The Silkworm

This is the second mystery by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling under cover) in the Cormoran Strike series. The first, The Cuckoo's Calling was just okay. I read it but apparently never reviewed it here. (?!?)

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Good Reads' Synopsis: "When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.

But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.

When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before..."


What I Thought: This was a bit too meandering for my taste, even in a mystery. I liked Strikes' interactions with Robin but they are a good pair anyway. I just didn't really care whodunnit and found the ending leaving me a bit underwhelmed.

Rating: * * 1/2

The Interestings

Look! Another camp book that is actually about camp this time. Well, most of it. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer has popped up on a lot of lists lately. I actually had it on hold for me at the library months ago but I was out of town and couldn't get to it in time.

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Good Reads' Synopsis: "The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. In The Interestings, Wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge.

The kind of creativity that is rewarded at age fifteen is not always enough to propel someone through life at age thirty; not everyone can sustain, in adulthood, what seemed so special in adolescence. Jules Jacobson, an aspiring comic actress, eventually resigns herself to a more practical occupation and lifestyle. Her friend Jonah, a gifted musician, stops playing the guitar and becomes an engineer. But Ethan and Ash, Jules’s now-married best friends, become shockingly successful—true to their initial artistic dreams, with the wealth and access that allow those dreams to keep expanding. The friendships endure and even prosper, but also underscore the differences in their fates, in what their talents have become and the shapes their lives have taken.

Wide in scope, ambitious, and populated by complex characters who come together and apart in a changing New York City, The Interestingsexplores the meaning of talent; the nature of envy; the roles of class, art, money, and power; and how all of it can shift and tilt precipitously over the course of a friendship and a life."
What I Thought: This one had a lot of promise for me in the beginning. I enjoyed getting to know the characters as teenagers. It transported me back to a time when I could have pointed out a person in my life to fit every one of these kids. However, as they aged and their stories continued it just dragged on a bit. There was no real spark. I wasn't invested in their futures or where they ended up. I kept wishing Wolitzer had spent more time developing their stories at camp. It just felt a bit flat which was disappointing.


Rating: * * 1/2

Written in My Own Heart's Blood

I have been waiting for this book for 3 years! It is the latest installment in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. I've been waiting so long that I completely forgot what happened in the last book. I probably should have read my own review or another synopsis. No matter. I still remembered all my old friends.

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Good Reads' Synopsis: "WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD is the eighth novel in the world-famous OUTLANDER series. In June of 1778, the world turns upside-down. The British army withdraws from Philadelphia, George Washington prepares to move from Valley Forge in pursuit, and Jamie Fraser comes back from the dead to discover that his best friend has married Jamie’s wife. The ninth Earl of Ellesmere discovers to his horror that he is in fact the illegitimate son of the newly-resurrected Jamie Fraser (a rebel _and_ a Scottish criminal!) and Jamie’s nephew Ian Murray discovers that his new-found cousin has an eye for Ian’s Quaker betrothed.

Meanwhile, Claire Fraser deals with an asthmatic duke, Benedict Arnold, and the fear that one of her husbands may have murdered the other. And in the 20th century, Jamie and Claire’s daughter Brianna is thinking that things are probably easier in the 18th century: her son has been kidnapped, her husband has disappeared into the past, and she’s facing a vicious criminal with nothing but a stapler in her hand. Fortunately, her daughter has a miniature cricket bat and her mother’s pragmatism.

The best of historical fiction with a Moebius twist, WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD weaves the fibers of a family’s life through the tapestry of historical drama."

What I Thought: Well, this didn't make as much of a splash for me as I had hoped. In 800+ pages it didn't really seem like a whole lot happened. Of course that's not true but I felt as if it was a bridge book. Like we were just trying to end up somewhere for the next book, which won't come out for even more years. I liked it because I enjoy the series but I wanted to like it a lot more. If you haven't read any of the Outlander books, obviously start at the beginning. But know that they are large and it will take you awhile. The journey is worth it.

