fun in parts, for example, I did enjoy Lily's sense of humor, I found it to be really predictable and formulaic which was bothersome. I absolutely knew who the pen pal was going to turn out to be and was extremely annoyed at the way it was set up at the beginning. While, as I say, I did mostly enjoy Lily's sense of humor, she also sort of bugged me. I thought she made some odd choices at times. And, even though she calls herself weird constantly, I didn't think she was that weird.
All-in-all, while P.S. I Like You was mildly amusing, I wouldn't really recommend it.
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Dark Horses by Cecily von Ziegesar
Dark Horses is the story of Red, a horse, and Merritt, a teenage girl. Both are in the midst of big issues. Red messes up his first ever race, causing the death of another horse and injury to himself. Merritt has been sinking progressively lower since the death of her beloved grandmother and her horse which culminates with walking out of the SAT and going on a drug and alcohol bender that lands her in Good Fences, an equestrian based recovery program where Red has also found himself. The two bond and end up competing together. It's not all smooth sailing from there, though.
I started off liking Dark Horses quite a bit. I like von Ziegesar's writing style. I'm a fan of straightforward narration rather than the overly lyrical, which I was mostly what happened. (Red's narration had a bit of the lyrical to it at times.) I felt engaged and was looking forward to Merritt and Red finding each other. I kind of liked hearing from both Merritt and Red.
However...I ended up not caring that much for Dark Horses in the end. It would be spoilery to say exactly why, but I will say that I felt there was too much tragedy for one book. I just stopped caring. I also didn't like the development of the romantic relationship. It didn't make sense to me and just tossed aside what seemed to be an interesting issue. I also can't go into details about that without spoilers. Additionally, I thought Merritt and Carvin (a fellow rider) were idiots for not seeing what was coming at the end. Also, I liked Red's perspective less and less because it seemed increasingly not horsey which culminated, for me, in Red thinking something about texting. I mean, really?
So...promising start that didn't pan out for me. I wouldn't give up on von Ziegesar (I might try one of her other books, not having read Gossip Girl), but I just didn't like the whole package very much.
I started off liking Dark Horses quite a bit. I like von Ziegesar's writing style. I'm a fan of straightforward narration rather than the overly lyrical, which I was mostly what happened. (Red's narration had a bit of the lyrical to it at times.) I felt engaged and was looking forward to Merritt and Red finding each other. I kind of liked hearing from both Merritt and Red.
However...I ended up not caring that much for Dark Horses in the end. It would be spoilery to say exactly why, but I will say that I felt there was too much tragedy for one book. I just stopped caring. I also didn't like the development of the romantic relationship. It didn't make sense to me and just tossed aside what seemed to be an interesting issue. I also can't go into details about that without spoilers. Additionally, I thought Merritt and Carvin (a fellow rider) were idiots for not seeing what was coming at the end. Also, I liked Red's perspective less and less because it seemed increasingly not horsey which culminated, for me, in Red thinking something about texting. I mean, really?
So...promising start that didn't pan out for me. I wouldn't give up on von Ziegesar (I might try one of her other books, not having read Gossip Girl), but I just didn't like the whole package very much.
Friday, October 21, 2016
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
I found Everything I Never Told You depressing. That said, I did read the whole thing, so I guess I also found it somewhat compelling. I'm not very shy about leaving books unread.
The story starts with the death of Lydia. Lydia is the favorite of three children of James, a second generation Japanese American, and Marilyn, who had a thwarted dream of being a doctor. Lydia is the middle child and a teen at the time of her death in the 1970s. From there, we journey both in the past and the present as we find out what brought this family to this point and what happens from there.
There were things I found somewhat moving about this book. The experiences of the parents and children as being part of this mixed family in a time when that was not common. The mother's struggle with being a woman in the 1950s who wants a serious career in science but is sidetracked by motherhood. The way Lydia and her brother band together.
