Small town, big life {F*ckface by Leah Hampton}

About F*ckface and Other Stories by Leah Hampton: F*kface and Other Stories is a brassy, bighearted debut collection of twelve short stories about rurality, corpses, honeybee collapse, and illicit sex in post-coal Appalachia.

 
The twelve stories in this knockout collection—some comedic, some tragic, many both at once—examine the interdependence between rural denizens and their environment.

A young girl, desperate for a way out of her small town, finds support in an unlikely place. A ranger working along the Blue Ridge Parkway realizes that the dark side of the job, the all too frequent discovery of dead bodies, has taken its toll on her. Haunted by his past, and his future, a tech sergeant reluctantly spends a night with his estranged parents before being deployed to Afghanistan. Nearing fifty and facing new medical problems, a woman wonders if her short stint at the local chemical plant is to blame. A woman takes her husband’s research partner on a day trip to her favorite place on earth, Dollywood, and briefly imagines a different life.

In the vein of Bonnie Jo Campbell and Lee Smith, Leah Hampton writes poignantly and honestly about a legendary place that’s rapidly changing. She takes us deep inside the lives of the women and men of Appalachia while navigating the realities of modern life with wit, bite, and heart.

My two cents

I have a penchant for short story collections so I was happy to get my hands on this debut collection by Leah Hampton. With such great timing, it was like a lovely breath of fresh air during the first lockdown in 2020. It was a relief to have a physical copy of short stories that made me laugh-cry-cringe and everything in between.

There are 12 stories in all, and each offers insight into everyday people's lives in a rapidly changing Appalachia, a region known for its beautiful mountainous landscapes, rich natural resources, yet extreme poverty.

I enjoyed each of these stories -- they are simple, simply told, honest, and some, very raw. I feel that they will resonate with many as the human experience in these stories are wide and varied. While the setting or the circumstances may not be within your own set of experiences, I can guarantee that the emotions they can stir up within you are very much relatable. They'll evoke bittersweet emotions - a mix of sad, tragic, and yes .... even hopeful. 

The stories

F*ckface is about Pretty, a young, very shy girl who works at the local grocery store. She's never imagined working outside of her small town but her more worldly friend triggers her discontent. Pretty finds an unlikely ally in her the person she and her colleagues dubbed as f*ckface.   

Boomer is about Larry, a dedicated firefighter who slowly loses his wife while fighting the greatest fire their area has seen in decades. 

Wireless is about Margaret, whose haunted past propelled her to leave her hometown. Ironically, family brings her back to confront her past and eventually come to terms with it. 

Parkway is about Priscilla, a park ranger, whose otherwise humdrum outdoor job brings her face to face with the occasional and shocking dead body. 

Twitchell features Iva who suddenly starts bleeding during a pottery class. This gets her started on a series of doctor's appointments which gets her questioning whether a job long ago at the local chemical plant - and economic bane of the town - is the culprit. 

Mingo is about a woman who accompanies her husband to visit her husband's stubborn father in the hospital. She gets much more than she bargains for, but finds herself willing to go along. 

 

Frogs is about middle-aged siblings, Carolyn and Frank, who try to spice up their mundane lives by joining in a nature walk. Ironically, they find themselves feeling uncomfortable and out of place as the only locals on the walk.

Devil is about tech sergeant Boggs, who visits his deeply religious parents to make amends. Unflinching in their belief, they denounce him as the "devil" they've always known him to be, and he leaves for Afghanistan sadly and tragically no closer to his family.

Queen is about a woman who tries to save her mother's legacy of taking action with her bee colonies.

Meat is about Alison, a young intern at the local dairy, faces small town life (and death) at a funeral after a big fire.

Saint is an homage to a beloved brother, a streams-of-consciousness meandering of precious memories throughout their lives.

Sparkle is about a woman who takes her husband’s friend to Dollywood, and gains insight into what a different life she could have had. 

Verdict: These slice-of-life stories of everyday people in Appalachia will make you laugh and cry, together, and in a good way. Highly recommended! Hampton is definitely one to watch out for!

Disclaimer: I received a copy through the publisher Henry Holt and Co. 

Of the great equalizer {Educated by Tara Westover}

Of the great equalizer, education.

About Educated by Tara Westover: Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling supplies and sleeping with her “head for the hills” bag. In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father’s junkyard.

Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or a nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to intervene when her brother became violent or when her father’s Mormon beliefs drifted toward the extreme.

Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She ultimately taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events such as the Holocaust. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if there was still a way home.

A riveting account of the struggle for self-invention, Educated is also a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties.

My two cents

I don’t know how many times I audibly gasped reading Tara Westover’s autobiography! When people talk of overcoming adversity and challenges, sometimes it’s hard to understand just how it really is. However, in this memoir, Westover doesn’t sugarcoat a thing. She recalls a a traumatic childhood of hard labour, abuse, and neglect in a family dealing with mental illness. Reading all this is tough, but it drives home the point that this is a reality for many of those who live in rural America.

What makes this particularly ingratiating is that Westover doesn’t seem to have an ounce of self pity as she tells her story. Nor does she seem to bear a grudge on her family members who perpetuated the cycle of abuse, neglect, and simply holding her back.

Often we talk about the importance of exposure and education to better ourselves. Bill Gates talks about this memoir in glowing terms. Check out his review and a video of his chat with Westover.

What particularly struck me was when Westover says:

“I worry that education is becoming a stick that some people use to beat other people into submission or becoming something that people feel arrogant about,” she said. “I think education is really just a process of self-discovery—of developing a sense of self and what you think. I think of [it] as this great mechanism of connecting and equalizing.”

Verdict: I recommend reading this honest and matter-of-fact storytelling of her journey from illiterate country hick to a life of learning, believing in herself and her innate capabilities. Truly, you can’t keep a good woman down.

Fictional true crime done right {Dark Places by Gillian Flynn}

Fictional true crime done right: dark and twisted

About Dark Places by Gillian Flynn: Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice" of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.

My two cents

I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ. Slit me at my belly and it might slide out, meaty and dark, drop on the floor so you could stomp on it.

Can someone say Truman Capote? Reading Flynn’s Dark Places, I had nostalgic twinges of reading In Cold Blood. I know this is fictional crime, but hey, it felt absolutely horrific getting into the minds of killer, survivor, witness. I felt myself flailing internally to keep reading. But Flynn had a disturbingly tight hold on me and I soldiered on to the end to find out the truth of The Satan Sacrifice Murders.

Libby is messed up. But she has every right to be - she survived the murder of her mother and two sisters by her older brother, Ben, 25 years ago. Cruelly, she was the one who had put her only surviving family member in jail for life. Libby is unable to hold jobs, and was living on funds donated by sympathetic do-gooders. With a failed book deal and funds running dangerously low, Libby milks any possibility of money to survive.