Rating: * * *

Additional exciting information! Starz is now showing the new Outlander series. Do you have Starz? I do not. Can I come to your house and watch???? The actors they selected for Jamie and Claire do not fit my personal vision of them but I'm still excited to see it. Even if I have to buy it on DVD (do they still sell DVD'S?) whenever it comes out. If you've watched it, PLEASE tell me how it is.

Burnt Mountain

I was looking for a book about summer camp because it's summer and I have always wanted to go to sleepaway camp. While that ship has likely sailed, I did stumble upon Burnt Mountain by Anne River Siddons.

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Good Reads' Synopsis: "Growing up, the only place tomboy Thayer Wentworth felt at home was at her summer camp - Camp Sherwood Forest in the North Carolina Mountains. It was there that she came alive and where she met Nick Abrams, her first love...and first heartbreak.

Years later, Thayer marries Aengus, an Irish professor, and they move into her deceased grandmother's house in Atlanta, only miles from Camp Edgewood on Burnt Mountain where her father died years ago in a car accident. There, Aengus and Thayer lead quiet and happy lives until Aengus is invited up to the camp to tell old Irish tales to the campers. As Aengus spends less time at home and becomes more distant, Thayer must confront dark secrets-about her mother, her first love, and, most devastating of all, her husband."
What I Thought: I read this a few weeks ago and forgot to write about it. Thus, I can hardly remember my talking points. What I do know is that the plot was flimsy and the best part was the heroine's name. The ending was bad and barely made sense. Pass on this one.

Rating: *

The Girl You Left Behind

I so enjoyed Me Before You by Jojo Moyes a couple weeks ago that I wanted to try another one by here. Thus, The Girl You Left Behind.

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Good Reads' Synopsis: "In 1916, French artist Edouard Lefevre leaves his wife Sophie to fight at the Front. When her town falls into German hands, his portrait of Sophie stirs the heart of the local Kommandant and causes her to risk everything - her family, reputation and life - in the hope of seeing her true love one last time.

Nearly a century later and Sophie's portrait is given to Liv by her young husband shortly before his sudden death. Its beauty speaks of their short life together, but when the painting's dark and passion-torn history is revealed, Liv discovers that the first spark of love she has felt since she lost him is threatened...

In The Girl You Left Behind two young women, separated by a century, are united in their determination to fight for the thing they love most - whatever the cost."

What I Thought: While I didn't like this quite as much as Me Before You, it was still a good little read. I enjoyed the juxtaposition between old and new with Sophie and Liv and their separate plights. However, I did like Sophie's story a lot more than Liv's and was sad at the 100ish page mark when it switched to present day. The plot kept me guessing and the ending surprised me which was nice. Nothing worse than a predictable ending. If you like offbeat love stories with a little feminism mixed in, give this a shot.

Rating: * * *

Uganda Be Kidding Me

You know I'm always looking for a funny book. I have read a couple of Chelsea Handler's books in the past. She's not for everyone. Her memoirs are typically quite vulgar. If you are offended by language and off-color stories, walk on by Uganda Be Kidding Me.

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Good Reads' Synopsis: "Wherever Chelsea Handler travels, one thing is certain: she always ends up in the land of the ridiculous. Now, in this uproarious collection, she sneaks her sharp wit through airport security and delivers her most absurd and hilarious stories ever.

On safari in Africa, it's anyone's guess as to what's more dangerous: the wildlife or Chelsea. But whether she's fumbling the seduction of a guide by not knowing where tigers live (Asia, duh) or wearing a bathrobe into the bush because her clothes stopped fitting seven margaritas ago, she's always game for the next misadventure.

The situation gets down and dirty as she defiles a kayak in the Bahamas, and outright sweaty as she escapes from a German hospital on crutches. When things get truly scary, like finding herself stuck next to a passenger with bad breath, she knows she can rely on her family to make matters even worse. Thank goodness she has the devoted Chunk by her side-except for the time she loses him in Telluride.