Mostly, though, I was annoyed by these people. I found them all to be whiny and, seemingly, accepting of being miserable. Hannah, the youngest child, is a little different. She's oddly resigned to her lot in life as the ignored youngest child, but doesn't seem to be all that whiny about it.
There is supposed to be some mystery about what happened the night Lydia died, but it seems pretty straight forward to me from early on. We do build to a reveal of sorts and I didn't have the exact specifics of the reveal figured out, but I definitely had the idea of the thing.
I do realize the book is called Everything I Never Told You, so the fact that no one talks to anyone shouldn't come as a surprise. But I was so annoyed by how much went wrong because of this that I was just frustrated. The mother makes a choice that boggled my mind. It could have been so different if she'd just talked about what she wanted to do. And then how the father reacts to that choice...and on and on. It just all left me shaking my head.
I didn't like Everything I Never Told You, but I did finish it. So, there's that.
The story starts with the death of Lydia. Lydia is the favorite of three children of James, a second generation Japanese American, and Marilyn, who had a thwarted dream of being a doctor. Lydia is the middle child and a teen at the time of her death in the 1970s. From there, we journey both in the past and the present as we find out what brought this family to this point and what happens from there.
There were things I found somewhat moving about this book. The experiences of the parents and children as being part of this mixed family in a time when that was not common. The mother's struggle with being a woman in the 1950s who wants a serious career in science but is sidetracked by motherhood. The way Lydia and her brother band together.
Mostly, though, I was annoyed by these people. I found them all to be whiny and, seemingly, accepting of being miserable. Hannah, the youngest child, is a little different. She's oddly resigned to her lot in life as the ignored youngest child, but doesn't seem to be all that whiny about it.
There is supposed to be some mystery about what happened the night Lydia died, but it seems pretty straight forward to me from early on. We do build to a reveal of sorts and I didn't have the exact specifics of the reveal figured out, but I definitely had the idea of the thing.
I do realize the book is called Everything I Never Told You, so the fact that no one talks to anyone shouldn't come as a surprise. But I was so annoyed by how much went wrong because of this that I was just frustrated. The mother makes a choice that boggled my mind. It could have been so different if she'd just talked about what she wanted to do. And then how the father reacts to that choice...and on and on. It just all left me shaking my head.
I didn't like Everything I Never Told You, but I did finish it. So, there's that.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
I listened to A Study in Charlotte mostly while driving around western Massachusetts while supporting Davan in the hospital last week, at least on the parts of the driving where I didn't have passengers while shuttling them back and forth to visit her. I liked it pretty well.
A Study in Charlotte is a twist on Sherlock Holmes. Charlotte is a Holmes, a descendant of Sherlock. We, however, see the story through the eyes of Watson, a descendant of, you guessed it, Watson. Both are teens at boarding school in the US but haven't actually met prior to Watson receiving an unwanted rugby scholarship to said school, although they are very aware of each other. Watson has romanticized Charlotte his whole life, envisioning the two of them solving mysteries in the style of their ancestors. So, meeting her is the one plus to his otherwise unpleasant, to say the least, new situation. Charlotte is, at first, not so excited about getting to know Watson. Charlotte is, in fact, like a traditional Holmes in the sense that she is brilliant, tortured, self centered and, additionally, has a drug problem. When a student they both have reason to hate is murdered, off they go.
I liked our James Watson. I found Charlotte to be intriguing. I was rather bothered by the whole drug use thing. She has gotten help for it before, but it continues to be a problem that isn't dealt with very well. I mean, these two are just teens and there isn't really anyone to step in and really help Charlotte, so it's probably kind of realistic in that sense. The plot line was okay. The mystery was interesting enough for me. There were times that I was annoyed with Watson, where something he was torturing himself over seemed to go on too long, but mostly I was with him in his narration.
I did like the book. It's not a favorite, but it was a pretty decent read and mostly kept my attention even while I had lots and lots of other stuff going clamoring for attention in my brain.