Enter the Kill Club, a group of people morbidly interested in high profile, notorious crimes. Libby is thrust into a precarious dilemma as she realizes that the club believes that Ben is innocent and she is practically accused of providing false testimony. Looking back, she realizes that she was coached in court since age seven, and as alternative theories and evidence are presented to her, Libby starts to question her own memories. The hope that maybe, just maybe, things aren’t what she thinks.

Why I liked this:

It’s got the Flynn trademark all over it. This is dark, twisted and sickening. It’s about a violent and gory massacre. It’s about perverse minds. It feels gritty, trashy, seedy, dirty, crude. And I feel the same way, a dirtiness on me that I don’t want. But, why oh why, does it all come together so well that you can’t put it down despite wanting to turn away and read something sunnier? Again I say it: Flynn is a brilliant and provocative storyteller.

Libby and the cast of characters. Flynn does it again with aplomb by giving us the flawed Libby as the centre of the story. Flynn never fails to deliver on interesting characters: Libby is severely damaged, troubled, selfish, crude, unlikable; she's not someone I’d care to know in real life. But she is relatable and realistic. The trauma she experienced as a child understandably has warped her in serious ways but I love her for her can-do survivor spirit.

The other characters are also flawed, unlikable and realistic. I was torn in believing Ben to be innocent but as the story moved along, his darkness slowly came through. Patty’s fierce sense of family resonated with me and her desperation for keeping her family financially afloat lends a rather odd mundanity to the massacre. The two sisters, while children, were painted as less than innocent. One standout character to me that links Libby to her family to the present is her aunt Diane. As the host characters walk through these pages, more and more you come to realize that people are inherently perverse, and that’s just the fact of the matter.

Multiple viewpoints and impeccable pacing. Propelling the storytelling is that this is told from different points of view as well as being paced for revelations to come to light at just the right time. This deftly voices out Libby (present day), Libby’s older brother Ben (1985) and their mother, Patty (1985). The massacre that transpired on that fateful day in 1985 becomes a pivot point for Ben and Patty to provide their own accounts, their sometimes chilling state of mind in their motivations.

Uh oh’s

If you’ve read Flynn, you already know that this is not a book for everyone because of its dark themes. It has graphic violence and gore, perverted sex, and depicts molestation and abuse.

Verdict

I’ve now read the Flynn trilogy of dark, twisted goodness. Seriously, if this review of Dark Places doesn’t convince you that she is worth your while, check out my reviews of Gone Girl and Sharp Objects.

With true crime a hugely popular genre in film and books, I’ve no doubt this one will grab the attention of fans.

Be careful, it cuts deep {Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn}

Be careful, it cuts deep

About Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn: Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.

My two cents

You all know how much I love Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. I was able to borrow a copy off a fellow-Flynn fan and I dove into this amazing debut novel. I couldn’t help but race through it because I found it a compelling and provocative yet highly disturbing read.

This is a chilling tale about reporter, Camille Preaker, who is assigned to report on a series of child murders in - of all places - her hometown. In the course of investigating for her story, she must dig deep and reconnect with family, friends, neighbours, and people of her past. The truth leads her to a disturbing conclusion.

Here’s why I liked it:

It hits you viscerally. This is another brilliant psychological study by Flynn and Camille as the heroine of the story comes with some very serious baggage. There a full sections that made me seriously queasy at times ... but that just goes to show how seriously damaged Camille is. It is hard to read about some of the things that Camille inflicts on herself, physically and mentally. It made me feel scared to discover her scary skeletons in her closet. And yet, surprisingly, instead of being turned off, I felt for her.

This is about the dark side of family. Everyone admits how messed up families can be, but usually we say this with some fondness. Camille’s dysfunctional family takes this to the extreme. As the story unravels, Camille’s childhood is revealed to be a disturbingly unhealthy relationship with her very cold, proper mother, an oddity of a stepfather, and a teenage half sister. Her hometown also has a strange eeriness which is hard to shake off. Camille hadn’t escaped unscathed, and as she finds herself thrust into her old life, she is thrust into this unhealthiness once again. While she copes in new ways, she also finds herself sliding into her old ways. Moreover, she finds herself commiserating with the plight of her half-sister and she feels an obligation to help her in some way.

It’s an actual mystery. I love me my whodunits and Agatha Christie. Camille follows the tradition of mystery solving. While I think I had figured it out, I was often led astray. The best part: I was horrified by the ending.

Be warned: this is deeply disturbing on many fronts.The story is disturbing; the topics of abuse, self-harm, sex, and murder are disturbing; the characters are messed up in every way; and the general feeling I had throughout the book was of creepiness. There is something uncannily scary about reading this book - Flynn doesn’t shy away from the gory and graphic details, or the unhealthy, messed up thoughts of the characters. The result: a read that left me mentally exhausted and frankly, wanting to shake off this darkness. Honestly, it is a hard read to shake off.

Verdict

I highly recommend this to fans of Gillian Flynn and those who love dark twisted psychological tales, dark mysteries, and provocative reading. Stay away if you cannot handle disturbing details of abuse or self-harm.

Is seeing believing? {The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn @ajfinnbooks}

Unputdownable peeping Tom tale

About The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn: It isn't paranoia if it's really happening . . . Anna Fox lives alone--a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her days drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors. Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn't, her world begins to crumble--and its shocking secrets are laid bare. What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one--and nothing--is what it seems. Twisty and powerful, ingenious and moving, The Woman in the Window is a smart, sophisticated novel of psychological suspense that recalls the best of Hitchcock--an unforgettable thriller that Gillian Flynn calls "amazing."

My two cents

Sidenote: It’s been a long time (unbelievably over a year, almost two!) since I last posted a book review, so getting back into my blog has me wondering how I’ll fare this time around. I’ve pared the reading ao much that I’ve been down to about 20 books a year, with quite a few being rereads.

I got a hold of this particular novel because my colleague and I were discussing just how mindf*ckingly brilliant Gillian Flynn is! As this one is in the same genre as Flynn, and Flynn herself recommended it, I needed to see if her glowing review of “amazing” was true. Here’s why I enjoyed it:

It’s a slow burn. This starts off with the simple introduction of Dr. Anna Fox, a well known child psychologist and now recluse. As the pages turn, Anna’s story and circumstances become more and more apparent. She suffers from agoraphobia because of a yet-unknown-reason to the reader. She hasn’t stepped out of the house in close to a year.

She passes her days watching black and white films, drinking her favourite wine, and popping her plethora of drugs (note: note to be taken with alcohol), and logging online and giving advice to other recluses. Oh, and people watching.