Complete with answers to the most frequently asked traveler's questions, hot travel trips, and travel etiquette, none of which should be believed, UGANDA BE KIDDING ME has Chelsea taking on the world, one laugh-out-loud incident at a time."

What I Thought: This was a fast, amusing read but not quite as funny as I wanted it to be. Handler's travel tales are slightly unbelievable but there are pictures included as evidence. It was so short, it only took me a couple hours to get through but that's okay. I don't think I needed more than that. Not the best from her.

Rating: * *

Minding Frankie

After powering through the book that was supposed to last me all through vacation, I found myself scouring my mom's bookshelves looking for a nice little beach read.

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Amazon's Synopsis: "Baby Frankie is born into an unusual family. Her mother is desperate to find someone to take care of her child and she doesn't have much time. Noel doesn't seem to be the most promising of fathers but despite everything, he could well be Frankie's best hope. As for Lisa, she is prepared to give up everything for the man she loves; surely he's going to love her back? And Moira is having none of it. She knows what's right, and has the power to change the course of Frankie's life ...but Moira is hiding secrets of her own. MINDING FRANKIE is a story about unconventional families, relationships which aren't quite what they seem, and the child at the heart of everyone's lives ..."


What I Thought: The synopsis on Good Reads was so tiny I had to turn to Amazon. Theirs isn't much better but, there you have it. I've never read anything by Binchy before so I wasn't sure what to expect. Was it the most riveting story? No. Was it fine for reading by the pool with enough interesting characters and small plot twists to hold my attention? Yes.

Rating: * * 1/2

Me Before You

Once again, I forget where the recommendation for this book came to me. Either way, here it is.

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Good Reads' Synopsis: Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

What I Thought: While that is a very flimsy explanation of the plot, this is a great summer read! It kept my attention all throughout traveling a couple weeks ago when I was in Florida. Thwarting distractions in the airport is not an easy thing to do but Moyes' story succeeded. Lou and Will are intriguing characters that play well off of each other. If you're looking for a bit of an off-beat love story (I suppose you can call it that), this is a good one!

Rating: * * * *

Skippy Dies

This book, by Paul Murray, was recommended by another blog I read as a funny read. If it's funny, it's for me!

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Good Reads' Synopsis: "Why does Skippy, a fourteen-year-old boy at Dublin's venerable Seabrook College, end up dead on the floor of the local doughnut shop? 
Could it have something to do with his friend Ruprecht Van Doren, an overweight genius who is determined to open a portal into a parallel universe using ten-dimensional string theory? 
Could it involve Carl, the teenage drug dealer and borderline psychotic who is Skippy's rival in love? 
Or could "the Automator"--the ruthless, smooth-talking headmaster intent on modernizing the school--have something to hide? 
Why Skippy dies and what happens next is the subject of this dazzling and uproarious novel, unraveling a mystery that links the boys of Seabrook College to their parents and teachers in ways nobody could have imagined. With a cast of characters that ranges from hip-hop-loving fourteen-year-old Eoin "MC Sexecutioner" Flynn to basketballplaying midget Philip Kilfether, packed with questions and answers on everything from Ritalin, to M-theory, to bungee jumping, to the hidden meaning of the poetry of Robert Frost, "Skippy Dies "is a heartfelt, hilarious portrait of the pain, joy, and occasional beauty of adolescence, and a tragic depiction of a world always happy to sacrifice its weakest members. As the twenty-first century enters its teenage years, this is a breathtaking novel from a young writer who will come to define his generation.'

What I Thought: I really like a character driven novel and this wasn't short on characters at all. I enjoyed Skippy's interactions with everyone but sometimes it felt a bit slow and wordy. The main twist came a bit late for me. The book was over 600 pages and at times, it really felt that long. Still, this coming of age story is one worth telling and reading. It wasn't really as funny as I wanted it to be but I'm a sucker for stories set at boarding schools. I don't know why. Still, if the synopsis intrigued you, give it a try.