A Study in Charlotte is a twist on Sherlock Holmes. Charlotte is a Holmes, a descendant of Sherlock. We, however, see the story through the eyes of Watson, a descendant of, you guessed it, Watson. Both are teens at boarding school in the US but haven't actually met prior to Watson receiving an unwanted rugby scholarship to said school, although they are very aware of each other. Watson has romanticized Charlotte his whole life, envisioning the two of them solving mysteries in the style of their ancestors. So, meeting her is the one plus to his otherwise unpleasant, to say the least, new situation. Charlotte is, at first, not so excited about getting to know Watson. Charlotte is, in fact, like a traditional Holmes in the sense that she is brilliant, tortured, self centered and, additionally, has a drug problem. When a student they both have reason to hate is murdered, off they go.
I liked our James Watson. I found Charlotte to be intriguing. I was rather bothered by the whole drug use thing. She has gotten help for it before, but it continues to be a problem that isn't dealt with very well. I mean, these two are just teens and there isn't really anyone to step in and really help Charlotte, so it's probably kind of realistic in that sense. The plot line was okay. The mystery was interesting enough for me. There were times that I was annoyed with Watson, where something he was torturing himself over seemed to go on too long, but mostly I was with him in his narration.
I did like the book. It's not a favorite, but it was a pretty decent read and mostly kept my attention even while I had lots and lots of other stuff going clamoring for attention in my brain.
Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard (DNF but you might want to read it anyway)
Perhaps part of the reason I didn't finish this book is because I was reading during a challenging week for me. I was in Massachusetts to support Davan while she was undergoing a five day videoed EEG. The mere words do not describe the unpleasantness of this event. Davan had to stay on or immediately next to her hospital bed for 5 days at all times unless she was in the bathroom and even that had to be done under supervision because she was a "falling risk" due to the fact that when she has the events that precipitated the EEG, she will often fall down if she tries to walk. Additionally, she had leads glued to her head and connected to her torso. Because she didn't have an event, they decided to sleep deprive her to try to stress her into one. One night, then, she wasn't allowed to sleep all night. She hated the hospital food (which was not well planned for a vegan and were child oriented due to being in the children's ward, but I thought some of it was okay). I spent the 5 days driving back and forth between her campus where I was bunking with her roommate (also her good friend and a guest of ours this summer, so she was okay with this) and driving friends that don't drive back and forth to visit as well as finding food she wanted to eat. I stayed up with her most of her sleep deprivation night and was only able to nap for about an hour the next day. When I wasn't doing all the driving back and forth, I was playing games, watching Call the Midwife or going for a stroll to stretch my legs to relieve the stiffness of so many hours sitting in one small room. Now, none of this is anything on what poor Davan was enduring, but it was my week. A week during which I was rarely able to settle down to read even when I did have the time. If I'd had a book I was really involved in, I might have been able to, but I wasn't able to get into anything I felt ambivalent about. I spent my spare time, such as it was, checking out Instagram, watching videos on You Tube or, maybe, sometimes, reading a bit.
Thus, I was maybe not in the best space for reading Girl Mans Up. However, it's also true that I just didn't love it. I read about half of the book, which I had on my Kindle app, before the loan was up and I lost it. I don't think I'll get it again.
Pen is a baby butch in a traditional Portuguese family who really wants her to do traditionally female things. She has two friends, both guys, one of whom, Colby, is the leader in their little trio and is, also, a dick who requires Pen to be his wing man in order to get girls to go off with him. There is a fourth new comer to their group who constantly makes unsavory comments about Pen. Pen, in the part I read, seems to be fine with being a girl, but she also wants to be someone's boyfriend. The book is about her finding her way in her family, with her friends, and with a romantic interest.
I loved the concept of this book, which is why I picked it up. I, though, didn't like most of the people in the book. Pen was okay. I loathed Colby. The only one I sort of liked was Pen's love interest and we didn't see much of her in the half of the book I read. I suspect I'd have liked the second half of the book better, as Pen is starting to come into her own, but I'm not into it enough to go through the motions of getting the book again and trying.