Anna takes a particular interest her new neighbours across the park. One day, she believes she witnesses a murder. But no one believes her.

It’s a pyschological thriller that left me second guessing myself. After the murder, I was wholly on Anna’s side. The many, many pages before had made me “friends” with Anna. I knew her. I knew her family. I knew she wasn’t the type to imagine things. I was certain she was sane; she was just sad and traumatized. Wasn’t she?

As more layers were peeled back and revelations made, I hemmed and hawed. I seesawed from believing her, to writing her off as a drunk, overly drugged, and watching too much film noir. She was becoming paranoid, delusional, and was hallucinating.

Would you be like me, so easily gullible to Anna’s charms? Or will you be objective and see all the red herrings? Did the murder happen or not? You’ll have to find out!

Love the film noir twist.Throughout there are references to Anna’s favourite black and white films. It’s obvious that the author is a film noir aficionado. The references were quite lost on me but they lent interesting backdrops to Anna’s story. When I Googled the book, I was’t surprised to see that there was an old film with the same title. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_in_the_Window

It’s dark yet relatable. If you’re wondering, this is not as dark, graphic or disturbing as Gillian Flynn’s work. Everything is purely psychological which makes Anna’s story much more relatable to the everyday Joe. There is no violence or sexual perversions that seems to be hallmarks of Flynn’s work.

Verdict

In an homage to film noir, I found this psychological thriller hard to put down! I love it when a book exceeds expectations. Highly recommend!

Let art speak to you. {The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt}

Let art speak to you.

About The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt*: It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.

As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.

The Goldfinch combines vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. It is an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate.

My two cents

Theo and his mother love living in New York. Thank goodness his good for nothing father is out of the picture. The humdrum life all changes in a flash. On this day, Theo and his mother take a side trip to the museum - a distraction from a parent teacher meeting that could only mean more trouble for Theo. This is a coming of age story that shows life's contradictory nature, bringing out the beautiful and darkest sides of people, set against the contrasts of the beauty and corruption of the art world.

Ever since I read The Secret History (my review), I knew that I was bound to pick up another book by Donna Tartt. And so it came to be.

***

Fresh from a trip from New York, I reveled in The Goldfinch because I had walked the halls of the Metropolitan Art Gallery, wandered the streets of the Upper East Side of Manhattan (and beyond) and took the subway many a time. This is Theo's world and it became tangible to me when I was reading it.

The Goldfinch is a book that I sorely needed to remind me why I read and why I love to blog about books: it's a story like this that reminds me that books contain life's truths. I've become absorbed in desire to book blog like a madwoman, I've done so many book tours, done all the bloggy and bookish memes. I've burnt out. I've returned. And now, I reiterate to myself: make peace with my book blogging lull and simply go for the ride.

Why I loved The Goldfinch

This forced me to slow down. This is a classic case of a book finding me when I needed it most. I needed to read it, and more importantly, to feel it. The first hundred pages or so begs for attention. Tartt's prose is incredibly immersive: you're there in the museum. You feel Theo's pain. You feel the angst, the hunger for sympathy and kindness. I dare you to want to be absorbed in this story.

It's highly relatable. I have very little in common with Theo. But I do have a lot in common with his foray of emotions and the mental state he is in through various incidents, often traumatic. I absorbed his tribulations, maybe a bit too much.

The painting "The Goldfinch"
From Wikipedia

The art, the art. I have a soft spot for anything involving art and the fact that this story delves into this world was a special treat.

The story revolves around the painting The Goldfinch (in Dutch: Het puttertje) by Carel Fabritius (1654). This piece seemingly begged to be saved by a dying man, and it called out to Theo as well. To me, the metaphor of art "speaking" to someone in a profound, sometimes even mystical way, is a testament to the power of art in general.

It polarizing. I love the fact that this book gets lovers and haters and thus makes for great discussion. If you love reading blogger's opinions, you'll get both swings of pendulum on this one. I was starting this and posted on Instagram. I got mixed reactions from "oh this is so good, you're going to love it" to "I couldn't get into it."

Don't read this ... If you're looking for action and a fast pace, put this down. If you hate chunksters, put this down. If you listen to other book bloggers negative reviews and are easily swayed, then don't read this.

Verdict

One of the most moving stories I've read in a very long time, this coming of age story set against the art world of New York forced me to slow down and immerse myself. My review is highly based on emotion, and I am not ashamed to say that sometimes some books hit me at a very raw level - similar to how art speaks to our souls. In short, The Goldfinch spoke to me. Will you allow it to speak to you?

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The historic, horrific lives that the Forest built and destroyed {Barkskins by Annie Proulx}

Barkskins by Annie Proulx*: From Annie Proulx—the Pulitzer Prize-­ and National Book Award-­winning author of The Shipping News and “Brokeback Mountain,” comes her masterwork: an epic, dazzling, violent, magnificently dramatic novel about the taking down of the world’s forests.

In the late seventeenth century two penniless young Frenchmen, René Sel and Charles Duquet, arrive in New France. Bound to a feudal lord, a “seigneur,” for three years in exchange for land, they become wood-cutters—barkskins. René suffers extraordinary hardship, oppressed by the forest he is charged with clearing. He is forced to marry a Mi’kmaw woman and their descendants live trapped between two inimical cultures. But Duquet, crafty and ruthless, runs away from the seigneur, becomes a fur trader, then sets up a timber business. Proulx tells the stories of the descendants of Sel and Duquet over three hundred years—their travels across North America, to Europe, China, and New Zealand, under stunningly brutal conditions—the revenge of rivals, accidents, pestilence, Indian attacks, and cultural annihilation. Over and over again, they seize what they can of a presumed infinite resource, leaving the modern-day characters face to face with possible ecological collapse.

Proulx’s inimitable genius is her creation of characters who are so vivid—in their greed, lust, vengefulness, or their simple compassion and hope—that we follow them with fierce attention. Annie Proulx is one of the most formidable and compelling American writers, and Barkskins is her greatest novel, a magnificent marriage of history and imagination.

My two cents
An ambitious novel spanning over 300 years, Barkskins presents the history of logging and the deterioration of the world's forests -- from widespread unapologetic clearcutting to today's alarm over global warming -- through the family histories of two men.

Barkskins were servants brought in to clear vast tracts of land in New France (now Canada) during the late 17th century. The politicized history of the world's forests is told through the family histories of barkskins,  René Sel and Charles Duquet.

Sel took on the backbreaking work. Despite his loyalty, he is forced to marry an older Mi'kmaq, Mari, the mistress of his signeur. Over generations, the Sel's lives tell of great hardship and toil, exacerbated by the fact that Native Americans bore the brunt in a white man's world. There is a continuous battle to hold on to their lifeways but were marginalized and moreso impoverished in the process.