Rating: * * *

Labor Day

I really wanted to see this movie when it came out last year. It stars Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. Do you remember seeing the previews? I never knew what it was about but it got great reviews. I still haven't seen the movie but when I found out it was based on the book by Joyce Maynard, I decided to start there.

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Good Reads' Synopsis: "With the end of summer closing in and a steamy Labor Day weekend looming in the town of Holton Mills, New Hampshire, thirteen-year-old Henry—lonely, friendless, not too good at sports—spends most of his time watching television, reading, and daydreaming about the soft skin and budding bodies of his female classmates. For company Henry has his long-divorced mother, Adele—a onetime dancer whose summer project was to teach him how to foxtrot; his hamster, Joe; and awkward Saturday-night outings to Friendly's with his estranged father and new stepfamily. As much as he tries, Henry knows that even with his jokes and his "Husband for a Day" coupon, he still can't make his emotionally fragile mother happy. Adele has a secret that makes it hard for her to leave their house, and seems to possess an irreparably broken heart.

But all that changes on the Thursday before Labor Day, when a mysterious bleeding man named Frank approaches Henry and asks for a hand. Over the next five days, Henry will learn some of life's most valuable lessons: how to throw a baseball, the secret to perfect piecrust, the breathless pain of jealousy, the power of betrayal, and the importance of putting others—especially those we love—above ourselves. And the knowledge that real love is worth waiting for.

In a manner evoking Ian McEwan's Atonement and Nick Hornby's About a Boy, acclaimed author Joyce Maynard weaves a beautiful, poignant tale of love, sex, adolescence, and devastating treachery as seen through the eyes of a young teenage boy—and the man he later becomes—looking back at an unexpected encounter that begins one single long, hot, life-altering weekend."

What I Thought: Two great reads in a row! This hasn't happened for a long time. This is a powerful little story. It's a fast read you will not regret. The character of Henry was sweet yet heartbreaking. All of the characters were really very well developed. Now that I know the book is good, I'll try not to be disappointed by the movie.


Rating: * * * 1/2

The Invention of Wings

For my latest read I turned once again to the NY Times Best Seller list. I like to be current, you know. No one ever really asks me about the books I’ve read but if they did, these would be the ones they bring up. Although there are often things on that list that don’t belong there. I won’t name names. You know who you are. I have read and liked other things from Sue Monk Kidd (Secret Life of Bees most notably) so I thought I’d check this one out. I didn’t even have to wait on the hold list very long. How do you like that?

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Good Reads’ Synopsis: "Hetty "Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid.We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty-five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.
As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.

Inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented, including Handful’s cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in her search for something better.

This exquisitely written novel is a triumph of storytelling that looks with unswerving eyes at a devastating wound in American history, through women whose struggles for liberation, empowerment, and expression will leave no reader unmoved."

What I Thought: I really enjoyed this even though the historical fiction snuck up on me. That’s okay. Historical fiction has its time and place. I really liked what Kidd did with the juxtaposition of Sarah and Handful. What intriguing characters! It also made me want to visit the south in the 1800’s. Not for the slavery part. That was no good. Just for the southern charm and old world Charleston. The imagery in this was beautiful as well, even when the scenes were not so beautiful, I still wanted to soak in every detail. Check this one out for yourself!

Rating: * * * ½

One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories

I have been looking forward to this book coming out for awhile now. I think I was probably one of the first at the library to read it, which was pretty exciting. If you don't recognize the name, you might recognize BJ Novak as Ryan from The Office. Of course, his career is larger than that but that's where I first encountered him.

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Good Reads' Synopsis: B.J. Novak's One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories is an endlessly entertaining, surprisingly sensitive, and startlingly original debut collection that signals the arrival of a welcome new voice in American fiction.