Another thing I didn't like was that many of the conversations seemed to be contrived just so the issue discussed would be in the book and not for purposes of plot or character development. I was annoyed that those conversations were in there. If it doesn't serve a purpose, let it go. If not, the book is a vehicle for a message, which I dislike, and not about the story and the characters. That said, there are books I love that probably do that and I forgive them. This one just didn't do it for me.
So, I am not a big fan of Girl Mans Up. I do, though, think that the character and story are great ideas. I love that it's was done.
P.S. - Davan didn't have an event while in the hospital, which is a big bummer. She had one the Thursday before the Monday through Friday test and another the Sunday after. Bad timing. In good news, it also means that her events are becoming much less frequent even under stress. From around November through April, she was having on average one a day or even more in February/March/April. At this point, we're just hoping they continue to space out or go away all together and we don't have to worry about the what or whys.
Thus, I was maybe not in the best space for reading Girl Mans Up. However, it's also true that I just didn't love it. I read about half of the book, which I had on my Kindle app, before the loan was up and I lost it. I don't think I'll get it again.
Pen is a baby butch in a traditional Portuguese family who really wants her to do traditionally female things. She has two friends, both guys, one of whom, Colby, is the leader in their little trio and is, also, a dick who requires Pen to be his wing man in order to get girls to go off with him. There is a fourth new comer to their group who constantly makes unsavory comments about Pen. Pen, in the part I read, seems to be fine with being a girl, but she also wants to be someone's boyfriend. The book is about her finding her way in her family, with her friends, and with a romantic interest.
I loved the concept of this book, which is why I picked it up. I, though, didn't like most of the people in the book. Pen was okay. I loathed Colby. The only one I sort of liked was Pen's love interest and we didn't see much of her in the half of the book I read. I suspect I'd have liked the second half of the book better, as Pen is starting to come into her own, but I'm not into it enough to go through the motions of getting the book again and trying.
Another thing I didn't like was that many of the conversations seemed to be contrived just so the issue discussed would be in the book and not for purposes of plot or character development. I was annoyed that those conversations were in there. If it doesn't serve a purpose, let it go. If not, the book is a vehicle for a message, which I dislike, and not about the story and the characters. That said, there are books I love that probably do that and I forgive them. This one just didn't do it for me.
So, I am not a big fan of Girl Mans Up. I do, though, think that the character and story are great ideas. I love that it's was done.
P.S. - Davan didn't have an event while in the hospital, which is a big bummer. She had one the Thursday before the Monday through Friday test and another the Sunday after. Bad timing. In good news, it also means that her events are becoming much less frequent even under stress. From around November through April, she was having on average one a day or even more in February/March/April. At this point, we're just hoping they continue to space out or go away all together and we don't have to worry about the what or whys.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer
I'm home from my back east travels and will be getting back into the swing of things with reading and reviewing, I'm sure. While there, I didn't do much reading or listening, but I did do some. I had a DNF, which I'll talk about in another post, I finished listening to two books (one of which I've already reviewed and the other which I will review soon) and I started a hugely long book that I think I probably will finish but am not feeling the pull to read right now. I don't always get a lot of reading in on planes because I have a tendency to get motion sick on plains. My flights today, though, were pretty smooth and I was able to finish Spontaneous.
Spontaneous is the story of a class of high school seniors who start spontaneously combusting. We get the story from Mara's point of view. Mara is clever, sarcastic, has a dark sense of humor and is a little bit of a dabbler in the arts of partying. When people start exploding, theories abound, a romance blossoms and the students each cope in their own ways.