Duquet, ambitious yet unused to hard work, runs away. Duquet makes a fortune, mostly on furs and lumber, but mainly through unscrupulous means. He marries the daughter of his rich Dutch business partner. Anglicizing the family name to Duke, he builds the Duke and Sons timber empire who wreaks havoc on the untouched forests in other countries over the next century.

*** 

I've not read any of Annie Proulx's work but she looms large in the literary world. So can you really blame me for wanting to read this ... and love it? I had built this up in my mind but I ended up getting a mixed bag. I loved the beginning up until about three fourths of it, before I started to feel I was slogging through. The tone changed to preachy and everything suddenly felt rushed.

Let's not overlook the fact that this is a chunkster (700+ pages). Prepare yourself for the experience. And don't dare rush this one if you're keen on getting something from this, because Proulx has a lot to offer.

The heart of this book is humanity's ever-conflicted relationship with nature. There are two contrasting views about resource utilization: the "to hell with it" extract as much as possible, profit to the hilt and move on, or the more measured (and informed) way where extraction is based on need and allowing the resource regenerate naturally. Today's return to sustainable resource utilization is borne out of the realization that resources are not limitless and is, too, a return to the holistic views of many indigenous cultures.

This is about the politics of forests. I can't help but applaud at Proulx's decision to write this highly politicized and polarizing book. It is seemingly inevitable as white man conquered and colonized and took lands for their own leaving native American tribe of the Mi'kmaq severely marginalized, poor, and socially and culturally unmoored.

Delving into the politics of the extraction of natural resources, only confirms an age old modus operandi -- there will be the moneyed and powerful who will get as much as they can from from the earth and take advantage of people to succeed. Capitalism can be greedy, rapacious, ruthless. At stake are indigenous cultures and their harmonious relationship with nature. But Proulx attempts to bring this story full circle, a conscientization of her readers: what have we done, and what shall we do about it?

This was very well researched, rich in the detail not only of the history and cultures, but more importantly of the science behind the story. Foresters, ecologists, historians, sociologists, I know you will delight in the details! However, the devil is in the details: it's easy to get lost and distracted in them (good or bad, that is totally up to you).

The earlier portion of the book made the characters feel real with horrific descriptions of the mental anguish and physical hardships they had to endure. But character upon character came into the cast and with the varying lengths by which they appear in the story, the sense of time was easily lost on me. Despite having the family tree, it did little to ease how I followed along in the characters' lives.

Verdict:
I can't help but applaud at Proulx's decision to write this highly politicized and polarizing book. Well researched and rich in detail, this was a mixed bag for me in terms of the reading experience. I loved the beginning but Proulx lost me towards the end. However, I still recommend this book and suggest reading in short bursts lest 700+ pages intimidates you!

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You can mess with my mind anytime, Ms. Flynn! {Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn}

Ms. Flynn, you got me. 

About Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn*: On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

My two cents

(What a great book to jolt me out of my reviewing slump!)

I'm obsessed with this book.

I know I am late in joining the Gone Girl bandwagon but I'm hopping on, willingly, and with guns blazing. Because it's been a while since I've read a book so utterly engrossing and so utterly ... brilliant. I finished it ... and promptly reread it. (I'm still in the the throes of the reread, and I'm just enjoying it even more.)

I can't get into the detail of this book without spoiling it for first time readers (or movie watchers) so I will simply leave the storyline alone: a quick review that is spoiler-free but may be somewhat cryptic in places.

So, I'm obsessed. Here's why:

It's unpredictable

This entire book is a brilliant mind game played between a hubby and wife, and unwittingly a mind game that Gillian Flynn plays on her readers. There are two parts to this book and I've realized that readers either will play along with Ms. Flynn or simply hate it. It's a polarizing experience -- love it or hate it -- with a passion. I was dazed when I finished it. I went "Oh sh**" then heaved a sigh reeking of "OMG" and surprisingly, wallowed in the reality that is the twistedness and perversion that I had just read.

It's psychologically insightful

Know the whole he said, she said shebang? This is the ultimate. This is all about a marriage and highlights the very intimate mind meld relationship that can exist between a couple. It can pendulum from the good to the bad, and this particular book shows the extremes that are often difficult to stomach.

Another interesting dichotomy explored is the wide difference between reality (private persona) versus public perception. The role of media -- the good, the bad, and the ugly -- are fully expounded upon in the storyline. How many times have you passed judgment on a case or a person based on what you heard in the news, saw on TV, or even social media? We all do it. In this day of easy access to information, forming opinion based on the constant stream of fact (and plenty of fiction) is an easy trap to fall into.

Lastly, I can't believe that I fell for Flynn's "game" so easily. The way that this story is structured out makes me want to read more of her work, for the simple  (and awesome) reason that she has so much insight into her very readers' psychology. Not all authors can pull off a mind game so brilliantly, so annoyingly, and so effectively. Kudos, Gillian Flynn.

It can actually happen (scarily so)

In the back of my mind, what really struck me about Gone Girl is that it's very possible that this could happen, and to anyone. It's a difficult thing to accept that no one can really know any one person, no matter how close we can be, whatever relationship can bear some uncertainty. But it's doubly difficult to know someone's deepest, truest, and ugliest self ... and if not being able to accept it, to at least be able to acknowledge and understand.

Verdict:

Looking for a mind trip? Try Gone Girl. Then tell me if you're in the love or hate camp!

Highly recommended reading for those who despise predictable, cookie cutter characters and willingly desire to be surprised, shocked and challenged.

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"Everybody wants to own the end of the world" {Zero K by Don DeLillo}

"Everybody wants to own the end of the world"

Synopsis of Zero K by Don DeLillo: Jeffrey Lockhart's father, Ross, is a billionaire in his sixties, with a younger wife, Artis Martineau, whose health is failing. Ross is the primary investor in a remote and secret compound where death is exquisitely controlled and bodies are preserved until a future time when biomedical advances and new technologies can return them to a life of transcendent promise. Jeff joins Ross and Artis at the compound to say "an uncertain farewell" to her as she surrenders her body. "We are born without choosing to be. Should we have to die in the same manner? Isn't it a human glory to refuse to accept a certain fate?" These are the questions that haunt the novel and its memorable characters, and it is Ross Lockhart, most particularly, who feels a deep need to enter another dimension and awake to a new world. For his son, this is indefensible. Jeff, the book's narrator, is committed to living, to experiencing "the mingled astonishments of our time, here, on earth." Don DeLillo's seductive, spectacularly observed and brilliant new novel weighs the darkness of the world-terrorism, floods, fires, famine, plague-against the beauty and humanity of everyday life; love, awe, "the intimate touch of earth and sun."