Across a dazzling range of subjects, themes, tones, and narrative voices, Novak's assured prose and expansive imagination introduce readers to people, places, and premises that are hilarious, insightful, provocative, and moving-often at the same time.

In One More Thing, a boy wins a $100,000 prize in a box of Frosted Flakes - only to discover that claiming the winnings may unravel his family. A woman sets out to seduce motivational speaker Tony Robbins - turning for help to the famed motivator himself. A school principal unveils a bold plan to permanently abolish arithmetic. An acclaimed ambulance driver seeks the courage to follow his heart and throw it all away to be a singer-songwriter. Author John Grisham contemplates a monumental typo. A new arrival in heaven, overwhelmed by infinite options, procrastinates over his long-ago promise to visit his grandmother. We meet a vengeance-minded hare, obsessed with scoring a rematch against the tortoise who ruined his life; and post-college friends who debate how to stage an intervention in the era of Facebook. We learn why wearing a red t-shirt every day is the key to finding love; how February got its name; and why the stock market is sometimes just... down.

Finding inspiration in questions from the nature of perfection to the icing on carrot cake, from the deeply familiar to the intoxicatingly imaginative, One More Thing finds its heart in the most human of phenomena: love, fear, family, ambition, and the inner stirring for the one elusive element that might make a person complete. The stories in this collection are like nothing else, but they have one thing in common: they share the playful humor, deep heart, inquisitive mind, and altogether electrifying spirit of a writer with a fierce devotion to the entertainment of the reader.


What I Thought: Maybe my expectations were too high for this one. I was hoping for laugh out loud funny and unfortunately, that's not what I got. The stories were clever and some were amusing but I didn't chuckle once. Perhaps it wasn't meant to be all that funny and just insightful. I don't know. A couple of the stories did resonate with me but not on a humorous level. I like Novak's writing style and I won't give up on him just yet but, I was just looking for something more.

Rating: * * 1/2

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

This was another one of those choices on my Kindle when I couldn't come up with anything else. Having never read anything by Neal Gaiman, I checked out The Ocean at the End of the Lane with no idea what to expect.

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Good Reads' Synopsis: "Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Laneis told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.?"

What I Thought: This was kind of a weird story. I'm still not really sure what I think about it. Having said that, the writing was captivating. The characters were deep. It was just a bit out there for my imagination right now, I guess. Maybe fantasy isn't my thing.

Rating: * * 1/2

Olive Kitteridge

Perusing the Kindle Lending Library last week led me to this Pulitzer Prize winner by Elizabeth Strout. Critically acclaimed and actually available to borrow? Count me in!

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Good Reads' Synopsis: "In a voice more powerful and compassionate than ever before, New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout binds together thirteen rich, luminous narratives into a book with the heft of a novel, through the presence of one larger-than-life, unforgettable character: Olive Kitteridge.

At the edge of the continent, Crosby, Maine, may seem like nowhere, but seen through this brilliant writer’s eyes, it’s in essence the whole world, and the lives that are lived there are filled with all of the grand human drama–desire, despair, jealousy, hope, and love. 

At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance: a former student who has lost the will to live: Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse. 

As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life–sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty. Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition–its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires."

What I Thought: At first, I wasn't sure what to make of this. The star player, Olive, comes in a bit slow and unassuming in the beginning. As the story unfolds, we learn she is a force to be reckoned with. All of Strout's characters are so well-developed that it feels each could be their own whole story and left me wanting more of them after their little vignette had ended. Although Olive does and says plenty of things that make her wholly unlikable, I think you'll feel differently about her by the end. If you are into beautifully woven, character-driven novels, you'll like this one a lot.


Rating; * * * 1/2

The Dinner

I have been having a heck of a time finding awesome books to read lately. I'm just not crazy about anything that's ever available through my Kindle libraries. When I came across The Dinner by Herman Koch, I selected it for one snippet of a review that said "a European Gone Girl." Well, I loved Gone Girl so that was recommendation enough for me.