I didn't like Mara as much as I wanted to. I didn't find her laugh out loud funny, but I did find her entertaining. I'd been told this book was extremely hilarious but I didn't find that it was for me. I thought the idea was interesting, but I sort of thought that Aaron tried to cover too much in one short book with things ranging from conspiracy theories to science to friendship to love and lust. I think it would have been improved with a little pruning and more focus on fewer ideas.
I did find Spontaneous to be pretty readable and I mostly enjoyed it, but I didn't think it was great. Also, I thought it was an enjoyable romp for being about people exploding, but not really funny per say. So, take from that what you will.
I'm off to tutor math on four hours of sleep after a week and a half of already accruing a substantial sleep deficit. Wish me luck.
Spontaneous is the story of a class of high school seniors who start spontaneously combusting. We get the story from Mara's point of view. Mara is clever, sarcastic, has a dark sense of humor and is a little bit of a dabbler in the arts of partying. When people start exploding, theories abound, a romance blossoms and the students each cope in their own ways.
I didn't like Mara as much as I wanted to. I didn't find her laugh out loud funny, but I did find her entertaining. I'd been told this book was extremely hilarious but I didn't find that it was for me. I thought the idea was interesting, but I sort of thought that Aaron tried to cover too much in one short book with things ranging from conspiracy theories to science to friendship to love and lust. I think it would have been improved with a little pruning and more focus on fewer ideas.
I did find Spontaneous to be pretty readable and I mostly enjoyed it, but I didn't think it was great. Also, I thought it was an enjoyable romp for being about people exploding, but not really funny per say. So, take from that what you will.
I'm off to tutor math on four hours of sleep after a week and a half of already accruing a substantial sleep deficit. Wish me luck.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
The Girl in 6E by Alessandra Torre
I heard about The Girl in 6E on Padfoot and Prongs07's book blog and opted to give it a try. I thought it was a good read (or listen, as I did do the audio book version) if also rather shocking, but it's definitely not for everyone. Read on for why.
The reader finds out early in the book that Deanna is a recluse, that it's by choice because she has impulses to kill and that she makes her living by doing on line video sex chats. Because of these aspects of Deanna, there is some graphic description of violent murder and lots of sexual description. Deanna has crafted her life to keep people safe from her. How she does all this is part of the story and I'll let you discover it as you read, if you do. She becomes aware that there is a little girl who could be in danger. The story is Deanna's, but how it intersects with this little girls is a large part of this story.
I found this to be a very compelling read. It helped me get through a rough second flight on the way to visit Davan. I just sat, trying not to feel nauseated, with my eyes closed and listened.
This is quite likely my only review this week. I came to be with Davan while she is undergoing a 5 day hospital stay for testing (while there is obviously a reason for the testing, she's more or less okay). I thought I'd have a lot of reading time, but it's turned out to be the case that I haven't. My days are filled with running out for desired food, driving friends back and forth from campus, games, Netflix and the like. Today is a little quieter with Davan working on homework, so I'm catching up on emails, blogging and then will get in a bit of reading.
The reader finds out early in the book that Deanna is a recluse, that it's by choice because she has impulses to kill and that she makes her living by doing on line video sex chats. Because of these aspects of Deanna, there is some graphic description of violent murder and lots of sexual description. Deanna has crafted her life to keep people safe from her. How she does all this is part of the story and I'll let you discover it as you read, if you do. She becomes aware that there is a little girl who could be in danger. The story is Deanna's, but how it intersects with this little girls is a large part of this story.
I found this to be a very compelling read. It helped me get through a rough second flight on the way to visit Davan. I just sat, trying not to feel nauseated, with my eyes closed and listened.
This is quite likely my only review this week. I came to be with Davan while she is undergoing a 5 day hospital stay for testing (while there is obviously a reason for the testing, she's more or less okay). I thought I'd have a lot of reading time, but it's turned out to be the case that I haven't. My days are filled with running out for desired food, driving friends back and forth from campus, games, Netflix and the like. Today is a little quieter with Davan working on homework, so I'm catching up on emails, blogging and then will get in a bit of reading.
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