My two cents

Have you read anything by DeLillo? I've heard anything from "I love him-you should read him" and to the extreme "His-book-almost-killed-me" variety that can you blame me that I'm a little intimidated as a DeLillo newbie?

I really should get a handle on myself: stop listening to what others say. Starting this novel, I got slightly queasy because it is rather creepy with its overwhelming fixation on death ... and actually having a direct say on one's own death, and, even scarier, challenging the world's fatalistic attitude towards death. The beginning "Everybody want to own the end of the world" was a dead giveaway. 

The story revolves around Jeffrey Lockhart, who we chance upon is in the middle of monumental family decision: he has been called by his father to bear witness to his ailing stepmother's "death." But it's not an ordinary "death," it is a decision borne out of the desire to preserve her body until the time that medicine would be able to bring her back, cured and in perfect health. All this happens within a supersecret facility somewhere in Russia, which houses state-of-the-art medical technology amidst an almost cultic movement focused on the future of humanity.

The facility is funded by Jeffrey's billionaire father, Ross. A strong believer in the goal of the facility to play the crucial role of taking death into our own hands, so-to-speak, Ross realizes that there is little left for him to live for with Artis's death. He decides that he should "go with her," in other words, willingly succumb to what the book has called a state of "Zero K" which despite him not having any illness, allows his body to be preserved and to be awoken at the same time as Artis.

It is in Ross's decision where contradictory beliefs of father and son come to fore, and underscore the entire debate of man's control over death.

***

Overall, I'd characterize this as a chilling, thought provoking speculative fiction piece. I remember the chills I first had when I read Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park books decades ago; how can one not be fascinated with the prospect of bring back the extinct dinosaur to life? This recaptured that feeling but with a more human connection. Everyone becomes more and more aware of their humanity with the passage of time or when time becomes a constraint (such as with an incurable illness). Everyone will at some point ponder what they want to get out of this life and beyond, if one is to believe in life beyond the mortal body. But what if one could extend their physical life indefinitely? What would you do?

"Isn't death a blessing? Doesn't it define the value of our lives, minute to minute, year to year?" (- p. 69, ARC, page may change)

There are many philosophical and even theological questions the book asks the reader to consider, to look beyond our small selves in the context of human history. Consider:

"Do we see ourselves living outside time, outside history?" [..] "Hopes and dreams of the future often fail to account for the complexity of life as it exists on this planet. We understand that. The hungry, the homeless, the besieged, the warring factions and religions and sects and nations. The crushed economies. The wild surges of weather. Can we be impervious to terrorism? Can we ward off threats of cyber-attack? Will we be able to remain truly self-sufficient here?" (p. 65, ARC, page may change)

What makes this book even moreso intense are the images of life, death and transcendence that it so skillfully paints: a solitary, stationary figure in the midst of a ever-moving bustling city, a herd of frenzied, scared people crushing onward to who knows what, anguished faces and tortured bodies of self-immolants.   


While I think there is a lot of big ideas floating about, the book is firmly grounded in the opposing views of the father and son making me feel much more connected to the whole dilemma. Otherwise, I honestly may have gotten lost in the concepts! There are plenty of gems hidden in this one and I suspect depending on what your own inclinations or interests are, you will respond in some way, especially with DeLillo's writing with its simple, descriptive and evocative quality.

I can't claim to fully grasp this book but it is enough for me want to look up more of DeLillo's work.

Verdict 

Life is finite. Humanity wants to and has the power to extend it indefinitely. Despite all these big questions and concepts talked about, the dilemma is real for Jeffrey, Ross and Artis. Read this chilling speculative piece and ponder about your own stand on life and death.


Note: An ARC was provided to me by the publisher for honest review consideration. 

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Ooh, the mind games! {Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane} #readmyowndamnbooks

Ah, the mind. Agh, my mind!

About Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane: US Marshal Teddy Daniels has come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to find an escaped murderer named Rachel Solando. As a killer hurricane bears down on the island, the investigation deepens and the questions mount. How has a barefoot woman escaped from a locked room? Who is leaving them clues in the form of cryptic codes? And what really goes on in Ward C? The closer Teddy gets to the truth, the more elusive it becomes. And the more he begins to believe that he may never leave Shutter Island. Because someone is trying to drive him insane...

My two cents

How do I write this review without spoiling it for those of you who have never heard of this book? If you haven't watched the movie (which stars Leonardo DiCaprio if you didn't already know based on that cover), well and good ... you should read this. If you have, then you already know that this is story is not what is makes itself out to be as per that little blurb or the marketing spiels out there.  

This a novel that starts out as one thing and morphs into something totally different. 

At face value this is a little hunting mission for two US Marshals, Teddy and Chuck, for a murderer on the loose on an island that houses the criminally insane (so naturally the escapee is also insane). If that isn't exciting enough for you, there is a huge hurricane, power outages, the prospect of more escaped wards, and oh-but-of-course, a host of clues that are begging to be solved. 

But wait. There is more! There seems to be a conspiracy that's pretty insidious in its prospects. And there are also hints throughout the novel about Teddy Daniel's personal life, a haunted past that only makes the reader wonder who the heck this US Marshal really is. 

All throughout this excitement, something deeply unsettlingly lies in store for the willing victim err, reader. I loved that Lehane took me on a journey that can only be described as being "played." It's all an elaborate mind game, not only for the lead character, but for you and me as readers. I fell for it all, hook, line and sinker, and I loved it! Ah, to recapture that feeling when I first watched The Sixth Sense! 

P.S. Books like this come rarely for me as I usually can see through elaborate plotting. If you have any recommendations for surprisingly good books that eff up your mind, let me know!

Verdict 

A suspenseful conspiracy-mystery with a surprising twist ... for the reader. If you liked The Sixth Sense, love psychological thrillers, pick this up. Or watch the movie. Or both!

Yes, I #readmyowndamnbooks! I got this from some random thrift sale. Or something. 

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The double-edged sword that is family. {Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg}

The double-edged sword that is family.

About Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg: On the eve of her daughter’s wedding, June Reid’s life is completely devastated when a shocking disaster takes the lives of her daughter, her daughter’s fiancé, her ex-husband, and her boyfriend, Luke—her entire family, all gone in a moment. And June is the only survivor.

Alone and directionless, June drives across the country, away from her small Connecticut town. In her wake, a community emerges, weaving a beautiful and surprising web of connections through shared heartbreak.

From the couple running a motel on the Pacific Ocean where June eventually settles into a quiet half-life, to the wedding’s caterer whose bill has been forgotten, to Luke’s mother, the shattered outcast of the town—everyone touched by the tragedy is changed as truths about their near and far histories finally come to light.