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Good Reads' Synopsis: "Over one meal, two families struggle with the hardest decision of their lives. On an Amsterdam summer evening, two couples are united by their sons, aged 15, their horrific joint deed. Behind banal polite discourse in a restaurant, knives are sharpened, friendship disintegrates. How far will adults go to protect those they love?"

What I Thought: That was a pretty short synopsis and though the main action does take place at dinnertime, we do hear more about their everyday lives as well. While I liked the writing style and found the characters intriguing (thought not really likable), I kept waiting for something to happen and it never really did. The story was wrapped up neatly but the ending was anti-climactic. I don't know what I was hoping for but it wasn't that.

Rating: * *

Sycamore Row

Sycamore Row is the latest offering from legal fiction juggernaut John Grisham. I have read lots of his work in the past and was looking forward to revisiting the characters from A Time to Kill. This story follows Jake Brigance, a few years after his groundbreaking trial chronicled in that book.

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Good Reads' Synopsis: "Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier. 
The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row?"

What I Thought: As I read, I kept waiting for things to really get going and they just never really did. I suppose it was more about the journey to the trial than the actual trial itself. Grisham also showed too many details of the twist too early on and I figured it out well before it was revealed. That never happens to me and I didn't like it. I prefer the element of pure surprise. It was a clever little story but if you're looking for a meaty drama, this is not it. If you haven't read A Time to Kill, check out that one first. Or any of his other earlier books.

Rating: * * 1/2

Life After Life

I am trying to read more meat and less fluff in my books this year. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson was on the 100 Best of 2013 NY Times so I picked it up from the library and dug right in.

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Good Reads' Synopsis: On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born, the third child of a wealthy English banker and his wife. Sadly, she dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in any number of ways. Clearly history (and Kate Atkinson) have plans for her: In Ursula rests nothing less than the fate of civilization.

Wildly inventive, darkly comic, startlingly poignant — this is Kate Atkinson at her absolute best, playing with time and history, telling a story that is breathtaking for both its audacity and its endless satisfactions.

What I Thought: Yeesh. I had really high hopes for this one but I could not get into it at all. I found the time hopping disorienting, a bit cumbersome, and very repetitive. As a character, I liked Ursula but as her story continued, I found it unbelievable and just really didn't care anymore. The concept was intriguing but fell flat. At 529 pages, it took me quite awhile to get through. I'm not really sure why this gets such good reviews but it was not my cup of tea. If anyone has read it and can tell me why it was so good, PLEASE leave a comment. I don't usually disagree with reviews this much but I don't really recommend this one.

Rating: * * 

The Wolf of Wall Street

I finished The Wolf of Wall Street last year but didn't get a chance to write about it until now. I've been wanting to see this movie (despite its poor box office showing) and recently learned it's based on a memoir by Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio's character).

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Good Reads' Synopsis: By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could, on drugs, sex, and international globe-trotting. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids waiting at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in his own inimitable words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called . . .

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

In the 1990s Jordan Belfort, former kingpin of the notorious investment firm Stratton Oakmont, became one of the most infamous names in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock-chopper who led his merry mob on a wild ride out of the canyons of Wall Street and into a massive office on Long Island. Now, in this astounding and hilarious tell-all autobiography, Belfort narrates a story of greed, power, and excess that no one could invent.

Reputedly the prototype for the film Boiler Room, Stratton Oakmont turned microcap investing into a wickedly lucrative game as Belfort’s hyped-up, coked-out brokers browbeat clients into stock buys that were guaranteed to earn obscene profits—for the house. But an insatiable appetite for debauchery, questionable tactics, and a fateful partnership with a breakout shoe designer named Steve Madden would land Belfort on both sides of the law and into a harrowing darkness all his own.