My two cents

For most of the night I was awake, wondering at it all, the pattern that seemed to emerge where I laid every fluke and chance encounter, puzzling through all the possible signs and meanings; but any trace of a design disintegrated when I remembered the chaos and brutality of the world, the genocide and natural disasters, all the agony. I never felt so small, so humbled, by the vastness of universe and the fragility of life. - p. 113

With the synopsis pretty much giving away the entire storyline, I wasn't sure what to expect. But I was shocked when I fell hard for this phenomenal book that explores the themes of loss, grief and healing in a powerfully moving way.

This is a "wow" book for me not just this year but ever. All I could say on Goodreads after putting this down—with some regret that it was over—was "How amazing was that?" I was in a book-induced stupor for days! After partially recovering, I reread the entire thing and came away with an even greater appreciation of how amazing this book is.

Unique for this book its approach in storytelling. Told in multiple voices in third person, each chapter is a vignette of a character's backstory sprinkled with small revelations, like little puzzle pieces, that feed into the overall storyline. There were many characters, some that I felt came out of the woodwork, but all were essential as this book slowly peeled away the layers of people's facades. In the end, the bitter reality of what had led to the tragic explosion and its frighteningly horrific yet hopeful resolutions come into focus.

Slow character revelation had me empathizing with each of the characters, sometimes frighteningly so, as their thoughts, fears, insecurities and motivations were laid bare. Getting to know each one was a slow, even tedious process yet the emotional payoff was high for me. Overall, this is an emotional read and I felt there was a "nowness" and a tangibility in the atmosphere of each vignette.

Most of the characters lead sad and misunderstood lives. June is the main character since she is the sole survivor - middle-aged, divorced, and not quite sure where to go in her relationship with her younger boyfriend Luke. However other characters will win your heart too. Lydia, Luke's mother, described as a small-town Elizabeth Taylor who had more than her fair share of misery. Lydia's backstory is the stuff of small-town gossip, but I felt for her. Then there are the minor, yet surprisingly essential, characters like Silas, a teenage pothead who works for Luke; the bridal couple, Lolly and Will; and even the owner of the hotel where June seeks refuge.

Did You Ever Have a Family asks this rather pointed question and reveals that everyone eventually finds their own kin, whether because one is born into family or the family is formed by circumstance. All family relationships can be wrought with much joy and even greater sorrow and pain when relationships die or when there is loss. But this book captures a spark of hope and the promise of healing for those who choose to seek out others who can once again be called "family."

Verdict

I was "wowed" by this complex, emotional, and highly nuanced story of tragedy which made me ponder the double-edge sword of family and family relationships. I highly recommend this for those who enjoy complex storytelling, intense characterizations, and are willing to be affected by a highly realistic story.

Endnotes: I later learned that this book was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for honest review consideration. 

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Lucky Alan and Other Stories by Jonathan Lethem

Lucky Alan, Lucky Me!

About Lucky Alan and Other Stories by Jonathan Letham: Jonathan Lethem’s third collection of stories uncovers a father’s nervous breakdown at SeaWorld in “Pending Vegan”; a foundling child rescued from the woods during a blizzard in “Traveler Home”; a political prisoner in a hole in a Brooklyn street in “Procedure in Plain Air”; and a crumbling, haunted “blog” on a seaside cliff in “The Dreaming Jaw, The Salivating Ear.” Each of these locates itself in Lethem-land, which can be discovered only by visiting. As in his celebrated novels, Lethem finds the uncanny lurking in the mundane, the irrational self-defeat seeping through our upstanding pursuits, and the tragic undertow of the absurd world(s) in which we live.

My two cents

I'm finishing off this review with a push from joining in Bout of Books. This review has been in draft, languishing for months! I hope you enjoy this review and consider picking this one up!

***

What a hodgepodge of a collection! There doesn't seem to be a commonality tying up the nine stories in this collection either in theme or in writing style. The stories swing from extreme to extreme: from the highly realistic to the plain absurd. 

I like how these stories can be read metaphorically, provoking and making them fodder for interpretation and feeling entirely up to the reader. 

The writing is succinct yet meaty. The subject matter/issues are varied, from the mundane to the bizarre, and Lethem manages to make them quite interesting. There is always a twist somewhere, and most of them come from left field which can make for a pleasant surprise (or for some, I suspect an annoyance). Best of all, Lethem's stories are very creative and rather oddball with a certain wry humour and weirdness that grew on me. 

Here are my quick thoughts of each story:

Lucky Alan, the first and title story is a highly realistic depiction of an adult male friendship. Two men who move in the movie watching/directing circles cross paths, become acquaintances, don't see each other for a while, and reconnect once again. This allows them to know each other on another level, and both realize there is more to each other than appears. This is one of my favourite stories a bittersweet recollection of a friendship and is bound to touch a chord with those who have friends they've lost touch with or have friends who make a lasting impression.

The King of Sentences is one of the absurd stories and I felt it was quite experimental. Wow, Lethem loves his words, his complex sentences, and his verbal cartwheels -- written very impressively! This is about a pair of New York bibliophiles who are fanatics of an author they've dubbed as The King of Sentences. One day they decide to pay the "King" a visit and the visit unravels into weirdness. I reasonably liked this as I didn't know where this story was going; but after that build-up with all the writing acrobatics, I felt a little let down by the mundaneness of the conclusion. 

Traveler Home is about how a man living in the remote countryside discovers and rescues a sleeping baby in the middle of the woods after a huge blizzard.  Whose child it it? Why was it left? Such a strange tale. This opens reading more like poetry to me with its rhythm, its short sentences, and its straightforward writing. 

Procedure in Plain Air is absurdity to the extreme and is among my favourites. It made me laugh and I actually imagined the author laughing while writing this because it's so ridiculous that it's funny. Someone outside a coffee shop witnesses the dumping of a bound man into a manhole and held prisoner there. Shockingly, no one else notices, or seems to care, save this one person.  

Their Back Pages is a tragic-comic story about has-been, retired comic characters unhappily marooned on an island when their plane crashes. I enjoyed how I could picture the narrative taking shape visually as a comic strip -- as the characters recall their heydays, and make do in their current predicament. 

The Porn Critic is about Kromer, a young man who has defaulted into the enviable-slash-much-speculated job of reviewing porn to up business at the adult video rental store he works. One day, with his long-time friend with benefits Greta, he brings back two female friends acquaintances to his apartment filled to the rafters with porn. With the combination of joints and hormones, the night turns into something quite unusual. 

The Empty Room is about a family who has designated that one room in their house be maintained empty. The family uses it over the years, using it and emptying it and creating memories. The siblings return one day and revisit the empty room ... and realize just how much the room has been witness to, in the past and into the future.

The Dreaming Jaw, The Salivating Ear is a story about a blog owner who "kills" off a troll. I found this piece quite entrancing, being a blog owner I can relate to the feelings described when your lovely little place is defamed. If you're curious, lucky you, you can read this online at Harper.

Pending Vegan follows a father experiencing a meltdown during a trip with his family to SeaWorld. Everything becomes coloured by withdrawal symptoms getting off his anti-depressants and SeaWorld takes on a sharp surrealness. 

Verdict: This is the first I've heard of and read any of Jonathan Lethem's work and it seems he is quite well-known for his short stories. Since I really enjoyed this collection as they are unlike any I've ever read,  I am eager to look up his other work! 

I received a copy from the publisher for honest review consideration.

The Heart Does Not Grow Back by Fred Venturini (+Giveaway!) #RRSciFiMonth

Reality in the surreal.

About The Heart Does Not Grow Back by Fred Venturini:

EVERY SUPERHERO NEEDS TO START SOMEWHERE…

Dale Sampson is used to being a nonperson at his small-town Midwestern high school, picking up the scraps of his charismatic lothario of a best friend, Mack. He comforts himself with the certainty that his stellar academic record and brains will bring him the adulation that has evaded him in high school. But when an unthinkable catastrophe tears away the one girl he ever had a chance with, his life takes a bizarre turn as he discovers an inexplicable power: He can regenerate his organs and limbs.

When a chance encounter brings him face to face with a girl from his past, he decides that he must use his gift to save her from a violent husband and dismal future. His quest takes him to the glitz and greed of Hollywood, and into the crosshairs of shadowy forces bent on using and abusing his gift. Can Dale use his power to redeem himself and those he loves, or will the one thing that finally makes him special be his demise? The Heart Does Not Grow Back is a darkly comic, starkly original take on the superhero tale, introducing an exceptional new literary voice in Fred Venturini.

My two cents

My first thought putting this down: now that was weird. But I loved it, in a weird, wonderful way.

This felt like two books in one. The first part is all lad lit, in an innocent annoying sort of way. We are introduced to Dale Sampson, poor, the only son of a single mom sick with cancer, who is basically a nobody in his school and his town in the Midwest. He meets Mack, a star athlete, who unexpectedly sticks up for him, and they become fast friends.

By default, Dale's life is entwined in Mack's. Their lives revolve around Dale trying to fit into Mack's cool kid world, finding hot girls, and showing up their jock tormentors. But one day, in the midst of all the usual teenage drama, something shockingly disturbing happens ... and Dale discovers that his body can regenerate. Break a bone or two, no problem. Chop off his hand, it just grows back (cue Twilight Zone theme).

Which brings us to the second part which made for a more fast-paced story. This defining event is where Dale crosses into adulthood and where the book turns even more bizarre. With nowhere to go in life, Dale eventually decides to capitalize on his strange ability. He becomes the star of the strangest reality show ever, The Samaritan, where Dale donates body parts to those needing them, all captured on TV of course. People around his new celebrity make for a toxic mix of greed, ambition, and benevolence and while another whole other love story arc plays itself out, Dale has to make some tough decisions on where he wants to end up in his life.

***

The premise is all sci-fi'y and fantasy. It is also quite gritty, dark. I really enjoyed the originality of the premise of this book: a regenerating human being sounds like something that should be in X-Men, not in a literary read like this. When I was starting the book, I didn't quite know what to make of all the hints of Dale's powers every time he got involved in a skirmish. Creative and very unexpected!

I guess I just wasn't paying attention since I was really feeling the whole spin on friendship, first love and love lost, parental love and of coming-of-age. This storyline in itself would've been "good enough" of a read for me.

But no, Venturini pushes the envelope. I love him for taking the risk because it has made the story nothing like I've ever read, and certainly elevated it to another level. The introduction of Dale's superpower gives us a hyper-real, surreal story.

The weird spin on the regeneration theme is replete with metaphors for life, how life is lived, and what it means to use one's gift to benefit others. The power of regeneration becomes both a blessing and a curse. Dale initially thinks that his power will get him out of the hellhole he lives in. But while it brings him the much-needed cash, it complicates his life and he is forced to make decisions that test the balance between a selfless existence versus a life of what makes him truly happy.

This is weird. This is dark. This is lad lit. This is romance. This is sci-fi. It's all that and more because it's got a lot of heart and a lot of reality in the surreal.

***

Potential spoilers (will be as cryptic as possible): I loved the whole "twin spin." I always knew about R, deep inside. Dale was just dense ;)

I was initially pissed off though at the turn of events but now that I've let this percolate a bit more, I don't think I'd have it any other way. Alternate endings would just spoil it.

Warning: There are some rather graphic descriptions of general violence and sexual violence which may make for some uncomfortable reading. Good thing it is concentrated in just one part of the book and you can move on quickly.

Verdict: When you think you've read the weirdest book, I urge you to pick this up. Read it: weird, dark, lad lit, sci-fi, romance. It's all that and more because it's got a lot of heart and a lot of reality in the surreal. Loved this book and highly recommend to anyone looking for a dose of heart in their sci-fi reading (I hope you got the pun, if it wasn't obvious!)

About Fred Venturini

Fred Venturini grew up in Patoka, Illinois. His short fiction has been published in the Booked Anthology, Noir at the Bar 2, and Surreal South ’13. In 2014, his story “Gasoline” will be featured in Chuck Palahniuk’s Burnt Tongues collection. He lives in Southern Illinois with his wife and daughter.

Connect with Fred Venturini on Twitter.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in order to participate in this tour with an honest review. Don't forget to check out the rest of the tour here.  

2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino + GIVEAWAY!

As unpredictable as a jazz scat!

Synopsis of 2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino* (from the book blurb): Madeleine Altimari is a smart-mouthed, rebellious nine-year-old who also happens to be an aspiring jazz singer. Still mourning the recent death of her mother, and caring for her grief-stricken father, she doesn’t realize that on the eve of Christmas Eve she is about to have the most extraordinary day—and night—of her life. After bravely facing down mean-spirited classmates and rejection at school, Madeleine doggedly searches for Philadelphia's legendary jazz club The Cat's Pajamas, where she’s determined to make her on-stage debut. On the same day, her fifth grade teacher Sarina Greene, who’s just moved back to Philly after a divorce, is nervously looking forward to a dinner party that will reunite her with an old high school crush, afraid to hope that sparks might fly again. And across town at The Cat's Pajamas, club owner Lorca discovers that his beloved haunt may have to close forever, unless someone can find a way to quickly raise the $30,000 that would save it.