From the stormy relationship Belfort shared with his model-wife as they ran a madcap household that included two young children, a full-time staff of twenty-two, a pair of bodyguards, and hidden cameras everywhere—even as the SEC and FBI zeroed in on them—to the unbridled hedonism of his office life, here is the extraordinary story of an ordinary guy who went from hustling Italian ices at sixteen to making hundreds of millions. Until it all came crashing down . . .
What I Thought: I liked this at the start and then things started to get really repetitive. You can only read so much (522 pages worth) about crooked trading on Wall Street, drug use, hookers, adultery, etc and so on. Belfort has led quite a life but his story could have been cut in half. It's a New York Times Bestseller but I'm not sure why. As long as I thought it was, it's not even the whole story! There's another book about how he got taken down, time in prison, and more. I don't think I'll be reading that one.

Rating: * *

The World's Strongest Librarian

You know how Amazon makes suggestions of books for you to read based on your reading history? This was one of those books.

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The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family by Josh Hanagarne


Good Reads' Synopsis: "Josh Hanagarne couldn't be invisible if he tried. Although he wouldn't officially be diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome until his freshman year of high school, Josh was six years old and onstage in a school Thanksgiving play when he first began exhibiting symptoms. By the time he was twenty, the young Mormon had reached his towering adult height of 6'7" when — while serving on a mission for the Church of Latter Day Saints — his Tourette's tics escalated to nightmarish levels.

Determined to conquer his affliction, Josh underwent everything from quack remedies to lethargy-inducing drug regimes to Botox injections that paralyzed his vocal cords and left him voiceless for three years. Undeterred, Josh persevered to marry and earn a degree in Library Science. At last, an eccentric, autistic strongman — and former Air Force Tech Sergeant and guard at an Iraqi prison — taught Josh how to "throttle" his tics into submission through strength-training.

Today, Josh is a librarian in the main branch of Salt Lake City's public library and founder of a popular blog about books and weight lifting—and the proud father of four-year-old Max, who has already started to show his own symptoms of Tourette's.

The World's Strongest Librarian illuminates the mysteries of this little-understood disorder, as well as the very different worlds of strongman training and modern libraries. With humor and candor, this unlikely hero traces his journey to overcome his disability — and navigate his wavering Mormon faith — to find love and create a life worth living"

What I Thought: This was a very interesting memoir. I don't know anyone with Tourette's, just what you see on TV, but Hanagarne described it in a way that made you understand the syndrome a whole lot better. Josh's journey took a circuitous route ending up with a life he probably couldn't have imagined happening and the ride there held my attention. It's a quick read but worth a shot.

Rating: * * *

The Walking Dead: The Rise of the Governor

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Do you people watch The Walking Dead on AMC? In case you’ve been living under a rock, it’s all about zombies. Don’t worry. It’s not as cheesy as it sounds. Fact: It is pretty much the most awesome show on television these days. The series is based on a comic and graphic novel and now, the writers, Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga, have also put out (back in 2011) a series of actual novels. I picked this one up in the airport bookstore for John to read and when he was finished, I happily cracked the spine.

Good Reads' Synsopsis: In the Walking Dead universe, there is no greater villain than The Governor. The despot who runs the walled-off town of Woodbury, he has his own sick sense of justice: whether it’s forcing prisoners to battle zombies in an arena for the townspeople’s amusement, or chopping off the appendages of those who cross him. The Governor was voted “Villain of the Year” by Wizard magazine the year he debuted, and his story arc was the most controversial in the history of the Walking Dead comic book series. Now, for the first time, fans of The Walking Dead will discover how The Governor became the man he is, and what drove him to such extremes.

What I Thought: Well. This was quite interesting…..if you know the show. It had some great tie ins and explained a lot about the Governor and his roots. If you haven’t seen the show, I’m not sure if you’ll find it as good as I did. The story is captivating but I think that’s because I knew the Governor already. It had an awesome twist and I’m so glad I have the second book waiting for me at home because I can’t wait to start reading it.

Rating: * * *