As these three lost souls search for love, music and hope on the snow-covered streets of Philadelphia, together they will discover life’s endless possibilities over the course of one magical night. A vivacious, charming and moving debut, 2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas will capture your heart and have you laughing out loud.

My two cents

A story of heartache, of broken dreams, of "damaged" people ... a young girl who had lost her mother, a man who inherited a jazz club yet was running it into the ground, a lonely teacher who couldn't move on from her divorce.

This was a mixed read for me, although the I am leaning towards the "like" side of the seesaw. While I found this charming - with an edge - I sort of had to grow into the book.

The beginning I disliked; I think I started to "get" it about halfway through, and then was slightly bewildered at the end. Although I have a soft spot for the three main characters -- they were truly the book's saving grace.

I liked

Oh, where to start! There are so many things I liked about this book.

I thought the treatment of the story was quite creative. It all takes place within the span of a day. With the three-person stories unfolding and converging in surprising ways, it's quite mind-boggling to think at how many lives are being lived everyday. But lest I get all philosophical, let's go to...

The characters! They're all a little off center, "damaged" I loved their vulnerability despite their tough-as-nails exteriors. While Madeleine's foul mouth annoyed me in the beginning, the more I got to know her and her story -- her loss of her beloved mother, a father bedridden  -- I softened. Madeleine really is the star of this novel, however, I have to say that I was equally interested in the stories of both Sarina and Lorca. All their stories are just a little heartbreaking.

Oh, I loved the writing. Bertino has such a clear, spunky voice. There were times I was mesmerized with the prose, which in its simplicity was poetic. It had a rather clipped rhythm to it, which I though came together nicely with the jazz theme. But watch out for the tongue-in-cheek humor! It'll hit you when you least expect it, and saves the book from becoming too sentimental or cloying in the telling of these three characters' stories.

And jazz, and live performances, and the obvious love for all things Philadelphia ... if The Cat's Pajamas really existed, I'd love to take a peek.

P.S. Another beautiful cover! If you have to see it and touch it to believe how luxe it looks and feels with its embossing and subtle shimmer.

I disliked

The beginning made me feel cold, even a little annoyed. Honestly, the amount of cursing coming from Madeleine was quite off-putting -- I actually did a doubletake and backed up to check if the one swearing was a nine-year-old.

I honestly think that if I didn't have such a wide berth for my reading, I would've stopped a chapter or two in and missed out on this intriguing read. I think I changed my mind when I read about Sarina's sad prom date (around halfway). Then I softened even more learning of Lorca's tenderness for his son Alex. And of course, I needed to find out what happened to Madeleine!

I was a little bewildered by what I felt were misplaced magical realism touches. I felt that the story didn't really need it.

Verdict

As unpredictable as a jazz scat but just as exhilarating! This charming, edgy novel set in Philly is about three lives that is all bravado on the exterior, but pure jello inside. Recommended for the tenderness you feel for the characters, its unusual storytelling, and its rhythmic prose.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in order to participate in this tour. Don't forget to check out the rest of the tour here!

About Marie-Helene Bertino

Marie-Helene Bertino is the author of the story collection Safe as Houses, which won the 2012 Iowa Short Fiction Prize and The Pushcart Prize, and was long-listed for The Story Prize and The Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize. An Emerging Writer Fellow at New York’s Center for Fiction, she has spent six years as an editor and writing instructor at One Story.
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Connect with Marie-Helene Bertino

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Giveaway Time!

Book Depository*

Goodreads 
Hardcover: 272 pages

Publisher: Crown (August 5, 2014)

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

Well, these flowers certainly wilted pretty quickly for me.

About Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews: At the top of the stairs there are four secrets hidden. Blond, beautiful, innocent, and struggling to stay alive…

They were a perfect family, golden and carefree—until a heartbreaking tragedy shattered their happiness. Now, for the sake of an inheritance that will ensure their future, the children must be hidden away out of sight, as if they never existed. Kept on the top floor of their grandmother’s vast mansion, their loving mother assures them it will be just for a little while. But as brutal days swell into agonizing months and years, Cathy, Chris, and twins Cory and Carrie realize their survival is at the mercy of their cruel and superstitious grandmother…and this cramped and helpless world may be the only one they ever know.

Book One of the Dollanganger series, followed by Petals in the Wind, If There be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, and Garden of Shadows.

My two cents

Good gawd. What the hell did I just read?

I know that this book has a cult following when it first came out in the 1970s. But fans, I apologize for not really liking this. Sorry.

This reminds me slightly of the feeling I got reading Twilight. What a sucker I am! This isn't bad per se ... I characterize it as popcorn reading: you read but don't really digest. I feel sort of dirty reading this for some reason, I can't quite put my finger on it.

What I liked

I admit it, I was totally sucked into the book in the beginning. The disturbing premise of locking children in an attic for years to get an an inheritance is the stuff of nightmares. I had high expectations because of this premise. It delivered into maybe half of the book for me.

This also tackles some rather controversial ground if you consider this as reading for young adults. It tackles incest, there's porn and sexual awakening, and lastly it is a story of coming-of-age.

What I didn't like

One, I was expecting to be totally creeped out by this one but was sadly disappointed. Maybe it's all my years of reading Agatha Christie that has dulled it for me? But disturbing as the premise of locking children away for years in the attic, or the abuse they had to endure, I found that didn't quite buy into any of it. Probably because ..

Two, I felt there were caricatures of characters rather than actual characters. There's the evil grandmother whose religious beliefs and conservatism creeped me out in the beginning, but she eventually lost steam for me. Then the perfect, Stepford Wife-y mother whose motherly instincts went straight out the door at the mere suggestion of an inheritance (was she pretending for over a decade when she was married to her love of her life?) - not quite believable. While the children were much more believable characters, I felt that the two larger-than-life characters spoiled them for me.

Three, with its horrendously strange dialogues - which I will give a pass because this is set in the 1950s - I cringed through quite a lot of conversations. Golly.

Four, ugh, the pacing. At around 240ish pages, I was getting bored. So, they're locked in the attic. So, they're suffering. So ... damn it, do something. No, just more dithering, dithering, dithering. The imprisonment and the dithering was so drawn out!

Verdict: A cult favourite in the 1970-80s, this is one of those "forbidden" books that tackles incest, sexual awakening all wrapped in a creepy Gothic feel. However, I found it quickly lost its appeal about halfway through because of the slow pacing and caricatures of characters. Gosh golly, I don't think I can read anything else in this series. Sorry fans, this just isn't for me.

Thanks to Freda for the giveaway copy! Too bad this book wasn't for me.

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